Mid-Abbay (Blue Nile) river basin (6250)
Ethiopia, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2011

National site name: Mid-Abbay (Blue Nile) river basin

Central coordinates: Latitude: 10.1800, Longitude: 37.1450

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 490 to 4230

Area of KBA (km²): 8603.22103

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: The Abbay (Blue Nile) is Ethiopia’s largest river. It originates at Lake Tana on the central plateau, leaving the lake at Bahir Dar (site ET007) and flowing for 32 km before plunging over the basalt at Tis-Isat falls. It flows through a deep, narrow gorge that runs south and east around the Choke mountains, and then turns west into the Mid-Abbay. The Mid-Abbay flows through a magnificent gorge that widens and narrows and widens again. It crosses the border into the Sudan near Bumbadi in Benshangul-Gumuz Region. The gorge effectively divides the central plateau of Ethiopia into two blocks. The Mid-Abbay river forms the boundary between Amhara and Oromiya Regions. Major rivers that feed into the Abbay are the Bir, Temcha and Beles from the north, the Didessa, Finchaa, Guder, Muger and Wenchit from the south and the Beshlo from the east. The Jemma river (site ET015) is a tributary of the Wenchit. The vegetation of the Mid-Abbay has never been well studied, but satellite photographs show extensive areas of forest and woodland. The trees in the riverine forest of the Didessa river, at c.1,300 m, comprise Ficus vallis-choudae, Mimusops kummel, Tichilia emetica, Cordia africana and Phoenix reclinata. The smaller trees include Sapium ellipticum, Dracaena steudneri and several woody climbers. It is likely that riverine forest of similar composition is found beside the Abbay river, with the addition of extensive tamarind groves and undergrowth of Ficus capreaefolia.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas) KBA identified in the process of compiling the CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the East Afromontane Hotspot. Species taxonomy and threat category was based on IUCN Red List 2010-4.

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 2 for key species. No comprehensive species list exists for this area. However, Francolinus harwoodi is known to occur at a number of locations in the Mid-Abbay basin (in various places in gorges that join the river) and it may be expected to occur elsewhere in the river system in suitable scrub and thicket on hillsides. Ptilopachus petrosus is likely to occur on the rocky slopes. The Abbay river system is likely to be important for Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome species and others from the lowlands, as is the case with the Jemma and Jara valleys. For example, Cisticola troglodytes, Serinus leucopygius, Streptopelia vinacea, Sporopipes frontalis and Plocepasser superciliosus are expected to occur. Non-bird biodiversity: An endemic cricket occurs in this area, the population of which can reach pest proportions at which point it will attack cereal crops.

Delineation rationale: 2010-02-03 (BL Secretariat): site area was not defined in the original IBA publication/inventory; here, it has been derived by GIS from the draft polygon.

Habitats

Land use: agriculture

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Artificial - Terrestrial	45
Forest	3
Shrubland	51

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The Mid-Abbay is poorly known because most of the area has been inaccessible to motor vehicles. It used to be mostly uninhabited because it is hot and malaria is prevalent. However, population pressure in the highlands is now forcing people to expand agricultural activities in the gorge and, wherever a road passes through, charcoal production is adopted as a major income-earner for the local people. A large sugar estate has been developed on the Finchaa river, and other areas are likely to be developed in the future. There have been proposals to establish four or five Game Reserves in the Abbay basin, but none has been officially designated, and there are currently no active conservation initiatives in the Mid-Abbay basin.

Additional information