In Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa, Gullele Botanical Garden captivates city dwellers
ADDIS ABABA - Five miles northwest of Addis Ababa’s thriving city center is the lush Gullele Botanic Garden (GBG), the first well-established site of its kind in Ethiopia that covers both forest and semi-forest vegetation.
Of the more than 2,500 botanical gardens that exist in the world, only an estimated 4 percent are in Africa, many of which can be traced back to colonial times in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Unpublished GBG records show that efforts to establish a botanical garden in Ethiopia date as far back as four decades. However, Gullele was only officially inaugurated in January 2019, 14 years after it was realized as a joint venture between Addis Ababa University and the city administration, which provided full funding for the 705-hectare (1,740-acre) park.
Berhanu Belay, the garden’s director of botanical research and development, says awareness has improved significantly since then and that it’s even been referred to as the “green lung” of Ethiopia’s capital.
Conservation of plant species
Mongabay Series: Global Forests
In Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa, Gullele Botanical Garden captivates city dwellers
by Maheder Haileselassie Tadese on 3 June 2019
Gullele Botanic Garden (GBG) is the first of its kind located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Officially inaugurated and opened to the public in January 2019, it has become increasingly popular among the city’s residents and educators.
On a smaller scale, similar initiatives such as Shashemene Botanical Garden are being undertaken elsewhere in the country.
ADDIS ABABA - Five miles northwest of Addis Ababa’s thriving city center is the lush Gullele Botanic Garden (GBG), the first well-established site of its kind in Ethiopia that covers both forest and semi-forest vegetation.
Of the more than 2,500 botanical gardens that exist in the world, only an estimated 4 percent are in Africa, many of which can be traced back to colonial times in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Unpublished GBG records show that efforts to establish a botanical garden in Ethiopia date as far back as four decades. However, Gullele was only officially inaugurated in January 2019, 14 years after it was realized as a joint venture between Addis Ababa University and the city administration, which provided full funding for the 705-hectare (1,740-acre) park.
Berhanu Belay, the garden’s director of botanical research and development, says awareness has improved significantly since then and that it’s even been referred to as the “green lung” of Ethiopia’s capital.
Conservation of plant species
A green house at the Gullele Botanical Garden in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo courtesy Gullele Botanical Garden.
A green house at the Gullele Botanical Garden in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo courtesy Gullele Botanical Garden.
Over the past year, the botanical garden received recognition from Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), a U.K. charity membership organization, for its focus and best practices on plant conservation. According to BGCI, more than 9,600 trees worldwide are in danger of extinction and more than 1,900 are critically endangered.
Belay says his main priority this year is to introduce and cultivate critically endangered indigenous and endemic plant species, such as Euphorbia burgeri, known locally as qulqual, and Erythrina burana, or welina.
With the increase in Ethiopia’s population and scarcity of agricultural land, forest degradation and the consequent loss of biodiversity have become key problems for the country. Studies show that 13 percent of the total woody plant flora in Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea are endangered.
Негізгі бет THE JUNGLE OF GULLELE, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA/AFRICA/
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