African Parks closes deal to manage Ethiopia’s Gambella National Park

South Africa-based conservation NGO African Parks has signed a long-term deal with Ethiopian authorities to manage Gambella National Park. The park is Ethiopia’s largest protected area, a 4,575-square-kilometer (1,766-square-mile) landscape on the border with South Sudan. Its savannas, floodplains, and woodlands host some of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Ethiopia, including threatened species such as its largest remaining population of savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), as well as Nubian giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) and Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros), a type of antelope.

Julian Bayliss, who worked with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) as a technical adviser told Mongabay that the Ethiopian government is likely hoping African Parks can help increase the number of visitors to Gambella.

“Tourism to the parks in Ethiopia, except for the Simien mountains, is very, very low. There are not many coming, and there should be, because it’s a very exciting landscape. It’s full of interesting animals, it’s got good numbers, it’s got good diversity, it’s got good species,” he said.

Gambella forms part of a wider landscape that encompasses two parks across the border in South Sudan: Boma National Park and Badingilo National Park, both of which are also managed by African Parks. Last year, the group announced findings of an aerial survey that showed an annual migration of 6 million antelopes between the three parks.

“[That’s] double the size of the Serengeti wildebeest migration, which makes it the largest in Africa,” Bayliss said.

Not far away in the region, African Parks also manages Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Chinko Nature Reserve in the Central African Republic. Adding Gambella to its portfolio brings the total protected area under the group’s management to more than 200,000 km2 (77,200 mi2) — larger than the country of Senegal — with 23 parks in 13 countries. The Gambella management deal follows a plan announced by CEO Peter Fearnhead in New York last September to increase that number to 30 by 2030.

The group said there will be a year-long “transition phase” before it assumes control of Gambella, during which it plans to assess the sociopolitical dynamics around the park and build relationships with surrounding communities.

“Improving infrastructure and accessibility, as well as a tourism development plan, will be a focus as soon as the transition period is complete, and we are more established on the ground,” Jean Labuschagne, director of conservation development at African Parks, told Mongabay in an email.

During this period, African Parks plans to “gather the necessary understanding and knowledge to ensure that future plans and strategies are tailored to the local context, with the input of and collaboration of local communities living in and around the park,” she wrote.

The deal marks a return to Ethiopia for African Parks after an absence of nearly 20 years. Ethiopia was one of the first countries where the group operated, but it withdrew from Nech Sar and Omo national parks in 2007 after only a few years.

“Both parks face considerable challenges arising from the unsustainable use by one or more ethnic groups, often in competition and conflict with each other,” the group wrote at the time.

Gambella is likely to present its own difficulties. The area around the park has been conflict-prone for decades, with violent clashes regularly occurring between Nuer and Anuak communities, including in recent years. Historically, these disputes arose over access to land, as Anuak farmers accused migrant Nuer pastoralists from South Sudan of encroaching on their territory. Violence worsened during years of conflict in Sudan, when the Gambella region was used as a staging ground for cross-border attacks by rebels with ties to Sudanese Nuer communities and the Ethiopian government.

The park has also faced encroachment by agricultural investors, leading to a 500-km2 (193-mi2) reduction in its total area. These projects caused the forced displacement of Anuak communities from areas near the park, exacerbated by a “villagization” policy implemented by the Ethiopian government in the early 2010s.

Poaching of Gambella’s wildlife continues to be a problem, carried out by both Sudanese refugees and locals, some of whom live in towns in and around the park that were established by the Ethiopian government in the 1980s. In 2015, a team of wildlife surveyors reported seeing “multiple killings” of wildlife by soldiers.

In a statement published alongside the deal’s announcement, the president of the Gambella regional government said the agreement marks a new chapter for the park.

“By working together with African Parks and EWCA, we’ll not only conserve our wilderness but also create economic opportunities for local communities. This is a significant step towards a more prosperous and sustainable future for our region,” Alemitu Umod said.

Banner image: A herd of buffalo in Gambella National Park. Image courtesy of African Parks.

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