Inda Sillasie

Coordinates: 13°33′N 39°12′E / 13.550°N 39.200°E / 13.550; 39.200
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Inda Sillasie
Municipality
UTC+3 (EAT
)

Inda Sillasie is a tabia or municipality in the

Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The tabia centre is in Migichi village, located approximately 13 km to the south-southeast of the woreda town Hagere Selam
.

Geography

The tabia stretches down from the foot of the Tsatsen ridge to Giba River, over a long ledge between the Inda Sillasie and Gra Agiam/Bitchoqo rivers. The highest peak is a hill at May Ch’elaqo (2330 m a.s.l.) and the lowest place is the confluence between Giba and Bitchoqo rivers (1440 m a.s.l.).

Geology

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

Geomorphology and soils

The main

geomorphic unit, with corresponding soil types is the gently rolling Antalo Limestone plateau, holding cliffs and valley bottoms.[3]

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 Migichi is 21 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 11.9 °C and maximum of 29.6 °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. This river and its affluents 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 beginning of the rainy season the water is brown-coloured, evidencing high soil erosion rates. For instance, in the rainy season the Inda Sillasie river, near its outlet, has an average discharge of 9 m3 per second, which amounts to 220 m3 per second during heavy storms.[7] Annually, some 60,000 tonnes of sediment are exported from the 121 km2 large catchment.

Springs

As there are no permanent rivers in the uplands, the presence of springs is of utmost importance for the local people. The main springs in the tabia are:[8]

  • Very strong springs at Dabba Hadera monastery
  • May Chelaqot in Akuwaw
  • Indasillasie Gedam in the gorge, downslope from Indaslassie village

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.

  • Traditional surface water harvesting ponds, particularly in places without permanent springs, called rahaya
  • Horoyo, household ponds, recently constructed through campaigns[9]

Vegetation and exclosures

The tabia holds several

carbon offset programme.[19] The revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities;[20] it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, conservation in the exclosures, or a store for incense.[21] The following exclosures are managed by the Ethiotrees project in Inda Sillasie municipality:[22]

  • Addi Meles, near the village of Migichi (64.84 ha)
  • Ch'elaqo, near the homonymous village (49.99 ha)

Settlements

The tabia centre Migichi holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary school, and some small shops.[8] There are a few more primary schools across the tabia. The main other populated places are:[6]

  • Akuwaw
  • Debre Genet
  • Ch’elaqo
  • Daboy Tsarba
  • Dabba Hadera
  • Inda Sillasie

Agriculture and livelihood

The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by

agricultural system is a permanent upland farming system.[23] The farmers have adapted their cropping systems to the spatio-temporal variability in rainfall.[24]
Especially the youngsters will go to the deep gorge of Giba river to harvest incense from Boswellia papyrifera trees.[25]

History and culture

History

The history of the tabia is strongly confounded with the

history of Tembien
.

Religion and churches

Inda Sillasie monastery

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

  • Sillasie monastery
  • Dabba Hadera monastery and well known destination of pilgrims
  • Kidane Mihret, in the forest, South of Dabba Hadera
  • Migichi Mika’el on top of a small mountain

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 centre are Kidan Gebretekle and Fetli Gebregziabher.[8]

Roads and communication

The main road

Dongolo
.

Tourism

Its mountainous nature makes the tabia fit for tourism.[26] 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.[27] Dabba Hadera has grown into a pilgrimage centre where people stay for shorter or longer terms.

Touristic attractions

  • Sillasie monastery
  • Dabba Hadera monastery

Geotouristic sites

The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invite for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism".[28] Geosites in the tabia include:

  • Viewpoint from Migichi Mika’el church to the wider surroundings
  • Limestone landscapes
  • Deeply incised gorges
  • Anthropogenic incense landscape on the slopes of Giba gorge
  • Views on the
    Addi Lihtsi
    large rockfall

Trekking routes

Trekking route 10 between Abba Hadera and Kidane Mihret monasteries

Trekking routes have been established in this tabia.[29] The tracks are not marked on the ground but can be followed using downloaded. GPX files.[30]

  • Trek 8V, from
    Inda Maryam Qorar
    to Dabba Hadera monastery, a pilgrims’ way across the tabia
  • Trek 9, from
    Inda Maryam Qorar
    to Sillasie monastery, a (less frequented) pilgrims’ way across the tabia
  • Trek 10, from Giba Gorge, along the Inda Sillassie gorge to Rubaksa; this trek also passes near Dabba Hadera, Kidane Mihret and Sillasie monasteries

See also

  • Dogu'a Tembien
    district.

References

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  8. ^ a b c What do we hear from the farmers in Dogu'a Tembien? [in Tigrinya]. Hagere Selam, Ethiopia. 2016. p. 100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. S2CID 154026513. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
    )
  10. .
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  12. ^ Mastewal Yami, and colleagues (2007). "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. 1: 1–14.
  13. S2CID 37489450
    .
  14. .
  15. .
  16. ^ Bedru Babulo, and colleagues (2006). "Economic valuation methods of forest rehabilitation in exclosures". Journal of the Drylands. 1: 165–170.
  17. .
  18. .
  19. ^ EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website
  20. ^ EthioTrees on Davines website
  21. S2CID 199113310
    .
  22. ^ De Deyn, Jonathan (2019). Benefits of reforestation on Carbon storage and water infiltration in the context of climate mitigation in North Ethiopia. Master thesis, Ghent University, Belgium.
  23. S2CID 128492271
    .
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  30. ^ "Public GPS traces tagged with nyssen-jacob-frankl". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 2019-10-11.