IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Jacobs, M.J.; Schloeder, C.A. | |
| Impacts of conflict on biodiversity and protected areas in Ethiopia | |
| 2001 Full Book | |
Ethiopia possesses considerable biodiversity and natural resources, as well as many endemic species. It has had, however, only limited success protecting some of these natural assets since establishing a conservation and protected area program in 1965, due to the country's prolonged engagement in various armed conflicts. The result has been, in the last 25 years, an increase in the number of threatened and endangered species and deleterious habitat modifications. Also, much destruction of protected-area assets has occurred. Deforestation, farming, overgrazing, hunting, and soil erosion all were conflict-related factors that led to these changes and limited the success of Ethiopia's conservation and protected-area program. Government and non-government institutional politics, and adherence to an exclusionary protected area, also were key factors limiting successful conservation. Despite these setbacks, however, hope remains for protecting what is left of Ethiopia's biodiversity and natural assets, as demonstrated by the survival of Awash National Park during a brief period of lawlessness in 1991. Awash's survival was attributed to community involvement in the development of a park-management plan, community and conservation authorities' concessions, and the initiation of community-based intervention measures prior to the lawless period. Of more importance, however, is that conflict ceases and economic growth, development, and conservation take its place. Conservation success is more likely if the government abandons its exclusionary protected-area policy and grants regions and local communities the authority to manage their own protected areas. Likewise, the capabilities of communities must be utilized in the management of all protected areas, and new policies must be adopted to further guarantee success. |
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