BY LEULSEGED WORKU
Ethiopia is a land where several fauna and floras are found and it is also a place where communities live in harmony with nature. However, for known or unknown reasons some of these natural endowments are neither properly utilized nor converted into tourist attraction sites at the desired level.
However, this does not mean that there are no areas that earn due attention from nature lovers and converted to be source of income for the community and places of recreation for tourists. Combining the natural blessings together with the special leadership skill, several places are turned into earthly paradise. The recently built parks Unity, Friendship, Entoto parks and others can be taken as good examples in this regard.
Once abandoned and shanty places are now changed into stunning tourist attraction sites. In addition to such areas, there are also several Eco villages that the nation enfolds within its beautiful landscape. Choke Mountains Eco village is among such tourist sites that earn global attention from nature lovers, become a source of income and lately recognized by The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as “2022 Best Tourism Village.”
The Choke Mountainous Village is situated at 300 KM from Addis Ababa and it is found in the Western Gojjam Zone, Dega Damot Woreda, Amhara State where a unique tourism experience that combines environmental protection, community wide tourism and unique tourism experience is found. It is also one of the Eco villages in Ethiopia that integrate social norms of the community with tourism and proper natural resource protection.
The Choke Village stands in a substantial patch of indigenous forest that supports Colobus Guereza, Menelik`s Bushbuck and the Common Duiker as well as a variety of endemic birds. Since the village is founded closer to a mountain river that forms many waterfalls and a forest, it has a refreshing environment to the mind and recreational value to the body.
An important watershed feeding the Nile Basin, Choke is cultivated up to the 3,300 meter contour, while higher altitudes support an indigenous cover of grassland and moorland studded with giant lobelias and home to several highland endemics.
As documents indicate, the Mount Choke is the third highest mountain in Ethiopia. Rising to an elevation of 4,070m around 40km northeast of Debre Markos, this ancient volcanic massif (also known as Choke Terara) is incised by steep riverine valleys that held glaciers during the last ice age.
The UNWTO has selected Choke Village among 32 top Eco villages in 2022. Out of a total 32 villages from 18 countries, Choke Mountains Village is selected among the top and awarded the recognition.
“The Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO recognizes villages that are outstanding examples of a rural tourism destination with accredited cultural and natural assets, that preserve and promote rural and community-based values, products, and lifestyle and have a clear commitment to innovation and sustainability in all its aspects – economic, social and environmental,” a WTO statement published on Monday pointed out.
Welcoming the news, WTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said tourism could be a true game changer to the livelihood of rural communities and the Best Tourism Villages by WTO showcases the power of the sector to drive economic diversification and create opportunities for all villages outside big cities.
The Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO recognizes villages that are outstanding examples of a rural tourism destination with accredited cultural and natural assets that preserve and promote rural and community-based values, products and lifestyle and have a clear commitment to innovation and sustainability in all its aspects economic, social and environmental. The village is expected to be one of the stimulants for rural development and be a model village to introduce the untapped tourism and natural resources of the country. Choke village in this regard is a community based environmental protection ecosystem including amazing waterfalls, forests and wildlife and Blue Nile watersheds with unique flora and fauna.
Tourism is a true game changer in providing jobs, supporting local businesses and keeping traditions alive. The Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO showcase the power of the sector to drive economic diversification and create opportunities for all outside of big cities. Ethiopia is pursuing a sustainable development policy. Using the available resources and the opportunities nature provides the country is pursuing a policy that nurtures sustainable development that benefits all.
The Best Tourism Villages initiative is the flagship project of the UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Program. The Program aims to ensure tourism contributes to reducing regional inequalities in income and development, fighting depopulation, progressing gender equality and women’s and youth empowerment. Further, it is key in advancing innovation and digitalization, improving connectivity, infrastructure, access to finance and investment, innovating in product development and value chain integration, promoting sustainable practices for more efficient use of resources and a reduction of emissions and waste and enhancing education and skills, it was said.
The Program promotes multi-level governance and partnerships and the active involvement and empowerment of communities.
Following the reform of the nation, several sustainable development projects have been implemented all over the nation and effective results are being registered all over the country. The tourism sector, which is one of the areas that are given due attention by the government, is creating job opportunities for several Ethiopians, aside from building the image of the nation and preserving the traditional values of the country. In this regard, the achievement of Choke Mountains Eco village is worth appreciating and can also be taken as model tourist destinations for other Eco villages that are found in the country.
According to the statement, the award ceremony will take place in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, on 27-28 February, 2023 back-to-back with the first presidential meeting of the WTO Network of Best Tourism Villages.
It is recalled that spectacular Wonchi Crater Lake was recognized as one of the best tourism villages of 2021.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 23 DECEMBER 2022
