ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has registered Ethiopia's Bale Mountains National Park as a world heritage site.
The Bale Mountains National Park, located in southeastern Ethiopia some 400 km from the national capital of Addis Ababa, was registered as one of the world's natural heritages on Monday at the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee which is underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, state-run Ethiopian News Agency quoted the Ethiopian Ministry of Tourism as saying.
The park, founded in 1962, is home to lakes, wetlands, and volcanic remains with spectacular landscapes, making it one of the ideal tourist destinations, according to the Ethiopian Ministry of Tourism. The park is also endowed with several species of plants, mammals, and birds, among which many are said to be endemic to the park.
The Bale Mountains National Park is the second Ethiopian tourist attraction site to be granted a world heritage status at the ongoing extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee.
On Sunday, UNESCO registered Ethiopia's Gedeo Cultural Landscape as a world heritage. The site comprises a forest, which has been protected through generations.
The heritage is also known for its multi-layer cultivation, which has been practiced for centuries by the Gedeo people who are also exemplary for their indigenous knowledge in conservation of the ecosystem and soil fertility, according to the Ethiopian Ministry of Tourism. It also has more than 6,000 megalithic stelae with attractive images for researchers, and foreign and local visitors.
The Ethiopian government said the registration of the two sites as world heritages by UNESCO is expected to help strengthen Ethiopia's tourism development efforts. It further emphasized its crucial role in appropriately protecting the two heritage sites. ■
