Conservation in Ethiopia's Rift Valley

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Biological Conservation

for establishing actual standards for safeguarding the environmental quality of a given region, and the subsequent control, through legislation or otherwise, of the emission of environmental contaminants from all sources. 'The success of the programme will depend on the usefulness of the unified criteria to all those who need them as the scientific and technological basis to the formulation of standards and legislation,' said Dr W. G. Schneider, President of NRC. 'Since our intent is to provide a service, the success of the programme will depend on the support and cooperation of all those organizations who could benefit from this service, and also, of course, from those who can contribute to it.' Dr Schneider said the programme will be a success if it assists Federal, Provincial, and Municipal, authorities to choose standards and objectives of quality for air, soil, and water, and if it identifies the most urgent research problems in environmental pollution. The Associate Committee will be served by a number of subcommittees which will consider specific areas. Since membership on these subcommittees will not be l~mited to members of the main committee, this will enable the Council to bring together a large number of experts from all parts of the country and from government, industry, and the universities.

CONSERVATION IN ETHIOPIA'S RIFT VALLEY The tourist potential of the main Ethiopian Rift Valley, with its beautiful lakes and varied scenery, has long been recognized, but very little has been done to take advantage of it. Now, for much of the Rift Valley, it is too late. The herds of large wild mammals which once roamed this part of Ethiopia were reduced to tiny remnants before tourism even became a real possibility. More recent events have put them firmly beyond the point of no return. The Galla tribesmen, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, are taking to an exploitive type of cultivation--with consequent clearance of forest and other wildlife habitats over wide areas. This deliberate habitat destruction is aggravating an already severe problem of overgrazing. The density of cattle in the northern part of the Rift Valley is five times as great as that recommended by range management experts. Yet despite this depressing trend, the situation is not yet hopeless. Following a four-months' ecological survey by the writer, there has been recommended the establishment of a National Park in the northern part of the Rift Valley (Fig. 1). The recommendations have "

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Under the programme, the Council will not undertake responsibility for all the experimental programmes L related to criteria. However, in establishing a unified J//~'~ ~5"_/~_ A ///- /- g \ set of criteria, new research needs will doubtless II \ ~ i ~.-//E~THIOR become evident, and the Associate Committee will point out such needs. Whether and where such I '. ~ ' / / . - " ~ / . - ~ A ~ d i ~ Ab0b0 research would be done would be decided by, or at least in consultation with, those organizations having the greatest direct interest and/or competence. The I"--,. final decision might involve a Federal Government "'x // department, a Provincial Research Council, a research institute, a university laboratory, an industrial laboratory, or a combination of these.

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'The task which we are undertaking will necessarily Fig. 1. Sketch-map showing location of proposed Rift Valley Lakes National Park. be a continuing one, and one whose benefits should be measured on the long term, rather than the short term,' Dr Schneider said. 'It will no doubt take some been approved by the Emperor, H.I.M. Haile years to prepare a reasonably comprehensive docu- Selassie I, but it remains to be seen whether they ment, and revisions will be necessary as new knowledge can be implemented quickly enough. becomes available.' The proposed Rift Valley Lakes National Park will occupy an area of about 880 square kilometres and NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA, will contain the two lakes Abiata (200 sq km) and Ottawa 7, Shalla (280 sq km) (Fig. 2). Lake Abiata is a shallow Ontario, (14 m) and highly productive alkaline lake whose Canada.

Conservation Around the Worm muddy shores support a greater wealth of bird life than can be seen probably anywhere else in Ethiopia. The lake teems with Tilapia, so that pelicans, cormorants, darters, and other fish-eating birds, add an off-shore spectacle to the waders, stilts, spoonbills, flamingos, and other species, which feed at the waterside. The Rift Valley is also an important migration route for palaearctic birds, so that, during the months of the northern winter, Abiata's resident birds are joined by thousands of palaearctic ducks and waders.

67

of 250 metres, it is the deepest crater-lake in the Ethiopian rift. The water is strongly saline and alkaline for, like Abiata, the dissolved salts are mainly carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium, and the lake is generally unproductive. There are few shallows, for the shores are steep. But Shalla is not without biological importance; one of its rocky islands supports a breeding colony of Great White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) which is one of the largest colonies in Africa. On adjacent islands are colonies of Sacred Ibis ( Threskiornis aethiopicus) and Abdim's Storks (Sphenorynchus abdimii). Cape Wigeon (Anas capensis) also breed here and, like the Pelicans and Storks, they fly to Abiata to feed. So far these islands have been virtually undisturbed by Man, but boating and waterskiing are already popular pastimes on a lake only ten kilometres away. At present there is no reason why holidaymakers should not also enjoy these activities on Lake Shalla--with obvious consequences for the bird colonies.

The hills and cliffs which surround Lake Shalla, besides offering the most beautiful scenic walks, provide refuge for several of the remaining wild ungulates; Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) are still quite common here, and occasionally a group of Mountain Reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula) or Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) may be seen. Warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopieus), Spotted Hyaena (Crocuta crocuta), Black-backed Jackal ( Canis mesomelas), and Olive Baboon (Papio anubis), are nowhere rare, and in the early morning all these species can usually be seen near Shalla. A small forest remains in the valley of the Adaba river which enters the lake at the south-east corner. This contains a thriving population of the striking black-and-white Colobus Monkey (Colobus Fig. 2. Sketch-map of proposed Rift Valley Lakes National polykomos abyssinicus) and a number of colourful and Park. conspicuous forest birds. Smaller mammals such as mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon, H. sanguineus, At this time the casual visitor may expect to see about Ichneumia albicauda, Atilax paludinosus), Genet (Gen70 species of birds during a morning's stroll along the etta tigrina), Serval (Felis serval), and African Civet shores of the lake, and nearly four times this number (Civettictis civetta), are present but less likely to be were recorded during the survey within the proposed seen. park boundaries. Ethiopia has a poor record in conservation.* Some The Acacia savanna around Lake Abiata could of the best wildlife attractions, it must be admitted, support herds of plains game as it did in the past. are so remote that only with a large capital outlay Small herds of Grant's Gazelle (Gazella granti) and could they be included in a tourist circuit. The proposed a few Oribi (Ourebia ourebi) still manage to survive-Rift Valley Lakes National Park, however, is within and would increase without further introductions if they and their habitat were to be afforded the necessary * See, for example, Professor Leslie H. Brown's 'Ethiopia's protection. Wildlife Conservation Programme' (Biol. Conserv., 1(4), Lake Shalla lies to the south of Abiata and is 332-4, 1969), Dr Bernard Nievergelt's 'Le Bouquetin separated from it by rugged hills rising to almost 500 d'l~thiopie gravement menac6' (Ibid. pp. 334-5), and G. H. H. Brown's 'The conservation situation in Ethiopia' metres above the water (Fig. 2). Scenically magnificent, published in our last issue (Biol. Conserv., 2(4), 293-8, Lake Shalla is surrounded by such hills. With a depth 1970).--Ed.

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Biological Conservation

four hours' easy drive of Addis Ababa. Hotel accommodation already exists just outside the park boundaries. The resettlement problem is not too big to handle; indeed more than half of the park is under water, and that is not even drinking-water. But the opportunity to act will not exist much longer. In the last twelve months, a thousand trees which shaded the mouth of a river have been hacked down. Now, where a year ago there was a beauty-spot, there are a few hectares of corn stubble on which hundreds of emaciated cows somehow survive. Yet it is a fact that if the average visitor to Ethiopia could be persuaded to stay just an extra two days, the nation's gain in foreign exchange from tourism would increase by 50 per cent. With such an incentive there is surely cause for Fig. 1. Dans le 'Rifugio faunistico di Burano'. Photo: Paul Gdroudet. optimism. MELVIN BOLTON,

Ecologist, Wildlife Conservation Department, P.O. Box 386, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

la rdgulation artificielle du niveau de l'eau, on y entretient les conditions optimales pour le sdjour des oiseaux migrateurs et hivernants, fort nombreux. En ddbut de janvier 1970, par exemplo, le refuge hdbergeait plus de 1750 canards de 7 esp~ces, 500 Vanneaux, 230 Pluviers dords, des nudes de ramiers et de grives. Le passage des limicoles y est important au printemps.

LES REFUGES FAUNISTIQUESDE BURANO ET DE BOLGHERI EN ITALIE

Entre Florence et Rome s'dtend unerdgion basse, jadis marrcageuse, la Maremma. Presque totalement drainde et cultivde aujourd'hui, elle ne poss~de plus de milieux naturels humides qu'en de rares points de la cSte. Afin de conserver ceux-ci et de crder des refuges pour la faune, surtout pour la sauvagine qui, venant d'Europe centrale et du Nord, passe et hiverne en Italie, rAssociation italienne du WWF a dtabli un programme de protection par des rdserves. Le 'Rifugio faunistico di Burano' (env. 400 ha), situ6 pros de la Via Aurelia/t 131 km au nord-ouest de Rome, est constitud par une lagune bordde de roseaux et par une dune couverte de maquis qui la srpare de la mer (Fig. 1). Le droit de chasse y est loud par le WWF depuis 1968; on n'y chasse donc plus. D6s ce moment, le hombre des canards hivernants, surtout des plongeurs, y a augmentd dans de fortes proportions; les migrateurs peuvent y sdjourner en sdcuritd. Un essai de rdintroduction de la rare Poule sultane est en cours. Des Loutres y sont signaldes rdguli~rement. Dans la province de Livourne, ~t 40 km au sud de cette ville, le refuge de Bolgheri (350 ha) (Fig. 2) occupe une situation semblable. C'est une ddpression mardcageuse inondde en hiver, h laquelle touchent des boqueteaux, des prds et des champs. La nidification du Vanneau, la plus mdridionale d'Italie, et celle du Hdron pourprd (entre autres), y sont/t noter. Grace/t

Fig. 2. Bois des collines dans le refuge de BolgherL Photo: Paul GHoudet.