May BeâÂÂati is an exclosure located in the Dogu'a Tembien woreda of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. The area has been protected since 1968 by the local community.
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As a general rule, cattle ranging and wood harvesting are not allowed. The grasses are harvested once yearly and taken to the homesteads of the village to feed livestock. Physical soil and water conservation has been implemented to enhance infiltration, and vegetation growth. There are four guards to protect the exclosure. Field observations showed that however some illegal grazing occurred in the exclosure in 2018.
Setting aside such areas fits with the long-term vision of the communities were hizaâÂÂiti lands are set aside for use by the future generations. It has also direct benefits for the community:
In the May Be'ati exclosure, more than 1000 precise measurements were done in 2003 and 2004, using 15 runoff plots, where the volume of runoff was measured daily. The rock type (Antalo Limestone), slope gradient and slope aspect were the same, the only difference was the land management and vegetation density. Whereas in degraded rangeland, 35% of the rainfall flows directly away to the river (runoff coefficient), this happens only for 13.4% of the rain in a recent exclosure and 1.7% in an old exclosure. For sake of comparison, the adjacent May Be'ati church forest has a runoff coefficient of only 0.1%. The soils of this exclosure can hold 330 litres of water per m<sup>3</sup>, in contrast to 250 litres in the adjacent rangeland, and 480 litres per mó in the nearby May Be'ati church forest.
The effectiveness of exclosures may be enhanced by supplementing additional water to the short and erratic rain. The effects of such spate irrigation on species diversity, stocking and ring width growth of trees was evaluated in this exclosure in 2005. The runoff diversion from the gully channel towards the regenerating forest was done with trenches dug at different locations to enhance an even runoff water distribution over the exclosure. The volume of irrigation water (from surface runoff) applied is of the same order of magnitude as the direct rainfall on the site. Trees in the irrigated exclosure have greater species diversity and show better growth. Particularly during the peak rainy season when there is excess water that cannot be used for crop irrigation, spate irrigation towards woody vegetation can be an important buffer for peak runoff discharges and if largely applied, it can reduce floods in the downstream areas.
With vegetation growth, biodiversity in this exclosure hast strongly improved: there is more varied vegetation and wildlife.
The main tree species found in the exclosure are:
A large variety of mammals have been observed in this exclosure, with scientific (italics), English and Tigrinya language names. - Crocuta crocuta, spotted hyena, áÂÂá¥ᢠ(zibi) - Caracal caracal, caracal, áÂÂá á£áÂÂá á³ (châÂÂok anbessa) - Xerus rutilus, unstriped ground squirrel, áÂÂá¹á½áÂÂá or á¨á¨á« (mitsutsilay, chechera) - Canis mesomelas, black-backed jackal, á¡á³áÂÂá« (bukharya) - Canis anthus, golden jackal, á¡á³áÂÂá« (bukharya) - Procavia capensis, rock hyrax, áÂÂá (gihè) - Felis silvestris, African wildcat, áÂÂáÂÂá áµá (hakili dummu) - Civettictis civetta, African civet, áÂÂá£áµ (zibad) - Ichneumia albicauda, white-tailed mongoose, áÂÂáÂÂá« (tsihira) - Herpestes ichneumon, large grey mongoose, áÂÂáÂÂá« (tsihira) - Hystrix cristata, crested porcupine, á áÂÂáÂÂá (qinfiz) - Genetta genetta, common genet, áµáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáµ (silihlihot) - Lepus capensis, cape hare, áÂÂáÂÂá²á (mantile) - Mellivora capensis, honey badger, áµáµá (titigi).
In the oldest parts of this exclosure, humus profiles are best developed. The old exclosures are also characterised by a variety of humus forms, caused by the variation in shrub and tree density and species composition.
Main soil types in the older part of the exclosure are: