Ethiopia Set to Inscribe Bale Mountains Park under UNESCO === == === ==

 Ethiopia is working to inscribe one of its national parks – the Bale Mountains National Park – under UNESCO’s world heritage list, the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority said.

Wildlife Development and Protection Director with the Authority, Girma Timer told ENA that the country is working to submit the documents required for the registration of the park.

 

Boundary demarcation, system management plan and a nomination file are the key criteria to be incorporated in the document.

The boundary demarcation and system management plan of the park has already completed and properly documented.

Preparation of the nomination file which will contain detailed information of the park, exceptional resource values, and the significance of the park is under compilation, he underlined.

“After fulfilling the three components, we will submit to the IUCN Advisory Body then the Advisory body will submit it to UNESCO World Heritage committee”, Girma pointed out.

Most of the prerequisites for registration are being finalizing in order to submit the document before February.

“We hope that Bale Mountains National Park will have a better chance to  be nominated and registered under UNESCO’s list during the coming two or three years” he said.

The Bale Mountains National Park is a protected area of approximately 2,200 km2 and is located 400km southeast of Addis Ababa in Oromia regional state.

It belongs to the Bale-Arsi massif, which forms the western section of the south-eastern Ethiopian highlands.

The park is the most important stronghold to three endemic large mammal species including Ethiopian wolf, Mountain Nyala and Bale Monkey, while its incredible avifauna is reflected by the African Birding Club having listed it as one of the continent’s top five birding hotspots, according to ETO.

The Bale Mountains ecosystem and its associated diversity of habitats are an internationally recognized centre for endemism and biodiversity, with a quarter of mammals and 6 percent of birds in the area are endemic.

source ena