B. Mezgebu
23 March 2008
Addis Abeba — Three monasteries, some of the oldest in the country, as if on cue and one after another, saw their old-growth forests go up in conflagration for days on end, if not for weeks. The forests at the 3 or 4 monasteries are believed to be of the sort of tree species, (such as the local Junipers) which are disappearing at an alarming rate. Small sized plants and vines as well as a number of wildlife also are feared to have disappeared in the fire accident.
It is not the intension of this column to speculate on how the fires might have started; although that piece of information would, perhaps, intrigue many people. The prevailing dry, windy weather at the time could not have helped. In any case, forest fires have been playing havoc on forest land areas in countries like Australia, Greece, and U.S.A. which goes to show that forest fires are easy to start but not so easy to put out.
What to do in the aftermath of the fires is what interests this piece. What are the lessons learnt in future? Could the fires have been prevented? What will government institutions like the Forestry Research, Ministry of Agriculture, and Universities with well-established life science faculties, do in such cases?
One thing that is urgent and of immediate value to the people within the monasteries perhaps, is to revegetate the burnt sites with the same species that got lost in the fire. It is unfortunate that fire struck at these monasteries of all places, which are the reserve of several threatened species of indigenous trees as well as animals. I hope that we don't travel the beaten path by afforesting them with just eucalyptus.
Although I have not seen any concrete information on the number and type of wildlife in these monasteries of Assebot, Woldeeba and Zukala, there is no doubt several animals occupied niches within the forests. Will we ever know how many animals we may have lost in recent days?
Wildlife conservation in Africa is off-course concerned with big animals where the management is focused on a system of protected areas. That means wildlife that lives outside the few officially delineated parks that we have in this country, for instance, faces death from all sides. And when fires occur, the animals get either roasted or if they escaped they face even a more dangerous enemy: man.
Coming back to the issue of revegtaion of plants and restocking habitats with animals by captive breeding, one case that took place in Europe could be exemplary.
In Europe, large predictors and wolves were almost wiped out in the 19th century. Conservationist and governments made concerted attempts to start from what was left and build back on the numbers of endangered species to a level which would assure immediate safety from extinction. The project has succeeded hugely. Pandas in China are another. Those cute animals now represent perhaps the most familiar pubic relation face of China.
The protection and reinstating of animals and plants requires cutting-age science, endless patience and generous resources. Many countries have been successful in these efforts of bringing animals and plants whose lives were hanging on the balance, back to mainstream.
Ethiopia has its share of critically threatened animals and plants. Although what comes to mind when the words" endangered or "threatened" are mentioned is that only big and charismatic mammals and trees face extinction. The problems are far reaching in fact.
Equally intriguing but tragic is the loss of physically unimposing plants and animals that usually go unnoticed. Herbs, medicinal plants, aromatic plants, plants with special flavors are among the most endangered if they have not been wiped out already. How many of them have been wiped out and how many are on the verge of doing so, remains unclear, off course. If any studies exist, nobody is saying.
The way forward, in my view is, to try all we can do to bring back from the brink the plants and animals that at least used to be household names until the recent past. Agricultural and forestry research institutions, universities, NGOs and others can and should play leading roles in this effort. I am sure some works exist. .
Any recovery and propagation scheme, in my view, makes economic sense. Herbs now are the new cash crops in Europe for instance. They are being shipped as far away as India and Japan. To put it in another way, Ethiopian farmers can benefit from such an effort.
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