Abstract

A key component of international conservation strategy is the creation of protected areas. Ethiopia is one of the countries from east Africa which recognized protected area to conserve its unique fauna and flora. The country includes a wide range of ecosystems, including semi-arid, open grassland steppe, and arid desert, all of which have a high potential for biodiversity and endemism. To protect its unique species, Ethiopia created a number of national parks, sanctuaries, wildlife reserves, and restricted hunting areas. The main issues facing protected areas in the country, however, are a lack of clear national and international policies, a lack of commitment from national park governance, a lack of funding, and the need for education to increase public awareness. As a result, this study’s focus was on the conservation challenges facing Ethiopia’s Omo National Park from the perspectives of governance and management. In this regard, the park management officers and wardens in the south omo zone Jinka town provided the primary data. Several written materials from the official records of Omo National Park also provided some secondary data. Omo National Park is managed by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regional State Culture and Tourism Bureau Hawassa, according to informants and review findings from EUCAbased sources. The Park has a management staff and a security team, in the respondents’ opinion. The security staff may have the ability to make decisions regarding park-related matters, and they have the responsibility and power to oversee the management structures. The national park is largely invaded by local pastoralists with a large number of cows, and the local inhabitants hunt extensively inside the park. South Sudanese Murule tribes and even the park security personnel engage in illicit hunting. Only the influences of the park’s security teams and park wardens are visible when looking closely at the park. Lack of effective low enforcement has caused a huge extinction of elephants as a result of unauthorized labor taken up by both locals and visitors. The major causes of conflict between ethnic pastoralists and wildlife in the Omo National Park area are a lack of clearly defined boundaries and locally based wildlife lows. As a result, the park’s potential ecological quality and diversity are currently declining, so that urgent conservation efforts as well as suitable management and governance measures highly needed.