Prelude — On August 10, 2010, approximately ten of us will embark for the northeast corner of Ethiopia. Our mission: to work with local foresters to survey the biodiversity of their church forests and to inspire an innovative forest conservation scheme. We are a diverse group of students, teachers, entomologists, ecologists, zoologists, natural history buffs, and conservationists. Most of us have invested our time and money in this expedition because we really care about biodiversity. We carry an Explorers Club flag, and we also carry a World Wings Quest expedition flag. We have vials, aspirators, binoculars, data sheets, laminated guides to the local trees, flashlights, malaria tablets, rain gear, hand lenses, gifts for children, and toilet paper.
We are working with an amazing young man, Dr. Alemayehu Wassie Eshete, whose love and concern for his church and for his forests have taken him all the way to Mexico and back. It was there that he presented his talk about Ethiopian church forests in front of me (author: Dr. Meg Lowman), and this project was born. Soon after the fateful Mexico meeting, I sent Alemayehu a ticket so he could fly to Florida where we wrote a National Geographic grant to undertake conservation surveys of the Ethiopian church forests. It is our passionate hope to involve the clergy, the Sunday school children, and the villagers in understanding the valuable ecosystem services of these forests — home to pollinators of their crops, source of fresh water springs, spiritual sanctuary, home to biodiversity, source of native seeds, and valuable canopy providing shade.
To be continued…… bon voyage!
