Potential wildlife resource and their challenges for community - based conservation development in Gambella National Park

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Ethiopia is located at 3˚30'N and 15˚00'N latitude and 33˚E and 48˚E longitudes in the horn of Africa, and one of the wildlife biodiversity centers of the world (Yalden and Largen, 1992). It is one of the top 25 biodiversity-rich countries in the world and has hosts two of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots: the Eastern Afromontane and the Horn of Africa hotspots (Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, 2014). The country has more than seven large mammals (Amare, 2015). From the total wildlife resources, more than 320 mammals (39 endemic), 918 birds (19 endemic), 240 reptiles (16 endemic), 71 amphibians (30 endemic) and 172 fishes (38 endemic) species are recorded in Ethiopia (Vreugdenhil et al., 2012). It has more than 25 national parks, 3 wild life sanctuary, 8 wild life reserves, 18 controlled hunting areas, 7 open hunting areas, and 3 community conservation areas (young, 2012). Area of land covered to wildlife conservation is 213,464 km2 (Ethiopian Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, 2009). From this a total of 15% of the country’s land is protected covering national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves, controlled and open hunting areas and community conservation areas (Biodiversity Indicators Development National Task Force, 2010). It has diverse floral diversity, more than 6500 species of vascular plants (with 625 endemic species and 669 near-endemic species, and one endemic plant genus) and ranked the fifth largest floral country in tropical Africa (Young, 2012). In our country many national parks are threatened due to the human actions threatening biodiversity, such as overexploitation, spread of invasive species, pollution and climate change, human wildlife conflict (Ehrlich & Pringle, 2008). Conflicts over natural resources between the communities living adjacent to national park is inevitable because of changes in land use and accompanying new ideas about wildlife resource management and utilization (Magige, 2012). Community based conserving area is defined as modified natural ecosystems with significant biodiversity, ecological, related cultural values and voluntarily conserved by local communities and indigenous peoples through legal ways (Kohli and Jardhari, 2002). It seeks to integrate utilization of natural resource with rural development and participatory action to the resource management both inside and outside PA. In Community-based conservation, communities themselves set the priorities to conserve natural resource. In sub-Saharan Africa, natural resources are central to rural people’s livelihoods economy and resource usage being affected by government policies (Roe et al, 2009). But many indigenous African communities often developed and build complex resource management systems (Fabricius, 2004). Local communities are relevant stakeholder that plays crucial roles being in the management of natural resources and largely recognized by conservationists and development practitioners.