Gedeo Cultural Landscape

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Gedeo Cultural Landscape
UNESCO World Heritage Site
LocationEthiopia
CriteriaCultural: (iii)(v)
Reference1641
Inscription2023 (45th Session)
Area29,620 ha (114.4 sq mi)
Coordinates6°14′56″N 38°17′16″E / 6.24889°N 38.28778°E / 6.24889; 38.28778
Gedeo Cultural Landscape is located in Ethiopia
Gedeo Cultural Landscape
Location of Gedeo Cultural Landscape in Ethiopia

The Gedeo Cultural Landscape is a region of the

World Heritage List in 2023.[1]

History

Main article: Gedeo people

The Gedeo region has been occupied for millennia; evidence of occupation dates back to the

stelae) across roughly 100 sites have been recorded across the landscape.[3] The largest of the stelae measure about 8 meters high and 1 meter in diameter, and they depict anthropomorphic and phallic images. Several burial sites and a necropolis have also been found, and engraved petroglyphs are common.[2]

The first European archeological surveys of the area were conducted in the 1920s and 1930s.[3]

Agroforestry

Volcanism during the

enset and coffee being the main agricultural products.[2] The farms are vertically stratified, with the enset and coffee plants grown underneath mature native trees. Root vegetables like cassava and legumes are grown underneath the main cash crops.[2] To avoid the negative effects of erosion on the step landscape, almost no tilling is employed, and the farms often rotate where they farm, allowing some areas to remain fallow.[2]

The cultural knowledge of how to manage and conserve the agroforestry system stems from the customs and beliefs of the Gedeo people, leading to a mutualistic human-environmental relationship.[4] The area contains several sacred forests from which harvest is prohibited.[1]

Fifty different species of native woody plants have been found within these traditional farms, 22 of which are of particular conservation concern.[5] The most common native plants are Millettia and Cordia africana, and the African cherry also grows within these forests.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "The Gedeo Cultural Landscape". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Ministry of Culture Tourism and Sport, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (January 2021). The Gedeo Cultural Landscape: World Heritage Nomination Dossier (Report). Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  3. ^
    doi:10.1017/S0035869X00075250
    .
  4. doi:10.3389/fcomm.2017.00007
    .
  5. ^
    S2CID 254191312
    .
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