Big Beyond confirms Mago National Park and the Hamer tribe as volunteer destination No.1

The main wildlife in Mago National Park are elephant, kudu, hertebeast, buffalo, leopard, lion and giraffe, although many are now in small and declining numbers. The ecosystem of Mago has been hugely affected and is still under threat from the surrounding communities.

I found out that the Hamer tribe are the main threat to the future of the park, mainly due to increased populations and an increased size in cattle herds with guys who travel long distances on foot for much of the year in search of grass and water. Mago has been increasingly overgrazed which has not only depleted the grass available for wild animals, but created the growth of bushland as a result and led to a large migration of the wildlife. The domestic animals are also bringing disease which had a particularly devastating effect two years ago. In addition to grazing, the Hamer are also a key source of poaching which is understood to take place as a result of their existence within the park for part of the year. Law enforcements are currently relatively undeveloped in comparison to other protected areas and as the establishment of the park did not include the community at all, there’s currently no incentive or understanding amongst the important bordering communities about their impact in relation to its survival. 

The nomadic life for Hamer male pastoralists has also led to a variety of knock on effects. Firstly boys begin managing cattle from an early age and a high proportion don’t ever go to school. There have been a few mobile schools set up to try and tackle the issue and fit in with their way of life, but it’s not necessarily tackling the cause of the issue. My research says that it’s not largely by choice that the Hamer walk long distances to graze but that there is a lack of available water and grass in their home villages. Whilst there are cultural reasons attached to the ownership of large herds of cattle, such as payments during marriage (bull jumping) ceremonies to the family of the girl and general status, the cattle are predominantly the only form of currency which they use to trade for other goods. Cows are only occasionally used for meat but are used for milk, especially for children, and the butter that the females use for decorating their hair. The fact that the men leave the village for a large part of the year does however mean that the milk is regularly unavailable for the family left in the villages. It’s also known to be the source of tribal conflict. There’s very little modern agriculture taking place and extremely limited income generating activities taking place, but the feedback so far says that there’s certainly a desire within the communities to be shown the way to improve the situation. Many would rather stay in their villages if the opportunity was there. Those who do farm are reliant on the rainy season, especially the Hamer who do not live near a river, and so if there’s no rain which is becoming increasingly shorter, there are no crops. As they farm for subsistence reasons (no one is believed to be farming for commercials purposes amongst this tribe) this can put many families into obvious difficulties.  

The Government realise there’s a major need to raise awareness amongst the surrounding communities of Mago National Park in terms of new practices and a better future. The regional government are now beginning to use a proportion of park entry fees to contribute to the development of the communities. 50% is planned to go to the regional government and 50% to the communities. It’s currently under discussion about how to effectively invest in the communities using this money and consultations were under way during my time there. But it’s also realised that the income generated from the park is not enough to make the necessary impact. The government aim is to move towards community ownership of the park to enable its survival. Their dream is to realise the huge potential of the park but the management are crying out for it to rest and believe the only way forward is to work with the Hamer. 

Besides investing park fee income in schools and maize mills for example, Government strategy is based around limited information giving through forums with elders about the importance of wildlife, but there’s no plan to tackle the real causes behind pressures that the Hamer tribe are placing on the park. The government lack resources and there are very few NGOs in the area. It’s clearly understood that this needs to take place though and they’d love to see people with some capability to work with the Hamer people and demonstrate the practicality of improved practices (especially livestock farming) and work towards changing the mindset of the next generation. It’s also felt that if the women are concentrated on it will indirectly infiltrate to the men, but there are no outside organisations or government departments working directly with Hamer women yet.       

In terms of tourism, it’s a relatively small industry in the Omo but growing fast and certainly has enormous potential to bring great benefits to the people in the area. Both their cultural and natural resources could be very valuable assets for the region. Currently its tourism is largely based around photographic tourism and is hugely unmanaged. The industry is dominated by tour operators bringing large groups of foreign tourists in 4WDs and leaving very little income for the local area during their stay. The income that does reach the local communities is mainly from individual photo fees, something that has become the norm, and that has created a strange and often unenjoyable experience for the visitor. There’s also the odd local craft sold. There’s a lot of room for development to draw in the benefits of tourism to the local destination and improve the experience of the tourist.    

Having the tourism income is a fairly new concept for the local people and it has not necessarily had an entirely positive impact yet. There’s a major lack of awareness around how to use money and knowledge around the advantages of enterprise are not yet happening. A lot of the money generated from the photos is basically used for buying alcohol and often leads to fighting. For the kids, it is often the cause of school drop out rates in search for the picture paying tourist. 

Unfortunately like many Africans, the Hamer people really only think about today. Big Beyond want to help them look beyond today for a better future and enable the restoration and conservation of Mago National Park as a result. There are enormous opportunities and I found a very warm welcome for Big Beyond to work with the Hamer tribe. It’s really exciting. The plan is to start small by supporting existing organisations until we truly understand the needs of these people and when we have the appropriate capacity to invest in new initiatives we can hopefully grow our role there.