The Murulle Foundation
  P.O. Box 1442, Fort Collins, CO 80522 USA

Current Projects

Forest and Habitat Restoration Cooperating with Bale Mountains National Park

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In December 2004, TMF staff met with officials at Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) to finalize plans for developing a tree nursery at the park's headquarters.

The project will construct a tree nursery, collect and germinate native seed, and eventually transplant seedlings into the park. The project's long-term goal is to produce enough seedlings on an annual basis to re-establish important wildlife corridors for the mountain nyala and other widlife species.

The town of Dinsho has donated land to the park for the nursery, tools and materials have been acquired, and construction is underway. Later in the year, a protective fence around the park headquarters will be expanded. By early 2006, TMF and BMNP expect to have 400,000 seeds planted in the new nursery.

The project is being managed by park staff, and workers from the nearby town of Dinsho are being employed to construct the nursery and collect native seeds. Park officials will share ownership of the new nursery with the town to promote community involvement and encourage the protection of seedlings and mountain nyala habitat. TMF's role is to develop the project plan with BMNP staff, secure funding for the project, and oversee the completion of each stage. After the first two years of planting, BMNP will take over the entire project, and TMF will shift its attention to evaluating potential areas for forest and habitat restoration.

Deforestation

Approximately 88 percent of Ethiopia's population lives in rural areas, depending on agriculture and crop production to fulfill their daily needs. It is estimated that 20,000 people live in Bale Mountains National Park and even more live outside the boundaries regularly accessing the forest for fuelwood and pasture resources. Deforestation, which occurs as the forest is utilized for fuelwood, house construction and to create agricultural land, can have significant impacts on the ecology of the area:

• The park serves as a water cachement for more than forty rivers. The removal of trees and improper farming techniques increases erosion from the Bale massif, which could affect millions of people's water in the lowlands of the Bale region and Somalia.
• The forest fails to regenerate naturally due to domestic livestock feeding on and removing all of the young trees. If a mature tree is cut, the stand remains bare.