Bale Eco-region Sustainable Management Programme policy brief no. 1

The Bale Mountains are among the world’s leading biodiversity hotspots, containing different ecological zones including moist tropical forest, afro-alpine habitats, woodlands, grasslands, wetlands and a large percentage of Ethiopia’s endemic plants and animals. It is also one of the areas in Ethiopia where a lack of proper natural resources management is threatening these unique resources as well as the water supply to an estimated 12 million people living downstream. (August 2007)