Day Forest National Park

11.7542.683333333333Koordinaten: 11 ° 45 '0 "N, 42 ° 41' 0" E

The Forêt du Day ( Day - forest ) is the only forest in Djibouti. It is located in the Goda Mountains in the region Tadjoura and covers about 15 square kilometers at an altitude 1200-1750 m. In 1939 he was declared a National Park, but this status is no longer valid. The Government of Djibouti is planning to formally ask the forest again under protection.

He is next to the Mabla Mountains of last area where the endangered juniper francolin or Djibouti Francolin lives, he also one of the few forests with East African juniper ( Juniper procera), which was once the dominant tree species of the forest. The holdings by the francolin, however, have declined significantly, and the juniper trees are 50 % since about 1990 dead even in the healthiest part areas. For boxwood (Buxus hildebrantii ) have become more frequent. The earlier as antelope have become much rarer, desert warthogs have disappeared. Leopards have not been sighted since the 1980s. The main cause is considered the change of climate in the region to more heat and drought, exacerbated by the grazing of parts of the forest by oxen, in particular, eat young plants and trampled. Hunting and cutting down trees, however, play a subordinate role.

The inhabitants of the nine surrounding villages belong to five different clans of the Afar. They were originally nomads who live today but mostly sedentary. Your livelihood, livestock is highly dependent on the fluctuating rainfall. In times of severe drought they move with their animals to the border with Ethiopia. All villages received food aid. Your water supply been ensured since 2003 through wells with pumps, but the amount is limited to water. Use dead wood as firewood while they prohibit the felling of live trees traditionally. Unemployment in the area is around 80%.

According to surveys, the majority of residents living in the Forêt du Day keeps the conservation of juniper francolin is important because this bird was originally used as a food source and is considered part of the natural heritage of the forest. The majority holds drought for the most important cause of forest degradation, only 4% of grazing to write this. On the initiative of the local organization Djibouti Nature parts of the forest with stone walls and fences of dead wood have residents while protected from cattle, which has a visible positive effect on the condition of the forest. Almost a quarter of the residents believed that nothing could be done about the damage to the forest, 15 % are in any doubt. 23% hold the fencing further forest land for helpful, 8% beat the planting of trees in front and 29 % a combination of tree planting and fencing. The establishment of a nursery in the village Day is provided.

Swell

• Zomo Sikander Yusuf Fisher, Centre of Environmental Policy: The decline of the Djibouti francolin and juniper woodland in the Forêt du Day, Djibouti: A response to climate changes and grazing pressure, 2007 (English, PDF)?

• Geography (Djibouti)
• National Park in Africa
• Forest area in Africa