Abstract
This study was conducted in Harenna Forest, Harenna Buluk District, South East Ethiopia to assess threats and conservation challenges of wildlife in Harenna Forests. Data collection was carried out from March to June, 2016 using questionnaire surveys, interviews and focus group discussion. The wildlife threats and conservation challenges of Harenna Forests were varied among different village’s forests. The data revealed that deforestation; habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation; agriculture expansion; settlement; overutilization of forest resources; human-wildlife conflict; fire; district’s administration problems and wildlife hunting were the major wildlife threats in the area. Conservation of wildlife resources in Harenna Forest are challenged mainly due to urbanization, agricultural expansion, habitat fragmentation, and resource extraction. Most of respondents (86.5%) acknowledged that the status of wildlife in the Harenna Forest is decreasing particularly due to the above mentioned anthropogenic causes. Therefore, awareness creation programmes should be organized in the community and it will help to reduce wildlife threats and to develop wildlife management. Key words: Conservation challenge, Harenna Forest, threat, wildlife.
Highlights
Forests are one of the major biome types on Earth, and of fundamental importance to wildlife
Wildlife conservation in Ethiopia embodies both utilization of wildlife resources and conservation to make allowance for its continuity in as near natural a state as possible
Primary sources of data were gathered via household survey, focus group discussion (FGD), in depth interview and observation to find out information related to factors that influence wildlife resources and conservation practices within the forest
Summary
Forests are one of the major biome types on Earth, and of fundamental importance to wildlife. The extent of natural forest cover in Ethiopia in the early 1990s was estimated to range from 2.5 to 3.0 million hectares. Despite the presence of diversified wildlife and their invaluable benefits, wildlife resources of Ethiopia are under ongoing pressure due to: direct causes including habitat conversion, unsustainable utilization, and invasive species, replacement of local varieties and breeds, climate change, and pollution. Added to these direct causes, demographic changes, poverty, and lack of awareness and coordination, can become indirect causes (Daszak et al, 2000; Ho et al, 2007; IBC, 2014). The modern system of wildlife conservation in Ethiopia began after 1960s, when international conservation interest was initiated (IBC, 2014)
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