The Government of Israel has sent to Ethiopia ten wildfire fighters to rescue the east African country’s UNESCO registered Simien National Park. While a chopper from Kenya begins operation today to contain the fire.
The Park has been on fire for the past few weeks burning over 300 hectares of land so far. Located in the Northern part of the country’s Amhara Region around Gondar close to Debark Town, the mountainous Simien National Park is a home for many endogenous animals and different species of trees. Currently Ethiopian government do not have a chopper and the expertise to contain wildfire.
The attempts by the Ethiopian government to obtain fire fighter choppers from Kenya and South Africa has not been fruitful over the past few days. Israeli comes in after Prime Minister Abiy made a phone call to his counterpart leader of Israel to help contain the wildfire. The experts along with the helicopter have dispatched to the location to start operation of fighting the wildfire, according to the state broadcaster _ETV.
Even though in the past few weeks the community around has managed to stop the fire for a while after it has burned over 300 hectares of land within the Park, the wildfire has started again becoming out of control. Established in 1969, the Simien Mountains National Park of Ethiopia is one of the top tourist attarctions of the country.
The park is of global significance for biodiversity conservation because it is home to globally threatened species, including the iconic Walia ibex, a wild mountain goat found nowhere else in the world, the Gelada baboon and the Ethiopian wolf, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).