Southwest Ethiopia afromontane forests. The site account is based on our past research supported by FAO, The Christensen Fund and PhD project funded by Bangor University. The area included under this site
A few stands of intact afromontane forests are remain in southwest Ethiopia. These forests are located along rivers and inaccessible rocky areas. The main emergent tree species of these forest stands are:
More than half area of these forests, which easily accessible, are highly affected by human disturbance from coffee management, cattle grazing and timber extraction. The relict of these forests are found distributed as a patch in agricultural landscapes. This site also aimed to show how these small isolated forest fragments distributed in human dominated landscapes are important in biodiversity conservation in southwest Highlands of Ethiopia.
Fragmented forests in southwest Ethiopia are categorized into sacred and non-sacred forests based on their management:. Indigenous sacred forests: are small patch of forests belong to the indigenous communities. They are
associated with traditional belief systems and have been protected by strong local belief in
their status as sacred sites and consequent strict application of religious
practices, taboos, customary laws for their protection by indigenous
institutions.
Non-sacred forests: are patch of forests of different size subjected to intensive use. They are communal resources where people can extract forest products.