Tukhul is an

exclosure An exclosure, in an area being used extensively for grazing, is a limited area from which unwanted browsing animals, such as domestic cattle or wildlife such as deer, are excluded by fencing or other means. Environmental protection Most common ...

located in between the villages of Tukhul and Miheni in the

Dogu'a Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien) is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Nowadays, the mountainous district is part of the Southeastern Tigray ...

''woreda'' of the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob, and Kunama people, Kunama people. Its ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

. The area has been protected since 1998 by the local community.

Timeline

* 1998: established as exclosure by the community * 2017: support by the

EthioTrees The EthioTrees Ecosystem Restoration Association, in short EthioTrees, established in 2016, is a project for environmental rehabilitation and woodland restoration in Dogu’a Tembien (Ethiopia). Context Since many years, there has been severe ...

project

Environmental characteristics

* Area: 36 ha * Average slope gradient: 16% * Aspect: the exclosure is oriented towards the south and the east * Minimum altitude: 1959 metres * Maximum altitude: 2039 metres * Lithology:

Antalo Limestone The Antalo Limestone, also known as the Antalo Sequence, is a geological formation in Ethiopia. It is between 300 and 800 metres thick and comprises fossiliferous limestones and marls that were deposited in a reef. Marine microfossils have shown ...

Management

As a general rule, cattle ranging and wood harvesting are not allowed. The grasses are harvested once yearly and taken to the homesteads of the village to feed livestock. Physical soil and water conservation has been implemented to enhance infiltration, and vegetation growth. There are two guards to protect the exclosure. Field observations showed that no illegal grazing occurred in the exclosure in 2018.

Benefits for the community

Setting aside such areas fits with the long-term vision of the communities were ''hiza’iti'' lands are set aside for use by the future generations. It has also direct benefits for the community: * improved

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

availability *

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

production Tukhul exclosure 2

* climate ameliorator (temperature, moisture) * the sequestered carbon (in total 73 tonnes per ha, dominantly sequestered in the soil, and additionally in the woody vegetation) is certified using the Plan Vivo voluntary carbon standard,EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website
/ref> after which carbon credits are sold * the revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities; it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, or conservation in the exclosures.

Biodiversity

With vegetation growth, biodiversity in this exclosure hast strongly improved: there is more varied vegetation and

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted f ...

. Particularly, with regard to birdlife, one may observe

black-winged lovebird The black-winged lovebird (''Agapornis taranta'') also known as Abyssinian lovebird is a mainly green bird of the parrot family. At about 16.5 cm (6.5 inches) long, it is the largest of the lovebird genus, a group of small parrots. The ...

greyish eagle-owl The greyish eagle-owl or vermiculated eagle-owl (''Bubo cinerascens'') is a rather large owl of the northern part of sub-Saharan Africa. It was previously regarded as the northern subspecies of the spotted eagle-owl (''Bubo africanus''). Descrip ...

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "crown" of feathers. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single ...

black-billed wood hoopoe The black-billed wood hoopoe (''Phoeniculus somaliensis'') is a species of bird in the family Phoeniculidae. It is native to eastern Africa where it is found in wooded and scrubby areas. Description The black-billed wood hoopoe is very similar ...

, banded barbet,

Nubian woodpecker The Nubian woodpecker (''Campethera nubica'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is distributed widely in Central and Eastern Africa, from Chad in west to Somalia in east and Tanzania in south. It is a fairly common species with a wid ...

Abyssinian woodpecker The Abyssinian woodpecker (''Dendropicos abyssinicus''), also known as the golden-backed woodpecker or the golden-mantled woodpecker, is a species of bird in the woodpecker family, Picidae. It is native to Africa, where it occurs in Eritrea and E ...

, grey-headed batis and

montane white-eye Heuglin's white-eye (''Zosterops poliogastrus''), also known as the Ethiopian white-eye (formerly the montane white-eye), is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is found in north-eastern and eastern Africa, primarily in Ethiopia and ...

. In the adjacent seasonal grazing land

Clapperton's francolin Clapperton's spurfowl (''Pternistis clappertoni'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda. Taxonomy Clappert ...

, black-bellied bustard, and red-backed shrike, can be spotted during the tall grass season.

References

{{reflist, 32em

External links

EthioTrees on Davines website

EthioTrees project website

EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website

Link For Forestry Projects
1998 establishments in Ethiopia Exclosures of Tigray Region Dogu'a Tembien