APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has registered Ethiopia’s Gedeo cultural landscape as a world heritage site.
The registration of the Gedeo landscape was announced on Sunday at the 45th extended session of the World Heritage Committee being underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to the Ministry of Tourism of Ethiopia, the Gedeo Cultural Landscapes, which is located in the Gedeo zone of South Ethiopia region, increases the number of UNESCO-inscribed cultural and natural heritages of Ethiopia to 10 and becomes the 100th in Africa.
The heritage comprises forest, which has been protected through generations, Nasise Chale , Ethiopia’s Minister of Tourism, was qouted as saying during the session.
She said the site is also known for its multilayer 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.
The landscape has over 6,000 megalithic stelae with their attractive images for researchers, foreign and local visitors, she pointed out.
Highlighting that the inscription of Gedeo Cultural landscape by UNESCO will enable the heritage to get sustainable protection, members of UNESCO heritages committee affirmed that the registration will also help it become a great tourism attraction.
The Gedeo Cultural Landscape lies along the eastern edge of the Main Ethiopian Rift, on the steep escarpments of the Ethiopian highlands.
UNESCO World Heritage Committee is composed of 21 members including Egypt, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Burundi, South Africa and Zambia from Africa.
MG/as/APA