First of all, let’s ask ourselves or concerned parties few key questions…
What happens when a species is introduced into an ecosystem where it doesn’t occur naturally? Are ecosystems flexible and able to cope with change, or can a new arrival have far-reaching repercussions and do permanent damage? Will something special be lost forever? Does it matter?
The movement of plants started since man used to cultivate plants in the ancient times for different purposes all over the world and the movement had been basically based on their positive uses and free of any legal restriction. It was on this basis that important crops such as Coffee and medicinal plants had been taken to different countries from Ethiopia. Ancient travelers had also brought important spices and condiments to Ethiopia. With the advent of time, ornamental plants were also introduced to the country. However, after a long time, people used to notice the invasiveness and the devastating impacts of those plants on agriculture, biodiversity, settlement, health and other human enterprises. Today, billions of dollars are spent per year to control invasive alien plants only and this adds another risk to the rapidly disappearing biodiversity all over the world. Thus, on this virtue, conventions, laws, policies and strategies were developed to make sure that the introduction and movement of alien organisms impose no threats on agriculture, biodiversity and other human enterprises.
Invasive species have been identified by the Environmental Policy of Ethiopia (EPE) and the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) as posing a major threat to biodiversity and economic well-being of the population. However, little attempt to assess the status of IAS has been made, so those species known to be threats are those that are already widespread. Prosopis juliflora was intentionally introduced as an agroforestry species in the Awash basin, but now threatens agricultural land and protected areas in the Awash National Park. It is aggressively invading pastoral areas in the Middle and Upper Awash Valley, and Eastern Harerge, destroying natural pasture, displacing native trees, forming impenetrable thickets, and reducing grazing potential. Parthenium hysterophorus was introduced accidentally through aid shipments, and is spreading rapidly, causing up to 90% reduction in forage production. Its impact in natural habitats has not been assessed, but it clearly poses a major threat to rangelands, Eichhornia crassipes is present in Ethiopia, and is most serious in the White Nile watershed and the Awash River system, with the usual impacts on ecosystem function and human activities.
Attempts to combat the threat of invasives in Ethiopia have followed the usual piecemeal approach, they have not been coordinated across sectors, and have focused mainly on attempting to address the major invaders. The emphasis is on tackling problems that threaten agriculture and human activity, there being insufficient resources, capacity or information available to address the threats to natural ecosystems.
Compiled for this site by Abiyot Berhanu (Webmaster)
Sources:
- 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species
- The Prosopis Dilemma, Impacts on Dryland Biodiversity and some Controlling Methods (Authors: Abiyot Berhanu and Getachew Tesfaye)
- The Extent of Legal Protection on the Introduction and Movement of Invasive Alien Plants: the case of Ethiopia [Author: Mullugojjam Enyew, Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Law: Full Document will come soon]
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research official Website
For more information Contact the Project Coordinator using the following addresses:
Rezene Fessehaie
National Project Coordinator
UNEP/GEF Project
‘Removing Barriers to Invasive Plants
Management in Africa’ – Ethiopia
EIAR
P.O. Box 2003
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: 251-11-6464437
Mobile: 0912-053509
Fax: 251-11-6461294/ 646251
e-mail : rezenefessehaie@yahoo.co.uk
