Simien Mountains National Park
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Simien Mountains National Park is the largest
national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
in
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. Located in the
North Gondar Zone North Gondar (Amharic: ሰሜን ጎንደር; or Semien Gondar) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century. Geography North Gondar is bordered on the ...
of the
Amhara Region The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...
, its territory covers the highest parts of the
Simien Mountains The Simien Mountains (Amharic: ስሜን ተራራ or Səmen; also spelled Semain, Simeon and Semien), in northern Ethiopia, north east of Gondar in Amhara region, are part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They are a World Heritage Site (since 1978) ...
and includes
Ras Dashan Ras Dashen (Amharic: ራስ ዳሸን ''rās dāshn'') is the highest mountain in Ethiopia. Located in the Simien Mountains National Park in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, it reaches an elevation of 4,550 metres (14,930 ft). T ...
, the highest point in Ethiopia. It is home to a number of endangered species, including the
Ethiopian wolf The Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis''), also called the red jackal, the Simien jackal or Simien fox, is a canine native to the Ethiopian Highlands. In southeastern Ethiopia, it is also known as the horse jackal. It is similar to the coyote in si ...
and the
walia ibex The Walia ibex (''Capra walie'', Amharic: ዋልያ ''wālyā Oromo: Waliyaa or Gadamsa baddaa'') is a vulnerable species of ibex. It is sometimes considered an endemic subspecies of the Alpine ibex. If the population were to increase, the sur ...
, a wild goat found nowhere else in the world. The
gelada baboon The gelada (''Theropithecus gelada'', , ), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of above sea level. It is the only living me ...
and the
caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...
, a cat, also occur within the Simien Mountains. More than 50 species of birds inhabit the park, including the
bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gypaetus''. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of ...
, or lammergeier, with its wingspan. The park is crossed by an unpaved road which runs from Debarq, where the administrative headquarters of the park is located, east through a number of villages to the Buahit Pass, where the road turns south to end at Mekane Berhan, beyond the park boundary.


History

The park was established in 1969, having been set up by Clive Nicol, who wrote about his experiences in ''From the Roof of Africa'' (1971, ). The Simien region has been inhabited and cultivated for at least 2,000 years,initially erosion began to reveal that the clearing began at the gentle slope of the highland valley but later expanded to a steep slope. The national park was one of the first sites to be made a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
, inscribed in 1978 because of its outstanding biodiversity and spectacular landscape. Due to serious population declines of some of its characteristic native species, in 1996 it was added to the
List of World Heritage in Danger The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Conv ...
. With the stabilization of those species' populations, this listing was removed in 2017.


Geography

Simien Mountains National Park is located on the western side of the
Simien Mountains The Simien Mountains (Amharic: ስሜን ተራራ or Səmen; also spelled Semain, Simeon and Semien), in northern Ethiopia, north east of Gondar in Amhara region, are part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They are a World Heritage Site (since 1978) ...
and is from the Gondar province of Begemder in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. It is located within the Simien Massif, which rises above the northern highlands of Ethiopia. The highlands were formed by volcanic flood basalts dating from the
Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
period roughly 30 million years ago. The massif itself is the remnant of a large
shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...
. Over millions of years due to the heavy erosion of the Ethiopian plateau serrated mountain peaks, deep valleys and 1,500 metre high sheer cliffs have been created, creating some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. The Simien area is rich in perforated basalt, and serves as an ideal catchment basin. Water is conserved by the Mayshasha River, which runs through the two rainy seasons, and the national park from north to south. As a result, national parks are abundant with wildlife and plants.


Wildlife


Flora

The vegetation is mixed with African alpine forests, wilderness forests and alpine vegetation. High altitude areas include montane savannah and tree heath (''
Erica arborea ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an o ...
''), giant lobelia ('' Lobelia rhynchopetalum''), yellow primrose (''Primula verticillata''), everlastings (''
Helichrysum The genus ''Helichrysum'' consists of an estimated 600 species of flowering plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is '' Helichrysum orientale''. They often go by the names everlasting, immortelle, and strawflower. The na ...
'' spp.), A lady's mantle (alchemilla), and a moss (mosses,
Grimmiaceae Grimmiaceae is a family (biology), family of mosses in the order Grimmiales. Genera World Flora Online lists the following genera: * ''Bucklandiella'' * ''Codriophorus'' * ''Coscinodon'' * ''Grimmia'' * ''Guembelia'' * ''Leucoperichaetium' ...
). Lichen covers the trees of the alpine area. Vegetation throughout the park is divided into three sections, Montane forest (1900-3000m), Ericaceous Belt or SubAfroalpine (2700-3700m) and the Afroalpine (3700-5433m). Within the Montane forest there are Juniper trees (''Juniperous procera''), African redwood (''Hagenia abyssinica),'' African olive (''Olea africana),'' fig (''Ficus spp),'' and waterberry (''Syzygium guineense).'' There are also many varieties of shrubs including cocona (''Solanum sessilistellatum''), Abyssinian rose (''Rosa abyssinica),'' cowslip (''Primula verticillata''), and
stinging nettle ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Or ...
(''Urtica''). The ridges and canyons have scattered meadows, forests and bushes. At one time, the St. John's wort (''
Hypericum ''Hypericum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Hypericaceae (formerly considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae). The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar re ...
'' spp.) Forests grew from 3,000 m to 3,800 m above sea level, but now it is almost gone. The exact number is not known.


Fauna

The park is populated with a total of 21 large mammal species live within the park boundaries such as
gelada baboon The gelada (''Theropithecus gelada'', , ), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of above sea level. It is the only living me ...
(''Theropithecus gelada''),
Ethiopian wolf The Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis''), also called the red jackal, the Simien jackal or Simien fox, is a canine native to the Ethiopian Highlands. In southeastern Ethiopia, it is also known as the horse jackal. It is similar to the coyote in si ...
(also called Simen fox, ''Canis simensis''),
Walia ibex The Walia ibex (''Capra walie'', Amharic: ዋልያ ''wālyā Oromo: Waliyaa or Gadamsa baddaa'') is a vulnerable species of ibex. It is sometimes considered an endemic subspecies of the Alpine ibex. If the population were to increase, the sur ...
(''Capra walie''), and
Menelik's bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus''), also known as imbabala is a common, medium-sized bushland-dwelling, and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa. It is found in a wide range of habitats, such as rain forests, montane ...
(''Tragelaphus scriptus meneliki''). Inhabits on the slope of the northern slope of the massif are mostly native to the Simien Mountains, and most of them are found in the park. The Ethiopian wolf, Gelada baboon, Menelik's bushbuck, and Walia Ibex are mammals endemic to Ethiopian Highlands. Other rare mammals include
Hamadryas baboon The hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'' ; gawina;Aerts 2019 , Ar Robbaḥ) is a species of baboon within the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern region o ...
, colobus monkey,
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
,
caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...
,
serval The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild small cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and ...
,
wild cat Felidae ( ) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit the greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestria ...
,
spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...
,
golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...
, and
Anubis baboon The olive baboon (''Papio anubis''), also called the Anubis baboon, is a member of the family Cercopithecidae Old World monkeys. The species is the most wide-ranging of all baboons, being native to 25 countries throughout Africa, extending from ...
. There are also small herbivores that are within the slopes of simian mountains, such as
rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (from some interpretations of a word used in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Common ...
, common duiker, and
klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zi ...
. In an expedition in 2015, 11 species of rodents and two shrew species were recorded, all of which are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the Ethiopian Plateau, and 7 of which have only been observed in the Simien Mountains. These include ''
Arvicanthis abyssinicus The Abyssinian grass rat (''Arvicanthis abyssinicus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Ethiopia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, arable land Arable land (from the , "able ...
'' and '' Crocidura baileyi''. A possible new species of shrew in the genus ''
Crocidura The genus ''Crocidura'' is one of nine genera of the shrew subfamily Crocidurinae. Members of the genus are commonly called white-toothed shrews or musk shrews, although both also apply to all of the species in the subfamily. With over 180 sp ...
'' may also have been identified. The park provides a home to 400 species of bird species that thrived throughout the mountainous ecoregion, which includes Abyssinian Woodpecker,
bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gypaetus''. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of ...
,
Tawny eagle The tawny eagle (''Aquila rapax'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. Its heavily feathered legs mark it as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as booted eagles.Helbig, A. J., Kocum, ...
,
Rüppell's vulture Rüppell's vulture (''Gyps rueppelli''), also called Rüppell's griffon vulture, named after Eduard Rüppell, is a large, resident bird of prey, mainly native to the Sahel region and East Africa. It is considered to be the highest-flying bird, ...
,
Verreaux's eagle Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis'') of south and southeast Asia. ...
, Black-winged Lovebird, Ethiopian Black-headed Oriole, Eurasian kestrel,
lanner falcon The lanner falcon (''Falco biarmicus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia. It prefers open habitat and is mainly resident, but some birds disperse more widely after the breeding season. A l ...
,
augur buzzard The augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') is a fairly large African bird of prey. This species is distinct in typical adult plumage for its blackish back, whitish underside and orange-red tail, while juvenile augur buzzards are generally rather brown i ...
and
thick-billed raven The thick-billed raven (''Corvus crassirostris''), a corvid from the Horn of Africa, shares with the common raven the distinction of being the largest bird in the corvid family. The thick-billed raven averages in length, with a range of and we ...
.


Conservation

Simien Mountains National Park was established in 1969 and is protected under the National Reserve Act. The management of national parks effectively protects the representative species of parks and works closely with local residents to reduce the pressure on park resources by expanding arable land, overfishing
livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...
, and overcapacity of natural resources. Sufficient financial support is needed for park management and livelihood alternative development of local residents. It is necessary to prepare, implement, review and monitor the management plan, to revise and expand the boundary of the park, and to participate fully in the local residents. Local cooperation is particularly important to prevent sustainable use of national park resources and to develop sustainable
livelihood A person's livelihood (derived from ''life-lode'', "way of life"; cf. OG ''lib-leit'') refers to their "means of securing the basic necessities (food, water, shelter and clothing) of life". Livelihood is defined as a set of activities essential ...
s. Adequate financial support for resettlement of inhabitants in the heritage area and the introduction of effective livestock management are essential to reduce the severe stress on wildlife. In order to maintain excellent universal values,
environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discipli ...
and training programs of residents living in and out of the heritage are needed as well as obtaining the cooperation and support of local residents in heritage management.


Controversy

The resettlement of inhabitants was criticized as a case of green colonialism, whereby local people's practices are replaced by eco-tourism economy.


Gallery

Semien Mountains 13.jpg, Simien Mountains Mountain nyala.jpg , Bushbuck Geladas near Chennek.jpg,
Gelada The gelada (''Theropithecus gelada'', , ), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of above sea level. It is the only living me ...
s Canis simensis -Simien Mountains, Ethiopia-8.jpg,
Ethiopian wolf The Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis''), also called the red jackal, the Simien jackal or Simien fox, is a canine native to the Ethiopian Highlands. In southeastern Ethiopia, it is also known as the horse jackal. It is similar to the coyote in si ...
Giant Lobelia 03.jpg, ''Lobelia rhynchopetalum'' Raptor, Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia (2456222802).jpg,
Tawny eagle The tawny eagle (''Aquila rapax'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. Its heavily feathered legs mark it as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as booted eagles.Helbig, A. J., Kocum, ...
Thick-billed Raven 02.jpg,
Thick-billed raven The thick-billed raven (''Corvus crassirostris''), a corvid from the Horn of Africa, shares with the common raven the distinction of being the largest bird in the corvid family. The thick-billed raven averages in length, with a range of and we ...
Simienské hory.jpg, Cliff in the National Park


See also

* National parks in Ethiopia *
List of World Heritage Sites in Ethiopia The UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural heritage, cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, establis ...


References


External links


Simien Mountains National Park

UNESCO World Heritage profile of Simien National Park

Explore Simien National Park in the UNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture

United Nations Environment Programme: World Conservation Monitoring Centre: Simien National Park


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060323175533/http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/06/29-06-01/Nationa.htm The National Parks of Ethiopia: Simien Mountain Adventure - Part II (''Addis Tribune'')
The National Parks of Ethiopia: Simien Mountain Adventure - Part III (''Addis Tribune'')
{{authority control National parks of Ethiopia Protected areas of Amhara Region Simien Mountains Ethiopian Highlands World Heritage Sites in Ethiopia World Heritage Sites in Danger Protected areas established in 1969 1969 establishments in Ethiopia Important Bird Areas of Ethiopia Ethiopian montane moorlands