Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest, North
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rism & Woldie and Tadesse, J Tourism Hospit 2018, 7:5 ou H f T o o s l p DOI: 10.4172/2167-0269.1000384 a i t n a r l i u t y o J Journal of Tourism & Hospitality ISSN: 2167-0269 Research Article Article OpenOpen Access Access Potentials and Opportunities of Community Tourism Venture in the Wof- Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest, North Shewa Administrative Zone, Ethiopia Birhan Ali Woldie and Solomon Ayele Tadesse* Department of Natural Resources Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia Abstract The Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest is one of the oldest proclaimed state forests in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The forest is endowed with mosaic of landscapes, natural and plantation forests, mosaic of cultures and traditions, the presence of historical site in the vicinity, variety of bird species, and the presence of different wild mammal species including the large body-sized endemic gelada and Menelik’s bushbuck. All of these are top tourist attractions in the area. However, the forest is under serious human-and livestock-induced pressure that threatens the status of the natural biodiversity. The objective of this paper was to explore potentials and opportunities of community tourism venture in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest. To introduce and promote community-based ecotourism in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest, SUNARMA (i.e. Sustianable Natural Resources Management Association) has built tourist campsites at four different sites (namely: Kundi, Goshu-Meda, Mescha, and Liq-Marefya). Since Septermber 2017, domestic and foreign (i.e. international) tourists have started visiting the forest. For example, a total of 243 tourists so far visited the forest and about 97,386 ETB (i.e. equivalent to $ 3,536.91) was collected as a revenue from the visitng tourists. As per the agreement, the revenue was equally distributed to all members who belonged to the four community-based ecotourism cooperatives found around the forest. This suggests that introducing and promoting community-based conservation efforts that allow communities to derive economic benefits from ecotourism enhance forest conservation while at the same time providing an optimal solution to resource use conflicts. Ecotourism activity can also improve and diversify the incomes of the local people through creating job opportunities, such as tourist guiding services, souvenir selling, and horse renting all of which can help make community-based ecotourism economically viable in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest. Keywords: Biodiversity; Birds; Community-based ecotourism; It is considered one of the most threatened forest ecosystems in the Endemic; Mosaic of cultures and landscapes; Wild mammals Amhara National Regional State [6]. Introduction There are different opinions about the size of the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest. For example, previous researchers The Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest is one of the estimated that the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest oldest proclaimed state forests in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The was thought to cover an area of 3,500 ha [2-4]. However, later it was forest is rich in biodiversity. For example, it is home to a number of estimated that the forest covered an area of 10,000 ha FAO [7]. In wild plant and animal species that are unique and some of them are another instance, a baseline survey carried out by Sustanable Natural even endemic to Ethiopia and East Africa. As an assert, plant species, Respources Management Association (SUNARMA) in June 2002 such as oregano (Thymus serulatus), megfra (Lobellia rhynchopet), indicated that the natural forest remnants and woodlands of the Wof- and Guassa (Festica abyssinica), bird species including Ankober serin Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest were being reduced at an (Serinus ankoberensis), abyssinian catbird (Parophasma galinieri), alarming rate. For example, the 2002 survey showed that the natural abyssinian long-claw (Macronyx flavicollis), Ethiopian siskin (Serinus forest cover was about 8,290 ha, a reduction of nearly 1000 ha from the nigriceps), spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus) and 9,260 ha that was estimated in 1994 forest inventory by Department of wattled ibis (Bostrychia carunculata), and wild mammals, such as Agriculture in North Shewa Adminstrtive Zone [6]. A forest inventory gelada (Theropithecus gelada) and Menelik’s bushbuck (Juniperus conducted by SUNARMA in March 2005 estimated that the natural procera) are a few of the endemic species that are found in the Wof- Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest [1-4]. The Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest is also known for its very steep slopes and rugged topography. For example, there are several peaks covered by the *Corresponding author: Solomon Ayele Tadesse, Department of Natural Resources Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest and ericaceous shrubs Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia, Tel: +251-111-6815440; Fax: +251-111- among which the highest is at about 3,500 m at the north-western part 6812065; E-mail: [email protected] of the forest (Figure 1) [3-5]. All of these are top tourist attractions in Received September 11, 2018; Accepted October 15, 2018; Published October the area. 22, 2018 The Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest is located Citation: Woldie BA, Tadesse SA (2018) Potentials and Opportunities of in North Shewa Administrative Zone (about 9°45’ N and 39°45’ E), Community Tourism Venture in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest, North Shewa Administrative Zone, Ethiopia. J Tourism Hospit 7: 384. doi: central highlands of Ethiopia, and some 160 km northeast of Addis 10.4172/2167-0269.1000384 Ababa in Amhara National Regonal State (Figure 2) [3,5]. The forest area is found in the highlands of the region where intensive crop Copyright: © 2018 Woldie BA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits cultivation has been practiced for many centuries. It is one of the few unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the remaining forest areas and the only major natural forest in the region. original author and source are credited. J Tourism Hospit, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 5 • 1000384 ISSN: 2167-0269 Citation: Woldie BA, Tadesse SA (2018) Potentials and Opportunities of Community Tourism Venture in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest, North Shewa Administrative Zone, Ethiopia. J Tourism Hospit 7: 384. doi: 10.4172/2167-0269.1000384 Page 2 of 8 forest cover had continued to decline down to 8,222 ha (SUNARMA, unpublished data). The differences in the area coverage of the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest suggested the need for further investigations about the exact boundary of the forest. Moreover, the forest is under steady human- and livestock-induced pressures which are believed to reduce the area of the forest as time goes on. The factors that are contributing to the loss of the forest and its biodiversity are complex [8,9]. However, the forest is principally threatened by the demand for agricultural land exapnasion due to the increase in human population, uncontrolled grazing and illegal timber harvesting activities that all accelerate severe forest destruction in the area [10,11]. For example, in the recent past, the demand for agricultural land by an increasing human population has removed important vegetation cover to the extent of deforesting areas not suitable even for cultivation. This is because the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest is an integral part of the local people’s livelihoods and economy [6,9-11]. So, introducing and promoting community-based conservation efforts Figure 1: Partial view of the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest. (Photo by the first author, 2017). that allow communities to derive economic benefits from ecotourism enhance forest conservation while at the same time providing an Figure 2: Map showing the location of the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest in the Amhara National Regional State. J Tourism Hospit, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 5 • 1000384 ISSN: 2167-0269 Citation: Woldie BA, Tadesse SA (2018) Potentials and Opportunities of Community Tourism Venture in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane Hotspot Forest, North Shewa Administrative Zone, Ethiopia. J Tourism Hospit 7: 384. doi: 10.4172/2167-0269.1000384 Page 3 of 8 optimal solution to resource use conflicts. Ecotourism activity can (Vanellus melanocephalus) and wattled ibis (Bostrychia carunculata) also improve and diversify the incomes of the local people through [1]. Moreover, the escarpment of the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane creating job opportunities, such as tourist guiding services, souvenir Hotspot Forest was regarded as one of Ethiopia’s important bird selling, and horse renting all of which can help make community-based areas. For example, the forest supports important communities of ecotourism economically viable in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane ruppell’s chat (Myrmecocichla melaena), scarce swift (Schoutedenapus Hotspot Forest [10,12-15]. Therefore, the objective of this paper was myoptilus), lammergeyer (Gypaetus barbatus), mountain buzzard to explore the potentials and opportunities of community tourism (Buteo oreophilus), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), red-breasted venture in the Wof-Washa Dry Afromontane