Menagesha Suba Forest is located in Oromia State, especial zone of Wolemera and Sebeta-Hawas woreda, far some 35 km from South -West of Addis Ababa, touching upon 10 different kebeles.
As sources indicate the forest was originally protracted in the 15th century by King Zera Yakob of Shewa and was served as crown land in old system.
The forest covers about 9248 Hectares of land. Of which, the natural forest covers over 5000 hectares of land; while the manmade covers around 3000 hectares. The rest of the forest is occupied by nursery station and grassland.
According to Oromia’s Forest and Wild Life Enterprise, the forest has a decade long history of tourism and visitors come to the
forest for an experience that is rooted on the presence of wild life, associated fauna and the scenic landscape. The visitors enjoy in undertaking different activities like forest walking, hiking, bird watching and game viewing.
Acacia melanoxylon, Juniperus procera, Myrsine Africana, Olea europea and Scolopia thiefolia are among the various woody species in the forest that are the source of greater satisfaction in natural exploration, as to this same source.
Other than natural enrichment, there are also different types of plants that are brought through plantation which includes soft wood, eucalyptus and type of different indigenous trees, this same source further elaborated.
Belay Tekele, an expert within the Enterprise said that though the forest has great natural potential to attract mass number of tourists,
due to absence of essential infrastructure, and low attention from the concerned body, the country could not obtain the required income from this tourism destination.
He mentioned that unlike the previous years, the Enterprise has been working to fulfill basic infrastructure within and around the destination mentioning activities underway such as renewing of dormitories and rest rooms. Likewise, building of pensions that would make tourists stay convenient is already taking place, he added.
On the one hand, the enterprise planned to take part in different activities to develop road infrastructures for creating an easy gate of entry.
The forest is a home for about 32 species of mammals such as Colobus Monkey,Anibus Baboon, Hyena, Minilik’s Bushbuck, Warthog and others which has been serving as a source of satisfaction for people who
visit the forest. It also harbors a number of bird species. Amongst the existing 186 birds’ species in the destination, four of the species namely Yellow Fronted Parrot, Abyssinian Wood Pecker, Black Headed Siskin, Abyssinian Catbird are endemic to Ethiopia apart from providing important ecosystem services.
With the intention of making the destination self-reliant, the enterprise has been undertaking various measures such as self-owned income generating activities. To this effect, it is running its own woodwork engineering and nursery station that benefits the local community through job creation and protecting the environment.
Though the forest is visited annually by nearly 10,000 tourists, various joint activities are being carried out with different institutions to increase tourist influx and raise the number of visitors, he noted.
The Ethiopian Herald May 6/2020
BY TAMERU REGASA
