Ethiopian Highlands

Biodiversity
Flagship Species
Threats
Conservation

The Ethiopian Highlands are distinguished from the rest of Africa by their vast extent of high ground. They cover an area of some 519 278 km², almost 95% of which falls within the political borders of modern Ethiopia, although also to a lesser degree in neighboring Eritrea. There are also isolated montane outliers, including, for example, Jebel Elba and Jebel Hadai Aweb, parts of which are politically in Egypt but are administered by Sudan, and Jebel Ower near Port Sudan. The geographic and cultural heartland of this region is a vast plateau, averaging 2 200 m and split into two halves by the Great Rift Valley. The Ethiopian Highlands have a lower altitudinal limit of around 1 100 m, but in many areas the biogeographical boundary between the Highlands and the neighboring arid zone of the Horn of Africa is higher, and averages around 1 500 m (Yalden et al. 1996). The cutoff is affected by local conditions and variation occurs throughout its length, although at the northern end of the Highlands it is lower than at the southern end. The boundary is somewhat artificial in that there are species that transgress it in both directions, but there is still a clear-cut separation between highland (Afromontane) flora and lowland (Somalia-Masai) flora (Friis et al., in press).

The Ethiopian Highlands are thought to have begun to rise some 75 million years ago. As the Earth's crust began to diverge in three plates, volcanoes erupted on the surface and resulted in an intrusion of trap lavas that were deposited on the underlying marine Cretaceous rock. Between about 45 and 35 million years ago, the lava was widespread and built up a thick layer of basalt, up to 3 000 m in some places. During the Oligocene, the lava deposits folded into an arch or dome, probably coinciding with the formation of the Red Sea Rift, and later Oligocene and Miocene lavas overlaid this arch to produce the high plateau. The mighty rift that now splits the Ethiopian dome into the northern and southern massifs began in the Miocene, 13–12 million years ago, and was fully formed by the Pliocene, 5–4.5 million years ago (Davidson and Rex 1980).

The volcanic activity that dominated the Ethiopian dome between 45 and 5 million years ago largely precluded the establishment of a stable fauna and flora. Thus, it is only in the last 4.5–4 million years that the Ethiopian Highlands have become habitable. However, this period of volcanism was followed by severe climatic fluctuations during the Pliocene and Pleistocene; being a highland area, it was affected by periods of glaciation between 120 000 and 20 000 years ago (although the Bale Mountains appear to have been glaciated as little as 14 000 years ago; H. Osmaston and W. Mitchell, pers. comm.). At this time, the surrounding areas were covered with open grassland, dry montane forest, and heath. As the climate warmed, the broad belts of subalpine vegetation contracted, and became restricted to higher altitudes. Vegetation has only somewhat recently colonized these areas, although some remain barren, such as the central peaks area in the Bale Mountains, where the landscape seen today has resulted from the lava outpourings modified through a process of erosion by water, wind, and ice.

Considering this turbulent past, and because the Ethiopian Highlands are geologically relatively young, they remain somewhat impoverished in terms of their fauna and flora. Indeed, for much of their recent history, the highlands have been geographically isolated: the Nile and floodplains of the Sudd, which lie to the west of the area, were impassable for many potential colonists from the west, while the majority of the lowlands that surround the highlands are arid, including the eastern Sahara to the north, the arid areas of northern Kenya to the south, and the Somali arid zone to the east. On the other hand, the altitude and isolation of the highlands have favored speciation of colonists to the region. These colonists arrived via a number of different routes, the most important being the surrounding dry lowlands, although some tropical species may have arrived from moist areas in the south and southwest, passing through the barriers posed by the Kenyan deserts in the south and the White Nile floodplains in the west (Kingdon 1990).

Although most species in the region are of Afrotropical origin, some Palearctic influences are also evident. During the dry, glacial periods, the jebels and escarpments flanking the Red Sea allowed connectivity with temperate biomes to the north and the Arabian Peninsula, and a number of Palearctic representatives achieve their southernmost limit in the highlands.

The Ethiopian Highlands are extremely rugged and varied, with some regions characterized by steep escarpments and deep valleys. Rising to a height of 4 620 m at the summit of Ras Dashen in the scenic Simien Mountains, the highlands are truly the “Roof of Africa,” with the majority of land over 3 000 m in Africa being found in this region (Yalden 1983). Indeed, around 73% of Sub-Saharan Africa's Afroalpine ecosystem (which is defined as being over 3 200 m) is found in Ethiopia.

The altitudinal zonation of the Ethiopian Highlands is pronounced, so much so that highlanders refer to each zone in terms of its habitability and the agriculture that can be practiced (see Threats). The foothills or lower elevations (800–1 500 m) of the Ethiopian Highlands, known as kolla, support woodland vegetation which is dominated by Terminalia, Commiphora, Boswellia, and Acacia species. At slightly higher elevations (1 500–3 000 m), the vegetation, termed dega or weyna dega, is dominated by the conifers Podocarpus falcatus and Juniperus procera. Above 3 000 m, the Afroalpine ecosystem, known locally as wurch, consists of grassland and moorland with an abundant herb layer. The Bale Mountains contains the largest patch of Afroalpine ecosystem (2 067 km², or 17.5% of all Afroalpine areas on the continent; S.D. Williams and I. May, unpubl. data). The treeline is dominated by Hagenia abyssinica and Hypericum revoltum. Above this, the heathland scrub is dominated by heathers such as Erica arborea. Besides the red-hot pokers of the genus Kniphofia, a distinctive feature of the vegetation in this zone is the giant Lobelia rhynchopetalum, which is particularly characteristic of Afroalpine vegetation. However, the flora is not sharply delineated from that of the ericaceous belt at slightly lower altitudes (Davis et al. 1994).

At the southern end of the Bale Mountains lies the enigmatic Herenna Forest. The altitudinal cline on which the forest grows has resulted in marked vegetation belts. The uppermost belt is dominated by Rapanea and tree heathers, while the moist slopes of the Herenna Forest are typified by a shrubby zone of Hagenia and Schefflera growing alongside with the giant lobelias Lobelia gibberroa. Dense stands of mountain bamboo (Arundinaria alpina) are also found. Below 2 400 m, clouds and localized rain support a dense, moist forest, with trees over 30 m tall, their branches covered with epiphytes. While the Herenna Forest appears to be relatively impoverished, it does harbor endemic species, many of which are at the higher altitudes. These include the Bale monkey (Cercopithecus djamdjamensis), a little-known endemic primate, and a rich endemic amphibian fauna (Largen 2001). The very lowest and driest part of Herenna serves as an example of the sort of forest that once covered a much larger part of Ethiopia (Kingdon 1990).

Besides Herenna, the other remaining tract of forest—the largest within the highlands— is in the Welega, Illubabor, and Kefa areas of Ethiopia. These forests share a remarkably small proportion of their species with similar habitats in East and Central Africa (Yalden et al. 1996). As noted earlier, the arid and semiarid belt stretching from southern Sudan to northern Kenya must, therefore, despite its relative narrowness (500 km), be an effective barrier to the forest-dwelling species of the Guineo-Congolian forest block, and this despite the “stepping stone” provided by the Imatong Mountains of southeast Sudan (which contain representatives from the Central African Forests).

The climate of the area is complicated by influences from both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean systems, and at least eight climatic zones are identified (Gamachu 1977). Rainfall varies from 520 mm in the north to 2 370 mm in the southwest of the highlands and occurs in complex uni- or bimodal patterns. Overall, the Ethiopian Highlands play a crucial role in climate control in the entire region of northeast Africa by attracting large amounts of orographic rainfall (Hillman 1988). While within the highlands this has obvious implications for the ecosystems, humans—numbering in the tens of millions— are dependent on the water that originates from the Ethiopian Highlands. Hundreds of streams from the highlands join to form seven major rivers —the Great Abbai (Blue Nile), the Tacazze, the Awash, the Wabe Shebelle, the Juba (in turn, formed from the Web, Genale, Welmel, Dumal, and Dawa rivers), the Ghibie and Omo, and the Sobat (from the Akobo and Baro rivers). The largest of these rivers have carved out deep gorges, most notably the Tacazze, Great Abbai, and Ghibie that split the northern dome, and the Wabe Shebelle of the southern dome.

The Ethiopian Highlands also support a rich and ancient cultural diversity; as an example, modern Ethiopia harbors some 70 languages. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was founded in Axum in the fourth century; Harar, probably founded in about the eleventh century, is considered as the fourth holiest Muslim city in the world.

Biodiversity

The Ethiopian Flora Project was initiated in 1980 (Hedberg 1984; Friis and Ryding 2001; and see references in the Horn of Africa chapter) and has documented the majority of plant taxa in the greater Horn of Africa region (the Solanaceae, Lentibulariaceae, Pedaliaceae, and ferns and fern allies have yet to be included). This effort has been complemented by an ongoing compilation, review, and assessment of the threatened endemic flowering plants (the Red List Initiative for Plants of Ethiopia and Eritrea which, to date, has added over 300 taxa to the IUCN Red List; Kelbessa et al. 2003).

The Ethiopian Highlands harbor an estimated 5 200 vascular plant species in an estimated 1 563 genera and 185 families. Of these, 555 species (10.7% of the total) are endemics, with some groups, the majority of them associated with the open grasslands, dry woodlands, and heaths, being very diverse (e.g., the Compositae). The genus Senecio is particularly diverse, with 12 of the 24 species being endemic. There is only one endemic, monotypic genus from the area (Nephrophyllum abyssinicum, which is found on heavily grazed pastures, open ground, and rocky areas on steep slopes between 1 650 and 2 700 m); no plant families are endemic.

Endemism among vertebrates, particularly at the generic level, is relatively high in this region, especially when one considers the mammals. Thirty-one of the 193 mammal species in the Ethiopian Highlands are endemic to the area. Remarkably, there are six endemic genera of mammals, and four are monotypic (three rodent genera, Megadendromus, Muriculus, Nilopegamys; and one primate genus, Theropithecus). The other endemic genera are Desmomys and Stenocephalemys, represented by two species each. As with the plants, these are associated with high-altitude, open grasslands and dry woodlands.

An estimated 680 species of birds are known to occur regularly in the highlands and of these, 29 are endemic. Most of the bird species that are endemic to the highlands are distributed widely, but five are restricted to tiny pocket areas in the southern highlands. The latter region is considered an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) in the analysis of Stattersfield et al., as is the Central Ethiopian Highlands, with four species confined to it. There are four endemic genera, three of which are widespread (Cyanochen, Rougetius, and Parophasma), while the fourth has a very localized distribution in the south of the area (Zavattariornis). The blue-winged goose (Cyanochen cyanoptera) is interesting because it seems to have resulted from a chance landfall that has found an amenable environment in the Ethiopian Highlands; the species is closely related to the sheldgeese of the alpine and temperate grasslands of South America. In contrast, the Ethiopian bush-crow (Zavattariornis stresemanni, VU), along with the white-tailed swallow (Hirundo megaensis, VU) and Prince Ruspoli's turaco (Tauraco ruspolii, VU), are thought to be relicts caught at the confluence of four major biogeographic zones at the southern tip of the highlands.

The amphibian fauna includes six endemic genera (Sylvacaecilia, Altiphrynoides, Spinophrynoides, Balebreviceps, Ericabatrachus, and Paracassina), all of which comprise single species, with the exception of Paracassina, which is represented by two frog species. There is also a high level of endemism at the species level (23 species, of a total of 59). The reptilian fauna is less interesting, although of the 80 species present, 15 are endemic, including two species of chameleon (Chamaeleo harennae and C. balebicornutus).

Only 64 fish species occur in Lake Tana and the other rivers draining the Ethiopian Highlands. Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile, and with a surface area of over 3 000 km², is the most prominent freshwater feature of the Ethiopian Highlands. Nearly a quarter of fish species are endemic to Lake Tana, including a loach Nemacheilus abyssinicus and 14 large cyprinid barbs. Barbus megastoma is one of the largest of a number of important food fishes and can grow to more than 80 cm, which is unusually large for this genus (Nagelkerke and Sibbing 1997).

The number of species in all taxa has been steadily rising over the past 20 years, meaning that the totals given here are provisional. The Ethiopian Highlands is an area where little systematic collecting has taken place, and many areas, particularly the forests of the southwest (where expeditions to date have been limited in duration and poorly equipped), are largely unexplored. On the rare occasions that exploratory work is carried out, it is productive: at least five new species of small mammals have been described from the Ethiopian Highlands in the last 15 years. As a further example, the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni, EN) was one of the last large mammals to be described on the African Continent, in 1910. In conclusion, the final total of both recorded species and endemics will almost certainly turn out to be much greater. In addition, the recognition of the endemic fauna and flora of Ethiopia requires adequate knowledge of areas of similar ecology and history (e.g., the Rwenzori Mountains in the Albertine Rift) to be certain that presumptive Ethiopian endemics are absent elsewhere (Yalden et al. 1996).

Flagship Species

Almost all the flagship species are confined to the Afroalpine ecosystem, the open grasslands or the montane forests. On the high plateau (3 100–4 640 m), the giant Lobelia rhynchopetalum is instantly recognizable, reaching a height of nine meters when flowering. Giant lobelias grow to 2–3 m before sending up a single inflorescence of dark blue-purple flowers. Every few years, the lobelias have a “musth” year when, for unknown reasons, the greater proportion of the plants flower. The inflorescence is hollow and has several thousand flowers. Each flower produces several thousand tiny seeds. One inflorescence can, therefore, produce over seven million seeds! Once the plants have flowered, they die —although the dead plant “skeletons” last for several years and are characteristic of this zone.

At these altitudes, plants face two main challenges: the high levels of solar irradiation, and the extremes in temperature and wind. The young, sensitive leaves of giant lobelias are protected from the strong sunlight by always being vertical. The older leaves, which have a non-photochemical quenching mechanism for protection against ultraviolet irradiation, are horizontal. Young lobelias protect themselves against the extremes in temperatures by forming a “nightbud,” tightly closing their leaves at night about the apical meristem. The young, sensitive leaves are also furry, which insulates them. The overall anatomy of the leaves —a circular, rosette form— acts as a parabolic reflector for the apical meristem to warm it and optimize growth. In older plants, the old leaves hang down to protect the stem, which is full of water. Their stems also have thick cork layers, again insulation to prevent water in the stem from freezing. The older leaves, in turn, can withstand temperatures down to –6°C.

The Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis, CR) is a rare endemic also found in the Afroalpine ecosystem. With fewer than 450 individuals remaining in seven small and isolated populations, the Ethiopian wolf is the rarest canid in the world. Initially considered to be of Afrotropical origin as a specialized derivative of the common jackal (Yalden and Largen 1992), it is now resolved to be of Paleartic origins. Genetic work has shown that it is most closely related to the grey wolf (Canis lupus), from which it diverged an estimated 100 000 years ago (Gottelli et al. 1994). Although Ethiopian wolves are solitary hunters, specializing on diurnal rodents, they are social animals, living in packs of up to 13 adults that are dominated by an alpha breeding pair. All pack members actively help to rear the young, despite the uncertainty of paternity that may occur through extra-pack copulations solicited by the alpha female (Sillero-Zubiri and Gottelli 1995a, b; Sillero-Zubiri et al. 1996).

The walia ibex (Capra walie, CR) is another Palearctic species which, despite the presence of other, charismatic flagships in the region and its close relationship with the widespread Nubian ibex (C. nubiana), has become a symbol for wildlife in Ethiopia —mainly because of the interest of trophy hunters and explorers who arrived first in the Simien Mountains, which are their only remaining refuge.

Three charismatic highland mammal species have Afrotropical origins. The first, the mountain nyala, was once widespread two to three million years ago, but their numbers have declined because of agricultural expansion and killing, and today less than 3 000 individuals remain, the majority of which are found in the Bale Mountains. The giant mole-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) is found only in the Bale Mountains and forms the main prey of the Ethiopian wolf. These molerats are solitary, but their wide-ranging burrow systems overlap with those of other individuals. Each burrow system has over 90 m of tunnels, covering an area of up to 400 m². In some areas, they reach staggering densities, with about 6 000 mole-rats/km² (Sillero-Zubiri et al. 1995).

Unlike the mountain nyala and giant mole-rats, the majority of geladas (Theropithecus gelada) are found in the northern highlands. Gelada is the Amharic name for this species, which occupies a unique environmental niche as the only graminivorous primate species. Like other graminivores, they require a relatively large intake of leaves, stems, and rhizomes to fulfill their nutritional requirements and consequently spend long periods of the day grazing. The basic unit of gelada social structure consists of one reproductive male and up to ten reproductive females and their young. These units share a common home range and typically forage together as a “band.” In turn, bands often aggregate to form foraging herds that can number as many as 600 individuals, although the composition of these large foraging groups is remarkably flexible.

Prince Ruspoli's turaco stands out as the prominent avian flagship of the highlands: it is attractive, threatened, and associated with a declining habitat. The species is an arboreal frugivore, feeding largely on figs, as well as Podocarpus and Juniperus fruits, and is usually observed alone or in groups of up to 11 individuals. The melodious song of the Abyssinian catbird (Parophasma galinieri) is characteristic of the woodlands throughout much of the Ethiopian Highlands. Pairs of birds call at dusk, particularly during the rainy season. Around wetlands —streams, bogs, and marshes— in the more open habitats and the Afroalpine ecosystems, Rouget's rail (Rougetius rougetii) is a common sighting. The rail has a conspicuous white tail, which it flicks frequently when disturbed. In contrast with the above species, which are fairly widely distributed, the charismatic Ethiopian bush-crow, first reported in 1938, has a very confined distribution at the southern end of the highlands. It is a gregarious species, moving in flocks of up to 30 birds, and is thought to be a cooperative breeder, with three birds attending to a nest.

Threats

The threats to the Ethiopian Highlands are underpinned by high human population pressure. Over the past 60 years, the population of Ethiopia has increased ten fold (from seven million in 1940 to an estimated 70 million in 2004). Eighty percent (56 million) of the country's population live in the highlands. This has put land, both for agriculture and for livestock husbandry, at a premium. Of the farmlands in the country, 94% are operated by seven million smallholders cultivating an average of less than one hectare. People are pushing the limits to which agriculture is practiced. In some areas, land is being tilled for barley production on the steepest slopes (sometimes in excess of 45°) at altitudes of up to 4 100 m.

The exploitation of the Ethiopian Highlands by humans is not a modern phenomenon. Indeed, it has been estimated that it has been ongoing for thousands of years, particularly to the west of the Rift Valley, and this has destroyed most of the natural vegetation, including a great part of the forests. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, highlanders even refer to each vegetation zone in terms of its habitability and the agriculture that can be practiced there: wurch (Afroalpine; more than 3 000 m; too cold to be habitable; no agriculture);dega (temperate; 2 300–3 000 m; barley, wheat, potatoes, pulses);weyna dega (warm temperate; 1 500–2 300 m; tef, maize, wheat, pulses); and kolla (tropical; 800–1 500 m; sorghum) (and with bereha being the hot and dry lower altitudinal areas at less than 800 m; no rainfed cultivation).

A suite of plants, whose maximum productivity lies between 1 800 and 2 100 m, were domesticated historically in the Ethiopian Highlands, which includes their centers of diversity and origin. They include khat (Catha edulis), ensete (Enset ventricosum), noog (Guizotia abyssinica), finger millet (Eleusine coracana for beer), tef (Eragrostis tef) and coffee (Coffea arabica) (Harlan 1992). The exact date and location for the domestication of all these plants are unknown. On the basis of linguistic, historical, geographic and botanical studies, there is no doubt that, with some variation, they are very ancient crops and most authors put the date at between 6 000–3 000 years ago.

Besides agricultural crops, Ethiopia has the largest national herd of domestic livestock, and cattle in particular, in Africa. In part, the number of cattle in the country might result from the absence of wood (which has been previously removed through human exploitation for fuel and construction), as the majority of Ethiopian highlanders use cattle dung as their principal source of fuel. The livestock is increasingly using the more extreme areas to graze. In 2002, the livestock in a discrete area of the Bale Mountains reached an unprecedented density of 314 animals/km². Besides the effects of erosion and increasing the abundance of unpalatable or poisonous species, overgrazing also heightens competition between livestock and wildlife species. In addition, livestock and the domestic dogs that often accompany it increase the risk of disease transmission to wildlife species. Two rabies epidemics in the past 14 years have occurred among Ethiopian wolves by transmission from domestic dogs, and this serves as a constant reminder of the seriousness of this threat. Dogs also pose a further, insidious threat to wolves through hybridization.

Finally, humans have hunted and killed birds and mammals, reducing their populations to a fraction of what they were 150 years ago. The killing of animals has not just been for subsistence use or potentially as a buffer during famines. During (frequent) political upheavals in the region, the infrastructure of the national parks has been successively used and then destroyed by armed groups, who also kill animals for food. Furthermore, because the national parks and wildlife populations held within them have been largely associated with repressive regimes (particularly the “dergue,” the military-Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia), the population vented suppressed anger by destroying park infrastructure and slaughtering large mammals (Yalden et al. 1996).

The sum of these factors has resulted in a massive transformation of the environment, and it is estimated that as much as 97% of the original vegetation has been lost. Because human exploitation is linked to it, altitude has also had a profound effect on the extent of the original vegetation that remains. The original vegetation that remains only does so because it is confined to the ecosystems that are extreme and defy human use. These are the steep escarpments of the Rift Valley and the river gorges, the cold Afroalpine plateaus, and a few patches of thick forest. Consequently, several key areas of the remaining original vegetation emerge as being critically important to the biodiversity of the Ethiopian Highlands. These are obviously very limited in size, as they are not only geographic islands above the surrounding lowlands, but also islands in a humantransformed environment.

Conservation

The degree to which the natural vegetation and animal populations have been lost means that the region's diversity is acutely threatened. In Ethiopia, despite having a wildlife conservation organization that has been active for just under 40 years, as well as a succession of foreign advisors and periodic injections of donor assistance, there has been remarkably little impact on arresting the decline of many habitats and species.

While modern conservation efforts struggle to be successful, the Ethiopian Highlands contain the oldest records of conservation efforts on the continent. The Emperor Zera Yacob (1434–1468) noted the loss of forest cover on what is now known as Wuchacha Mountain. The forest was replenished at his orders using seeds and seedlings of Juniperus procera to create Menagesha Forest, which stands today (Gilbert 1970).

More remarkably, although not quite as old, in the Guassa-Menz area of North Shoa, Ethiopia, local communities implemented a sustainable natural resource management system in the seventeenth century. The system, known as Qero, allowed equitable use and distribution of natural resources (thatching grass, fuelwood, and grazing) that were, and still are, important for the livelihood security of the community. By regulating exploitation of the area, the management system has also effectively protected the biodiversity of the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Guassa-Menz area.

When the Qero arose, it was supported by the authority of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a powerful component of this ancient society. The system declined in 1975 as a result of the Agrarian Reform of 1975, which was introduced under the socialist regime that came to power in the revolution of 1974. People who were previously excluded from resource use gained uncontrolled access through their constituent peasant association. When it became apparent that the resource management system was declining under the land tenure reform, the community responded by establishing the Guassa Committee, known locally as Idir. The committee retained significant community representation and was still deemed acceptable to the political and social order of the socialist regime. The remarkable adaptation and subsequent persistence of the system suggests that it is stable and resilient in the face of significant political change (Tefera 2001).

Apart from these noteworthy examples, the realization of the conservation significance of the Ethiopian Highlands has been late in coming; arguably, it has yet to be fully grasped by the leaders of the countries spanned by the highlands. While policies are largely in place (e.g., the National Conservation Strategy, 1994; the Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia, 1997; the Donor Coordination Group on the Environment-Contribution to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Discussion, 2001; the Ethiopian Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program, 2002), the strategies are not being implemented.

In 1909, Ethiopia passed its first wildlife legislation designed to regulate “sport” hunting —particularly of elephants. However, prior to 1944, the fauna and flora of the highlands were still largely viewed as an infinite source of food and other materials, and as a source of “sport” for the upper echelons of society and expatriates in the country. The Preservation of Game Proclamation of 1944 reinforced earlier legislation to regulate hunting and to prevent the overhunting of certain species.

With interest from international conservation organizations, the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Organization (EWCO) was established in 1964 (Hillman 1993a). Because of a lack of wildlife management experience (cf. the experience that was built in neighboring Kenya and Uganda through their colonial past), the majority of the early work —the production of legislation and the designation of protected areas— was largely carried out by expatriates. It has only been since the first batch of trainees returned from the Mweka Wildlife College in Tanzania in the early 1970s that Ethiopian nationals have started taking senior positions within the EWCO.

The EWCO has been pivotal in the formulation of legislation to protect the fauna and flora, as well as in the designation, establishment, and management of national parks. However, the efforts of the EWCO have been starved for resources and the legislation designed to protect wildlife has proved impossible to enforce.

A system of conservation areas has formed the basis of the wildlife conservation strategy in Ethiopia (Hillman 1993b). When they were proposed, they were based on what was known about the fauna and habitats at the time, and were primarily directed toward the more spectacular assemblages of large mammals and those species considered to be endemic and at risk (Yalden et al. 1996). However, since this network was proposed, only two of the 14 “national parks” and “sanctuaries” have been legally constituted, namely Awash National Park and Simien Mountains National Park, the latter of which is recognized as a World Heritage Site (Hillman 1993b). Even these two have never been adequately secured, staffed or equipped. The numerous “wildlife reserves” and “controlled hunting areas” are little more than nominal, and provide no protection for the fauna and flora. Indeed, only 3% of the Ethiopian Highlands is conserved in protected areas in IUCN categories I to IV.

Since the mid-1970s, difficulties in wildlife conservation have been exacerbated by famines, refugee problems, civil unrest, armed rebellions, and war. This series of events threatens the livelihoods of the present generation of Ethiopians. As long as such events continue and society remains stricken by poverty and food insecurity, it is unlikely that wise conservation measures will be implemented.

However, if the region's current and proposed national parks were fully established and administered, they would have the potential to provide some level of protection for many of the region's endemic species. It is notable that the conservation areas were specifically designed to protect the mammalian fauna. Therefore, a re-assessment of the conservation areas of the region is warranted because they may not protect endemic species across other taxa.

The Bale Mountains National Park is the single most important conservation area that has been proposed in the Ethiopian Highlands, harboring the finest and most intact remnant of the highland's original vegetation. The Bale Mountains have 1 321 species of flowering plants, 163 of which are highland endemics, including the 27 Bale endemics (e.g., Euryops prostratus, Gladiolus balensis, Maytenus harennensis, and Solanecio harennensis). These mountains also contain more than half the global populations of both the Ethiopian wolf and mountain nyala. Of the mammals that have been recorded there, 26% are Ethiopian endemics (including the Bale monkey, Starck's hare (Lepus starcki), and eight species of rodents, including the Bale endemics—the giant mole-rat, unstriped grass rat (Arvicanthis blicki), and brush-furred mouse (Lophuromys melanonyx). Among several rare endemic amphibians, there are four species found in Bale alone, including one monotypic, endemic genus, the Bale Mountains narrowmouthed frog (Balebreviceps hillmani, EN) (Largen 2001), and there are two chameleons that are Bale endemics (Largen 1995; M. Largen and S. Spawls, pers. comm.). The conclusion is that if conservation efforts in the Bale Mountains are not successful and people continue to exploit the resources in an unsustainable way, more species of mammals (and the analysis remains to be done for other taxa) would go extinct there than in any other area of equivalent size on the globe (J. Malcolm, pers. comm.).

The Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program (EWCP), which has its base in the Bale Mountains, has demonstrated that working successfully in the difficult climate of Ethiopia is possible. Information on Ethiopian wolves was only first collected during the mid-1970s (Malcolm 1976, 1977, 1988), and through the 1980s and early 1990s (Hillman 1988; Sillero-Zubiri 1994). These studies gave the EWCP (based out of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of the University of Oxford) a foundation, which was bolstered by the publication of a conservation action plan (Sillero-Zubiri and Macdonald 1997).

Consequently, the responsibilities of the EWCP have evolved to ensure the conservation of the Ethiopian wolf and its Afroalpine ecosystem. This is achieved by a three-pronged approach: securing the conservation of areas of Afroalpine ecosystem, their biodiversity and ecological processes; assessing, addressing, and counteracting threats to the survival of Ethiopian wolves; and enhancing the focus on and strength of the environmental sector, and particularly biodiversity conservation, within Ethiopia.

Conservation in the Ethiopian Highlands is far from being secure, but there may be room for hope. While its focus has been conspicuously away from natural resource and wildlife conservation, the present Government of Ethiopia has been making progress towards creating a climate in which wildlife conservation could, potentially, play a role. In such a climate, tourism and the revenues generated from it could grow. If this is linked to the unique fauna and flora of the region, then wildlife conservation could receive more attention and political will.

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