| Research
and field experience
1. Ethnobotany (perception, use
and management of plants by indigenous people)
The main projects in which I have been involved have
been:
This work involved extensive interviewing of a variety
of people (e.g. community elders, traditional healers, priests,
household members) using questionnaires to find out about community use
and management of plants. Mores specifically this research included:
- Collecting general information on the status of
traditional medicine
- Assessment of the use of woodland products by local
communities
- Gathering data on the trade structure
- Collecting information on the existence of
regulations pertaining to wildlife medicinals and traditional medicines
- Government trade statistics on exports of wildlife
medicinals
- Conservation status of wildlife medicinals in trade
including species-specific information on animals and plants
- Data analysis to develop a final list of priority
species for conservation
2. Plant collection, identification and preservation
I have lead and carried out a number of specimen
collections in most of the Ethiopia as well as in other parts of Africa
(Cameroon and Tanzania) and in Malaysia. To-date 430 voucher specimen
have been collected. These have been preserved, identified and
deposited at the National Herbarium. All specimen have been identified
using standard botanical techniques including herbarium collections.
3. Vegetation surveys and inventories
I have carried out a number of vegetation surveys and
plant inventories including field investigation and assessment of
literature and expert opinion.
The following specific research activities have been
carried out in various projects:
- Measurements of plant biomass
- Biodiversity assessment of church and monastery
grounds (Darwin Initiative)
- Measuring cover abundance of vegetation
- Identification of plants that resist the water-stress
for aforestation purpose
4. Soil sampling and analysis
Carried out fieldwork and chemical analysis in the
laboratory as a Ph.D. student Assistant to fire ecology research
project and for the Addis Ababa University project
‘Rehabilitation of Degraded Areas Project’
5. Mammal survey
Assessment of elephant populations in SW Ethiopia for
the Ethiopian Elephant Conservation Development Programme, funded by
the European Union and working in collaboration with the Ethiopian
Wildlife Conservation Organization and National Herbarium, Addis Ababa
University.
My duties were:
- Interviewing local people
- Leading field team
- Recording elephant density in south west forest of
Ethiopia
|
|
Publications
Desalegn Desissa (2008) Sacred sites, culture and biodiversity importance,
threats & successes. EWNHS, Addis Ababa.
Binggeli P., Desalegn Desissa, J. Healey,
M. Painton, J. Smith and Zewge Teklehaimanot (2003) Conservation
of Ethiopian sacred groves. ETFRN News 38, 37-38.
Zemede Asfaw and Desalegn Desissa (in
press). Interaction and interdependence of agro-biodiversity and wild
biodiversity in Ethiopia. Sinet (J. Ethiop. Sci.)
Zemede Asfaw, Desalegn Desissa and
Tesfaye Awas (in press). Ethnobotany of Nations, nationalities and
people of Ethiopia. Research and Publication Office of Addis Ababa
University, Addis Ababa.
Binggeli P. and Desalegn Desissa (2002) Lantana camara - the invasive
shrub that threatens to drive people out of their land. Newsletter of
the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society April-June 2002, 4-6.
Desalegn Dessisa and P. Binggeli (2002) Knowledge
of woody plant resources and their utilisation by the clergy and
local communities in Ethiopian church and monastery yards. In People
and biodiversity - Program & Abstracts of the Eighth ISE
International Congress, p 52.
Desalegn Desissa, P. Binggeli and J.
Smith (2002) Aba Hailegebresilasse -
Lalibela's tree planting monk. Newsletter of the Ethiopian Wildlife and
Natural History Society Jan.-March 2002, 4-6.
Desalegn Desissa (2001) Cheleleka (Mogle)
mountain walk, 4-11-2001. Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History
Society - Indoor and Outdoor Notice of Events, including Reports 58, 2.
Desalegn Desissa (2001) Traditional Oromo religion.
Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society - Indoor and Outdoor
Notice of Events, including Reports 58, 6.
Desalegn Desissa and C.H. William (1999).
Survey of Medicinal Plants in Mbomole and Mlessa Village around Amani
East Usambara, Tanzania. TBA project report.
Desalegn Desissa (1998). Economic value
of medicinal plants in Ethiopia. In Biodiversity conservation and
sustainable use of medicinal plants in Ethiopia, pp. 102-122. IBCR,
Addis Ababa.
Desalegn Desissa, Tseyhnesh Lemma and
Endalemaw Gadissa (1996). Ethiopian Wildlife Trade. Unpublished report
to IUCN.
|