Biodiversity conservation of ancient church and monastery yards in Ethiopia

Biodiversity conservation of ancient church and monastery yards in Ethiopia

A project funded by

Department of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

United Kingdom.

Under the programme of Darwin initiative for the survival of species

Dr Zewge Teklehaimanot

Project leader

Background to the project

Ethiopia possesses one of the richest floras in Africa. Much of this floristic wealth is reflected in the fact that Ethiopia is one of the Vavilov's centres of origin and/or diversity for many domesticated plants and their wild relatives, e.g. wheat, barley, teff, coffee, peas, okra, sorghum, millets, lentils, rape seeds, sesame, noug (Guizotia abyssinica), safflower (Asfaw and Tadesse, 2001). Deforestation is occurring in Ethiopia at an alarming rate and this is threatening much of the country’s unique biodiversity (Teketay and Bekele, 1995). Gamachu (1988) estimated that 87% of the total land area above 1500 m was originally covered by dense forest, but now less than 3% of the country’s fully stocked natural forest remains (FAO, 2000), and that it is disappearing at a rate of 7.5% per annum - the fastest rate of any country in the world. The major reasons are the increasingly intensive use of land for agricultural and livestock production and tree cutting for fuelwood and construction materials (Teketay, 1992). The sacred church and monastery lands of the Ethiopian Orthodox Churches have, however, survived for many centuries as islands of natural forest biodiversity in a sea of deforested landscape in areas of the Ethiopian highlands. For many interesting reasons related to the spiritual values attached to the churches, monasteries and their sacred lands, these biodiversity islands have survived the general pressure for timber and fuelwood gathering that has degraded the surrounding landscape. Ethiopia contains a total of around 35,000 churches and monasteries, some of which are 1660 years old. Approximately 50 of the ancient churchyards and monastery grounds (older than 200 years), all of which are located in the Central and Northern Highland regions of Ethiopia, contain natural forest vegetation rich in biodiversity. Their vegetation consists not only of trees but also shrubs and herbs, and they constitute important habitats for a variety of rare vertebrate species. However, the biodiversity of some of these churchyard forests is being depleted as a result of continued deforestation of the surrounding areas for fuelwood and timber, the displacement of the church community due to drought and famine, introduction of exotics and other natural and man-made calamities.

This project was conducted by University of Wales Bangor, UK in close collaboration with the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (EWNHS) and Alliance of Religions and Conservation . The overall objective was to conserve the biodiversity of this unique and valuable natural forest remnants in the Ethiopian highlands preserved in ancient churchyards and monastery grounds. The project began from 1^st of April 2001 for three years and was completed on 31^st March 2004.

Specific objectives of the project

1. Strengthen capacity of Ethiopian NGO and government institutions through training, expert advice, enhanced networking (amongst institutions and local stakeholders), financial support and joint project implementation.

2. Successfully implement a project that conserves the biodiversity of sacred lands in situ, and where necessary ex situ with subsequent reintroductions.

References

Asfaw, Z and Tadesse M (2001). Prospects for sustainable use and development of wild food plants of Ethiopia. Economic Botany 55: 47-62.

Gamachu D. (1988) Some patterns of altitudinal variation of climatic elements in the mountainous regions of Ethiopia, Mountain Research & Development, Volume 8, Issue 2-3, 1988, Pages 131-138.

Teketay D. (1992) Human impact on a natural montane forest in southeastern Ethiopia, Mountain Research & Development, Volume 12, Issue 4, 1992, Pages 393-400

Teketay D.; Bekele T. (1995) Floristic composition of Wof-Washa natural forest, Central Ethiopia: Implications for the conservation of biodiversity, Feddes Repertorium, Volume 106, Issue 1-2, 1995, Pages 127-147.