FOREST Community Based Tourism

To increase the communities’ incentive to participate in the conservation of their forest, SUNARMA has commissioned a feasibility study of the potential for introducing a community-based tourism (CbT) development into the Wof-Washa Forest  The intention is to enable forest communities to earn an additional income from tourism directly related to their stewardship of the resources around them. Sunarma will be working on this project in association with TESFA (Tourism in Ethiopia for Sustainable Future Alternatives).

Location:

The topography and diversity of Wof-Washa Forest (WWF) are dramatic, ranging from 3,500 masl at the top of the Rift Valley escarpment to 2,500 masl where WWF merges into the acacia scrubland on the valley floor. With this varied altitude goes a whole range of indigenous (and some exotic) trees and vegetation. Along with the landscape, there are large troops of gelada baboon (endemic mammal of high tourist interest due to their looks and behaviour), rock hyrax (like an overgrown guinea pig), klipspringer (small shy deer) and a huge range of bird life with lammergeyers and augur buzzards among the birds of prey. The location and height of the rift valley wall bring frequent rain which keeps the area green.  

WWF lies on the main Dessie-Mekelle road to the north, the most direct way to Lalibela, the country’s number one tourist attraction. On the south-eastern side of WWF is the old site of the capital of Ethiopia and Shoa. There are some remnants of the old buildings set upon the massive rift valley escarpment with views down onto the valley floor, an arid zone peopled by pastoralists (Afar, Karayou and Argoba). The newly founded Ankober Lodge, the only existing tourism accommodation, is an unusual lodge perched on the edge of the rift valley. It is built on the site of the old Shoan ‘palace’, and its style is in keeping with construction from Menelik’s era: thatched roofs, high ceilings and a big hall for dining with a fire inside (see TESFA site). 

The Project Plan:

The CbT project will assist communities in WWF to develop accommodation sites in and around the forest. There will be trekking from the sites into the forest and along the escarpment edges. The intention is to link the community tourism enterprises (CTEs) to a guiding facility in Debre Berhan, which in turn would be linked to a technical support structure in Addis (supplied through TESFA). This linkage gives the CTEs access to a market they would struggle to link with otherwise and a strong guiding structure, essential for a good tourist product. Our feasibility study has identified the key sites suitable for building CTEs. The intention in a first phase is to develop sites in relatively easy walking distance of the main road but all with commanding views and good access to the lodge or the forest. A second phase will identify camps set deep in the forest using raised constructions to get a treetop view. This programme is now fully costed and SUNARMA is working to secure funding.

The cost of the first phase over three years is £150,000 (birr 2,686,500), equal to £30,000 (birr 537,300) per lodge, and will include community development and training, construction and equipping of lodges/camps with basic facilities, and establishing and training a guide facility in Debre Berhan. Income will accrue to the communities through charges for staying in the lodges, to be split between the local host committees, the guiding association and the booking and marketing unit in Addis Ababa. Cooks, guards and guides will be the main jobs created.

It is hoped that community consultation will take place during late 2008 with building works commencing at the start of 2009.