Walta (Dogu'a Tembien) Explained

Official Name:Walta
Settlement Type:Municipality
Pushpin Map:Ethiopia
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Ethiopia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Ethiopia
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Tigray
Subdivision Type2:Zone
Subdivision Name2:Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern)
Subdivision Type3:Woreda
Subdivision Name3:Dogu'a Tembien
Area Total Km2:54.85
Timezone:EAT
Utc Offset:+3
Coordinates:13.5833°N 50°W
Elevation M:2340

Walta is a municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The tabia centre is in Da’erere village, located approximately 7 km to the south of the woreda town Hagere Selam.

Geography

The tabia stretches down from the foot of the Tsatsen ridge escarpment towards Giba River. It is further bound by three gorges: Gra Adiam/Bitchoqo in the east, Giba River in the south, and Zeyi River in the west. The highest peak is near the top of Tsatsen plateau (2760 m a.s.l.) and the lowest place at the confluence of Giba and Zeyi Rivers (1400 m a.s.l.), which have a difference in elevation of nearly 1400 metres.

Geology

From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present:[1]

Geomorphology and soils

The main geomorphic units, with corresponding soil types are:[3]

See also: Soil in Dogu'a Tembien.

Climate and hydrology

Climate and meteorology

The rainfall pattern shows a very high seasonality with 70 to 80% of the annual rain falling in July and August. Mean temperature in Da’erere is 19.3 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 10.8 °C and maximum of 27.4 °C. The contrasts between day and night air temperatures are much larger than seasonal contrasts.[4]

Rivers

The Giba River is the most important river in the surroundings of the tabia. It flows towards Tekezze River and further on to the Nile. These rivers have incised deep gorges which characterise the landscape.[5] The drainage network of the tabia is organised as follows:[6]

Whereas they are (nearly) dry during most of the year, during the main rainy season, these rivers carry high runoff discharges, sometimes in the form of flash floods. Especially at the begin of the rainy season they are brown-coloured, evidencing high soil erosion rates.

Springs

As there are no permanent rivers, the presence of springs is of utmost importance for the local people. The main springs in the tabia are:[7]

Water harvesting

In this area with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season.

Vegetation and exclosures

The tabia holds several exclosures, areas that are set aside for regreening. [9] Wood harvesting and livestock range are not allowed there. Besides effects on biodiversity,[10] [11] [12] water infiltration, protection from flooding, sediment deposition, [13] carbon sequestration, [14] people commonly have economic benefits from these exclosures through grass harvesting, beekeeping and other non-timber forest products.[15] The local inhabitants also consider it as “land set aside for future generations”.[16] In this tabia, some exclosures are managed by the EthioTrees project. They have as an additional benefit that the villagers receive carbon credits for the sequestered CO2,[17] as part of a carbon offset programme.[18] The revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities; [19] it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, conservation in the exclosures, or a store for incense.[20] The Ziban Dake exclosure is managed by the Ethiotrees project in Walta municipality.[21]

Settlements

The tabia centre Da’erere holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary school, and some small shops.[7] There are a few more primary schools across the tabia. The main other populated places are:[6]

  • Nowate
  • Addi Ferti
  • Inda Iyesus
  • Addi Gethamano
  • Guri
  • Didiben
  • Nibre

Agriculture and livelihood

The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by farmlands which are clearly demarcated and are cropped every year. Hence the agricultural system is a permanent upland farming system.[22] The farmers have adapted their cropping systems to the spatio-temporal variability in rainfall.[23] Especially the youngsters in Didiben and Nibre go to the deep gorge of Giba river to harvest incense from Boswellia papyrifera trees.[24]

History and culture

History

The history of the tabia is strongly confounded with the history of Tembien.

Religion and churches

Most inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. The following churches are located in the tabia:

Inda Siwa, the local beer houses

In the main villages, there are traditional beer houses (Inda Siwa), often in unique settings, where people socialise. Well known in the tabia are[7]

Roads and communication

The main road Mekelle – Hagere Selam – Abiy Addi runs 5 to 15 km north and west of the tabia. People need to walk first to Inda Maryam Qorar or Hagere Selam before travelling further. For transportation of goods, a rural access road links Walta to the main asphalt road in Dongolo.

Tourism

Its mountainous nature and relative proximity to Mekelle make the tabia fit for tourism.[25] As compared to many other mountain areas in Ethiopia the villages are quite accessible, and during walks visitors may be invited for coffee, lunch or even for an overnight stay in a rural homestead.[26]

Touristic attractions

Geotouristic sites

The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invite for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism".[27]

Trekking routes

Trekking routes have been established in this tabia.[28] The tracks are not marked on the ground but can be followed using downloaded. GPX files.[29]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Sembroni . A. . Molin . P. . Dramis . F. . Regional geology of the Dogu'a Tembien massif. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  2. Moeyersons . J. and colleagues . Age and backfill/overfill stratigraphy of two tufa dams, Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia: Evidence for Late Pleistocene and Holocene wet conditions. . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 2006 . 230 . 1–2 . 162–178 . 2006PPP...230..165M . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.07.013 .
  3. Nyssen. Jan. Tielens. Sander. Gebreyohannes. Tesfamichael. Araya. Tigist. Teka. Kassa. Van De Wauw. Johan. Degeyndt. Karen. Descheemaeker. Katrien. Amare. Kassa. Haile. Mitiku. Zenebe. Amanuel. Munro. Neil. Walraevens. Kristine. Gebrehiwot. Kindeya. Poesen. Jean. Frankl. Amaury. Tsegay. Alemtsehay. Deckers. Jozef. Understanding spatial patterns of soils for sustainable agriculture in northern Ethiopia's tropical mountains. . PLOS ONE . 2019 . 14 . 10 . e0224041 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0224041. 31639144. 6804989. 2019PLoSO..1424041N. free.
  4. Book: Jacob . M. and colleagues . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Dogu'a Tembien's Tropical Mountain Climate . GeoGuide . 2019 . 45–61 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_3 . 199105560 .
  5. Book: Amanuel Zenebe . and colleagues . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . The Giba, Tanqwa and Tsaliet Rivers in the Headwaters of the Tekezze Basin . GeoGuide . 2019 . 215–230 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_14 . 199099067 .
  6. Book: Jacob . M. and colleagues . Geo-trekking map of Dogu'a Tembien (1:50,000). In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  7. Book: What do we hear from the farmers in Dogu'a Tembien? [in Tigrinya] ]. 2016 . Hagere Selam, Ethiopia . 100 .
  8. Segers . Kaatje . Dessein . Joost . Nyssen . Jan . Haile . Mitiku . Deckers . Jozef . Developers and farmers intertwining interventions: the case of rainwater harvesting and food-for-work in Degua Temben, Tigray, Ethiopia . International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability . 2008 . 6 . 3 . 173–182 . 10.3763/ijas.2008.0366 . 154026513.
  9. Aerts . R . Nyssen . J. Mitiku Haile . On the difference between "exclosures" and "enclosures" in ecology and the environment . Journal of Arid Environments . 2009. 73 . 8 . 762–763 . 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.01.006 . 2009JArEn..73..762A .
  10. Book: Aerts . R. . Lerouge . F. . November . E. . Birds of forests and open woodlands in the highlands of Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  11. Mastewal Yami . and colleagues . Impact of Area Enclosures on Density and Diversity of Large Wild Mammals: The Case of May Ba'ati, Douga Tembien Woreda, Central Tigray, Ethiopia . East African Journal of Sciences . 2007. 1 . 1–14 .
  12. Aerts . R . Lerouge . F . November . E . Lens . L . Hermy . M . Muys . B . Land rehabilitation and the conservation of birds in a degraded Afromontane landscape in northern Ethiopia . Biodiversity and Conservation . 2008 . 17 . 53–69 . 10.1007/s10531-007-9230-2 . 37489450 .
  13. Descheemaeker . K. and colleagues . Sediment deposition and pedogenesis in exclosures in the Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia. . Geoderma . 2006 . 132 . 3–4. 291–314 . 10.1016/j.geoderma.2005.04.027 . 2006Geode.132..291D .
  14. Wolde Mekuria . and colleagues . Restoration of Ecosystem Carbon Stocks Following Exclosure Establishment in Communal Grazing Lands in Tigray, Ethiopia . Soil Science Society of America Journal . 2011 . 75 . 1 . 246–256. 10.2136/sssaj2010.0176 . 2011SSASJ..75..246M .
  15. Bedru Babulo . and colleagues . Economic valuation methods of forest rehabilitation in exclosures . Journal of the Drylands . 2006 . 1 . 165–170 .
  16. Book: Jacob . M. and colleagues . Exclosures as Primary Option for Reforestation in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  17. Book: Reubens . B. and colleagues . Research-based development projects in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  18. https://www.planvivo.org/project-network/ethiotrees-tembien-highlands/ EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website
  19. https://www.davines.com/blogs/projects/ethiotrees EthioTrees on Davines website
  20. Book: Moens . T . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Lanckriet . S . Jacob . M . Boswellia Incense in the Giba River Gorge . 2019 . Springer Nature . 293–300 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_19 . GeoGuide . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 199113310 .
  21. Book: De Deyn . Jonathan . Benefits of reforestation on Carbon storage and water infiltration in the context of climate mitigation in North Ethiopia. Master thesis, Ghent University, Belgium. 2019.
  22. Nyssen. J.. Naudts. J.. De Geyndt. K.. Haile. Mitiku. Poesen. J.. Moeyersons. J.. Deckers. J.. Soils and land use in the Tigray highlands (Northern Ethiopia) . Land Degradation and Development . 2008 . 19 . 3. 257–274 . 10.1002/ldr.840. 128492271.
  23. Frankl . A. and colleagues . The effect of rainfall on spatio‐temporal variability in cropping systems and duration of crop cover in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands . Soil Use and Management . 2013 . 29 . 3 . 374–383 . 10.1111/sum.12041 . 1854/LU-3123393 . 95207289 . free .
  24. Book: Moens . T. and colleagues . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Boswellia Incense in the Giba River Gorge . GeoGuide . 2019 . 293–300 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_19 . 199113310 .
  25. Book: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 . GeoGuide .
  26. Book: Logistics for the Trekker in a Rural Mountain District of Northern Ethiopia. 2019 . Springer-Nature . 537–556 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_37 . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . GeoGuide . Nyssen . Jan . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 199198251 .
  27. Book: Miruts Hagos and colleagues . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Geosites, Geoheritage, Human-Environment Interactions, and Sustainable Geotourism in Dogu'a Tembien . GeoGuide . 2019 . 3–27 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_1 . 199095921 .
  28. Book: 2019 . Springer-Nature . 557–675 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_38 . GeoGuide . Nyssen . Jan . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Description of Trekking Routes in Dogu'a Tembien . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 199271514 .
  29. Web site: Public GPS traces tagged with nyssen-jacob-frankl. OpenStreetMap. 2019-10-11.

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