A new chapter for Gullele

Botanical Garden
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Date

02 Aug 2021
Author

Eyob Getahun

Ethiopia’s only botanical garden is

working hard to conserve and
promote indigenous plant species,
with help from the Provision of
Adequate Tree Seed Portfolio project
and World Agroforestry.

Birhanu Belay, the project administrator, displaying

seedlings raised by the project. Photo: ICRAF/Eyob
Getahun.

Gullele Botanical Garden expanded its

nursery and raised over 60,000 seedlings
of various indigenous plant species as
part of a 1-year project, 2020–2021,
supported by World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
and the Provision of Adequate Tree Seed
Portfolio (PATSPO) project, which is
funded by the Norwegian Government.

Established on 705 hectares in 2009,

Gullele Botanical Garden is one of a kind in
Ethiopia. A joint venture of Addis Ababa
University and Addis Ababa City
Administration, the Garden was
established with four major objectives:
conservation, research, education and
ecotourism. Currently, it holds 1200
samples of Ethiopia’s estimated 6500
plant species.

The Botanical Garden presented a

proposal to ICRAF Ethiopia to implement a
project in two parts. During the first part of
the PATSPO-supported project, the Garden
raised seedlings of 26 indigenous plant
species and expanded its nursery while in
the second part it collected 18 endemic
plant species from different parts of
Ethiopia that are in the ‘threatened’
category of the Red List of the
International Union for Conservation of
Nature and planted them in the Garden.
Both parts of the project were
implemented in parallel.

Speaking about how he came up with the

idea, Sebsebe Demissew, who initially
proposed the project and was coordinator
on ICRAF-PATSPO’s side, said, ‘Most of the
plants planted in Addis Ababa are exotic
species. We have indigenous as well as
endemic species that can replace them
and can be planted as hedges or living
fences as well as for ornamental purposes.
We also wanted to introduce native plants
to our people, especially to children who
have never seen most of these before. We
wanted to promote such species because
we wanted the people to appreciate them
and to plant them in the future once they
know them.’

It was difficult to propagate some of the selected plant

species. Photo: ICRAF/Eyob Getahun.

An important part of the project was the

establishment of a new nursery next to an
existing one that was only 0.8 hectare. It
was not large enough to propagate
sufficient seedlings to provide for Addis
Ababa City Administration’s planting
needs. PATSPO’s support enabled the
Garden to expand its nursery to nearly 3
hectares.

Partial view of the newly established nursery. Photo:

ICRAF/Eyob Getahun.

Seedlings of 26 selected indigenous plant

species, the seeds of which are in high
demand, were raised as part of the project
to produce more seed to help meet that
demand. They include trees, shrubs and
herbs, which are economically and
ecologically important or critically
endangered, as well as endemic plant
species.

‘A few of the selected plant species

couldn’t germinate,’ noted Demissew.
‘Why didn’t these species germinate? The
Garden needs to carry out research on
this. But during the implementation of the
project, we replaced these species with
other species and fulfilled the target of
raising seedlings of 26 native species.’

According to Birhanu Belay, director of the

Research Programs Directorate at the
Garden, propagating some of the selected
species was a challenge.

‘Most of the selected plant species are

different from the species that are mostly
raised in Ethiopia and they were difficult
to propagate,’ said Belay. ‘Some of them
were propagated by cutting using
vegetative propagation. Such efforts also
involved the use of the existing
greenhouse at Gullele Botanical Garden.
You cannot find the seedlings of some of
these species anywhere else in the
country. The project gave us the
opportunity to raise seedlings of these
species by providing the money we
needed.’

The collection of specimens and

expansion of the nursery have opened a
new era for the Garden.

‘We see the implementation of this project

as a new chapter for Gullele Botanical
Garden,’ said Belay. ‘Now there is no
turning back. Whether we get some other
organizations’ support or not, we will
continue raising such seedlings as we
have already established a new nursery.’

Over 60,000 seedlings were raised in the

year. Forty-one thousand were provided to
Addis Ababa City Administration for
planting in various parts of the city and to
replace some exotic plant species.

In parallel with this first part of the project,

Gullele Botanical Garden also
implemented the second part and
established in-situ and ex-situ
conservation stands of 14 endemic plant
species in the nature reserve forest of the
Garden.

According to Talemos Seta, who is a lead

researcher at the Garden and who was in
charge of the second part, 18 endemic
plant species were selected for collection
and planting. They were selected based
on their endemicity, their Red List
conservation status and taking into
consideration the similarity of the
agroecology, climate and altitudinal range
in which the plants grow.

‘Based on the GPS coordinates prepared

by the National Herbarium, we identified
the locations where these endemic
species were registered,’ said Seta. ‘And
we travelled to six different parts of the
country. We were able to collect 14 of the
18 endemic species proposed by the
project to be planted in the Garden.
Whenever we found many of the selected
plant species, we uprooted some and
brought them back. In total, 592
individuals of these 14 species were
planted on half a hectare of cleared land in
the Garden. And 90% percent of them
have survived.’

As Seta explained, it was not easy to

collect the plants.

‘We learnt a lot from this project,’ he said.

‘There were many challenges during the
arduous field trips. At times, we had to
stop our vehicle and walk long distances,
sometimes for over three hours and in the
rain.’

The planting site and some of the plants in the Red

List. Photo: ICRAF/Eyob Getahun.

Over 10 percent of the floristic

composition of the Garden is endemic to
Ethiopia. Most of the plant species
conserved are locally and internationally
threatened, based on the Red List.

According to Sebsebe Demissew, the

Garden’s plan is not only to plant and
conserve but also to raise their seedlings
and distribute them so that they are
planted by the people and in this way will
be less endangered.

Demissew further said, ‘Rather than just

planting them in the Botanical Garden,
planting such species in schools and in
different parts of the city can serve for
educational purposes,’ he said. ‘If we let
the people know that they are threatened
species, Government officials, students
and researchers could get to know them.
That is very important to conserve them.’

World Agroforestry (ICRAF) is a centre of

scientific and development excellence
that harnesses the benefits of trees for
people and the environment. Knowledge
produced by ICRAF enables governments,
development agencies and farmers to
utilize the power of trees to make farming
and livelihoods more environmentally,
socially and economically sustainable at
multiple scales. ICRAF is one of the 15
members of the CGIAR, a global research
partnership for a food-secure future. We
thank all donors who support research in
development through their contributions
to the CGIAR Fund.

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