12/21/2004

The lush grasslands of the Nechasar National Park in southern Ethiopia are a wildlife paradise, but the thatched huts of the people who formerly lived on this land are empty. A reported two thousand families have been forced to leave their homes and relocate outside the boundaries of the Park to accommodate the development of the park by a Netherlands-based foundation.

Visiting Nechasar Park, Refugees International (RI) met a number of local people who said that they had been forced off their land earlier this year so that the park can be fenced and tourist facilities developed. They said that they did not receive any compensation for the lands they lived on for many years and little assistance of any kind. Moreover, the land to which they were moved outside the boundaries of the Park is already occupied. A bridge and road to their new homes was washed out by a flood, cutting them off from access to health facilities, schools, and other social services. The planned fence around the park will also separate them from the town of Arba Minch, already a long day’s walk away.

People and parks should not be incompatible and tourist dollars for the government and the African Parks Foundation should not be earned on the back of such suffering. A sustainable future for conservation lies in developing incentives for local communities to conserve and manage their own environments, not in increasing the suffering of people who already have few opportunities to build secure futures for themselves and their children.