Birdwatching tourism ready for take-off in Eritrea
High above a rocky cliff top south of Eritrea's capital, Asmara, an
Augur Buzzard glides overhead, its broad white wings outstretched.
Down on the ground, Ken Harte, 70, an American tourist and passionate
birdwatcher treads past a narrow valley's candelabra trees and prickly
pear, hoping for a rare glimpse of a species not yet recorded in the
Horn of Africa country.
"The holy grail would be the Blue-Winged Goose," he said, adjusting
the cameras hanging from his body. "There are vague reports of it being
found in Eritrea, but as far as I know no reliable records." Eritrea's
diversity of forest, desert, mountain, and beach lying between 2,234 km
(1,396 miles) of Red Sea coastline and mountains thousands of metres
high provide a rich variety for birdlife, experts say.
"Ethiopia-Eritrea are one of Africa's birding hotspots possessing 861
species, including the 30 species endemic (to the two countries)," Jose
Luis Vivero Pol wrote in his 2001 book, "A Guide to Endemic Birds of
Ethiopia and Eritrea." Of these 30 species found nowhere else, some 13
have been recorded in Eritrea, attracting birdwatchers' keen to expand
the lists of rare species they have seen. "(Thirteen) is a tremendous
number for a country this small," said Harte, grinning through his thick
beard and boasting that in just two weeks, he has seen 10 of the 13
endemic species.
Harte suspects there were another two species not yet recorded - the
Blue-Winged Goose and the Abyssinian Long-Claw - though their sightings
have not been confirmed.
"Now and again, someone will say yes, they've seen it," he said. "But
there are no photographs or expert sightings."
Despite its impressive birdlife, Eritrea's poverty, crumbling
infrastructure and semi-permanent war footing with neighbouring Ethiopia
have made it unattractive as an ecotourist destination. "With little
tourist infrastructure, Eritrea is likely to appeal to the more
adventurous or pioneering birder," the African Bird Club says on its Web
site.
Nearby Kenya boasts several safari parks with luxurious lodges and
specialist guides to help birdwatchers scour the bush for new species to
tick off their "seen it" lists. By contrast, Eritrea has no nature
reserves on land and lacks even basic tourist services.
Plans are afoot to gazette national parks to protect wildlife, but
these are still in their early stages as the authorities grapple with
the more immediate concerns of extreme poverty, drought and tensions
with Ethiopia.
The Eritrean government, which fought a 30-year war with Ethiopia and
finally got its independence in 1993, is keen to find new sources of
revenue for its 4.6 million people and lessen dependence on donor aid.
But tourism industry officials say the country is years away from
becoming a destination for tourists, let alone ecotourists or specialist
birdwatchers.
"The birdwatching tourism industry has yet to be invented in
Eritrea," said Solomon Abraha, a travel agent in Asmara.
But he added: "It would benefit people especially in the rural
areas." Abraha said he wanted to set up lodging throughout Eritrea to
attract nature lovers, but he said the country first needed to get on
the tourist map, something that could take time for Africa's youngest
nation.
"The potential is immense, but we need to be able to create
awareness," he said. Until they do, Eritrea may have to contend itself
with being a birdwatcher's frontier country.
(Reuters)
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