Biosphere Reserve

Majang Forest biosphere reserve

• Located in Majang Zone of the Gambella Peoples National Regional State.
• Designation date: June 2017
• Total surface area: 225,490. ha
• Core area(s): 43,878 ha
• Buffer zone(s): 73,400 ha
• Transition area(s): 108,212 ha

Covers four ecosystems: Moist Afromontane forest, Transitional Rainforest and Combretum-Terminalia woodland, wetlands, lake , several rivers, 39 threatened species (IUCN Red list), 5 birds, 3 mammals, 3 amphibians and 28 plant species.
Challenges: illegal logging, settlement, investment, lack of awareness

Sheka biosphere reserve

In 2010, MELCA together with the Sheka community and the local government launched a process to get the forest of Sheka registered as one of the world’s biosphere reserve areas by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO). To this end, MELCA coordinated numerous consultative and training workshops in Sheka and the participatory writing of Sheka biosphere reserve’s nomination form to apply for being a biosphere reserve in UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) program, responsible for their nomination. On july 2012, Sheka forest was officially accredited as a MAB biosphere reserve by the International Coordination Council of UNESCO-MAB. This registration was welcomed as a tremendous success for us as well as for the community and officials in Sheka, and an official and festive inauguration took place on the 28th of January 2013 to collectively celebrate this event.

MELCA is now supporting the biosphere reserve structure, and aims to fully contribute in the future to all of Sheka biosphere reserve’s functions (research and monitoring, local sustainable development, conservation, communication, management and coordination).

Sheka forest biosphere reserve