Walta (Dogu'a Tembien)

The tabia stretches down from the foot of the Tsatsen ridge escarpment towards Giba River. It is further bound by three gorges: Gra Adiam/Bitchoqo in the east, Giba River in the south, and Zeyi River in the west. The highest peak is near the top of Tsatsen plateau (2760 m a.s.l.) and the lowest place at the confluence of Giba and Zeyi Rivers (1400 m a.s.l.), which have a difference in elevation of nearly 1400 metres.

From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present:{{cite book |last1=Sembroni |first1=A. |last2=Molin |first2=P. |last3=Dramis |first3=F. |title=Regional geology of the Dogu'a Tembien massif. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}}

• Upper basalt
• Interbedded lacustrine deposits
• Lower basalt
• Amba Aradam Formation
• Antalo Limestone
• Adigrat Sandstone
• Quaternary alluvium and freshwater tufa{{cite journal |last1=Moeyersons |first1=J. and colleagues |title=Age and backfill/overfill stratigraphy of two tufa dams, Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia: Evidence for Late Pleistocene and Holocene wet conditions. |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=2006 |volume=230 |issue=1–2 |pages=162–178 |bibcode=2006PPP...230..165M |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.07.013 }}

The main geomorphic units, with corresponding soil types are:{{cite journal |last1= Nyssen|first1= Jan|last2= Tielens|first2= Sander|last3= Gebreyohannes|first3= Tesfamichael|last4= Araya|first4= Tigist|last5= Teka|first5= Kassa|last6= Van De Wauw|first6= Johan|last7= Degeyndt|first7= Karen|last8= Descheemaeker|first8= Katrien|last9= Amare|first9= Kassa|last10= Haile|first10= Mitiku|last11= Zenebe|first11= Amanuel|last12= Munro|first12= Neil|last13= Walraevens|first13= Kristine|last14= Gebrehiwot|first14= Kindeya|last15= Poesen|first15= Jean|last16= Frankl|first16= Amaury|last17= Tsegay|first17= Alemtsehay|last18= Deckers|first18= Jozef|title=Understanding spatial patterns of soils for sustainable agriculture in northern Ethiopia's tropical mountains. |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2019 |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=e0224041 |doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0224041|pmid= 31639144|pmc= 6804989|bibcode= 2019PLoSO..1424041N|doi-access= free}}

• Gently rolling Antalo Limestone plateau, holding cliffs and valley bottoms on limestone
• Associated soil types
• shallow stony soils with a dark surface horizon overlying calcaric material (Calcaric Leptosol)
• moderately deep dark stony clays with good natural fertility (Vertic Cambisol)
• deep, dark cracking clays on calcaric material (Calcaric Vertisol, Calcic Vertisol)
• Inclusions
• Rock outcrops and very shallow soils (Lithic Leptosol)
• Shallow very stony loamy soil on limestone (Skeletic Calcaric Cambisol)
• Deep dark cracking clays with very good natural fertility, waterlogged during the wet season (Chromic Vertisol, Pellic Vertisol)
• Brown to dark sands and silt loams on alluvium (Vertic Fluvisol, Eutric Fluvisol, Haplic Fluvisol)
• Adigrat Sandstone cliff and footslope
• Associated soil types
• complex of rock outcrops, very stony and very shallow soils ((Lithic) Leptosol)
• shallow, stony sandy loam soils (Eutric [[Regosol and Cambisol)
• Inclusions
• shallow, dry soils with very high amounts of stones (Leptic and Skeletic Cambisol and Regosol)
• deep, dark cracking clays with good fertility, but problems of waterlogging (Chromic and Pellic Vertisol)
• soils with stagnating water due to an abrupt textural change such as sand over clay (Haplic Planosol]])

{{See also|Soil in Dogu'a Tembien}}

The rainfall pattern shows a very high seasonality with 70 to 80% of the annual rain falling in July and August. Mean temperature in Da’erere is 19.3 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 10.8 °C and maximum of 27.4 °C. The contrasts between day and night air temperatures are much larger than seasonal contrasts.{{cite book |last1=Jacob |first1=M. and colleagues |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |chapter=Dogu'a Tembien's Tropical Mountain Climate |series=GeoGuide |date=2019 |pages=45–61 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_3 |s2cid=199105560 }}

The Giba River is the most important river in the surroundings of the tabia. It flows towards Tekezze River and further on to the Nile. These rivers have incised deep gorges which characterise the landscape.{{cite book |last1=Amanuel Zenebe |first1=and colleagues |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |chapter=The Giba, Tanqwa and Tsaliet Rivers in the Headwaters of the Tekezze Basin |series=GeoGuide |date=2019 |pages=215–230 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_14 |s2cid=199099067 }}

The drainage network of the tabia is organised as follows:{{cite book |last1=Jacob |first1=M. and colleagues |title=Geo-trekking map of Dogu'a Tembien (1:50,000). In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}}

• Giba River, receiving on its right bank
• Gra Adiam River, which becomes Bitchoqo River, at the border of tabias Walta and Inda Sillasie
• Zeyi River, at the border of tabias Simret and Walta

Whereas they are (nearly) dry during most of the year, during the main rainy season, these rivers carry high runoff discharges, sometimes in the form of flash floods. Especially at the begin of the rainy season they are brown-coloured, evidencing high soil erosion rates.

As there are no permanent rivers, the presence of springs is of utmost importance for the local people. The main springs in the tabia are:{{cite book | title=What do we hear from the farmers in Dogu'a Tembien? [in Tigrinya] |date=2016 |location=Hagere Selam, Ethiopia |pages=100 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311151542}}

• Kalena in Addi Ferti
• May Shafa in Addi Ferti
• May Ayni in Da’erere
• May Tselot near Giba River

In this area with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season.

• Traditional surface water harvesting ponds, particularly in places without permanent springs, called rahaya
• Horoyo, household ponds, recently constructed through campaigns{{cite journal |last1=Segers |first1=Kaatje |last2=Dessein |first2=Joost |last3=Nyssen |first3=Jan |last4=Haile |first4=Mitiku |last5=Deckers |first5=Jozef |title=Developers and farmers intertwining interventions: the case of rainwater harvesting and food-for-work in Degua Temben, Tigray, Ethiopia |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/199397 |journal=International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |date=2008 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=173–182 |doi=10.3763/ijas.2008.0366 |s2cid=154026513|url-access=subscription }}

The tabia holds several exclosures, areas that are set aside for regreening. {{cite journal |last1=Aerts |first1=R |last2=Nyssen |first2=J|last3=Mitiku Haile |title= On the difference between "exclosures" and "enclosures" in ecology and the environment |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |date=2009|volume=73 |issue=8 |pages= 762–763 |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.01.006 |bibcode=2009JArEn..73..762A |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/239842 |url-access=subscription }} Wood harvesting and livestock range are not allowed there. Besides effects on biodiversity,{{cite book |last1=Aerts |first1=R. |last2=Lerouge |first2=F. |last3=November |first3=E. |title=Birds of forests and open woodlands in the highlands of Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}}{{cite journal |last1=Mastewal Yami |first1=and colleagues |title= Impact of Area Enclosures on Density and Diversity of Large Wild Mammals: The Case of May Ba'ati, Douga Tembien Woreda, Central Tigray, Ethiopia |journal=East African Journal of Sciences |date=2007|volume=1 |pages=1–14 }}{{cite journal |last1=Aerts |first1=R |last2=Lerouge |first2=F |last3=November |first3=E |last4=Lens |first4=L |last5=Hermy |first5=M |last6=Muys |first6=B |title=Land rehabilitation and the conservation of birds in a degraded Afromontane landscape in northern Ethiopia |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |date=2008 |volume=17 |pages=53–69 |doi=10.1007/s10531-007-9230-2 |s2cid=37489450 |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/145812 |url-access=subscription }} water infiltration, protection from flooding, sediment deposition, {{cite journal |last1=Descheemaeker |first1=K. and colleagues |title= Sediment deposition and pedogenesis in exclosures in the Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia. |journal=Geoderma |date=2006 |volume=132 |issue= 3–4|pages=291–314 |doi=10.1016/j.geoderma.2005.04.027 |bibcode=2006Geode.132..291D }} carbon sequestration, {{cite journal |last1=Wolde Mekuria |first1=and colleagues |title= Restoration of Ecosystem Carbon Stocks Following Exclosure Establishment in Communal Grazing Lands in Tigray, Ethiopia |journal= Soil Science Society of America Journal |date=2011 |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=246–256|doi=10.2136/sssaj2010.0176 |bibcode=2011SSASJ..75..246M }} people commonly have economic benefits from these exclosures through grass harvesting, beekeeping and other non-timber forest products.{{cite journal |last1=Bedru Babulo |first1=and colleagues |title= Economic valuation methods of forest rehabilitation in exclosures |journal=Journal of the Drylands |date=2006 |volume=1 |pages=165–170 }} The local inhabitants also consider it as “land set aside for future generations”.{{cite book |last1=Jacob |first1=M. and colleagues | title= Exclosures as Primary Option for Reforestation in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}} In this tabia, some exclosures are managed by the EthioTrees project. They have as an additional benefit that the villagers receive carbon credits for the sequestered CO₂,{{cite book |last1=Reubens |first1=B. and colleagues | title= Research-based development projects in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}} as part of a carbon offset programme.[https://www.planvivo.org/project-network/ethiotrees-tembien-highlands/ EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website] The revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities; [https://www.davines.com/blogs/projects/ethiotrees EthioTrees on Davines website] it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, conservation in the exclosures, or a store for incense.{{cite book |last1=Moens |first1=T |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |last2=Lanckriet |first2=S |last3=Jacob |first3=M |chapter=Boswellia Incense in the Giba River Gorge |date=2019 |publisher=Springer Nature |pages=293–300 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_19 |series=GeoGuide |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |s2cid=199113310 }} The Ziban Dake exclosure is managed by the Ethiotrees project in Walta municipality.{{cite book |last1=De Deyn |first1=Jonathan |title= Benefits of reforestation on Carbon storage and water infiltration in the context of climate mitigation in North Ethiopia. Master thesis, Ghent University, Belgium| date=2019}}

The tabia centre Da’erere holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary school, and some small shops. There are a few more primary schools across the tabia. The main other populated places are:

The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by farmlands which are clearly demarcated and are cropped every year. Hence the agricultural system is a permanent upland farming system.{{cite journal |last1= Nyssen|first1= J.|last2= Naudts|first2= J.|last3= De Geyndt|first3= K.|last4= Haile|first4= Mitiku|last5= Poesen|first5= J.|last6= Moeyersons|first6= J.|last7= Deckers|first7= J.|title=Soils and land use in the Tigray highlands (Northern Ethiopia) |journal=Land Degradation and Development |date=2008 |volume=19 |issue= 3|pages=257–274 |doi= 10.1002/ldr.840|s2cid= 128492271}} The farmers have adapted their cropping systems to the spatio-temporal variability in rainfall.{{cite journal |last1=Frankl |first1=A. and colleagues |title=The effect of rainfall on spatio‐temporal variability in cropping systems and duration of crop cover in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands |journal=Soil Use and Management |date=2013 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=374–383 |doi=10.1111/sum.12041 |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/3123393 |hdl=1854/LU-3123393 |s2cid=95207289 |hdl-access=free }}

Especially the youngsters in Didiben and Nibre go to the deep gorge of Giba river to harvest incense from Boswellia papyrifera trees.{{cite book |last1=Moens |first1=T. and colleagues |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |chapter=Boswellia Incense in the Giba River Gorge |series=GeoGuide |date=2019 |pages=293–300 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_19 |s2cid=199113310 }}

The history of the tabia is strongly confounded with the history of Tembien.

Most inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. The following churches are located in the tabia:

• Nibre Abune Ayezgi
• Didiben Iyesus
• Mehanie Alem
• Addi Ferti Maryam

In the main villages, there are traditional beer houses (Inda Siwa), often in unique settings, where people socialise. Well known in the tabia are

• Amlesu Gebremariam at Da’erere
• Tinsu’i Belay at Da’erere

The main road Mekelle – Hagere Selam – Abiy Addi runs 5 to 15 km north and west of the tabia. People need to walk first to Inda Maryam Qorar or Hagere Selam before travelling further. For transportation of goods, a rural access road links Walta to the main asphalt road in Dongolo.

Its mountainous nature and relative proximity to Mekelle make the tabia fit for tourism.{{cite book |title= Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546|series=GeoGuide }} As compared to many other mountain areas in Ethiopia the villages are quite accessible, and during walks visitors may be invited for coffee, lunch or even for an overnight stay in a rural homestead.{{cite book |chapter=Logistics for the Trekker in a Rural Mountain District of Northern Ethiopia|date=2019 |publisher=Springer-Nature |pages=537–556 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_37 |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |series=GeoGuide |last1=Nyssen |first1=Jan |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |s2cid=199198251 }}

• Views over the gorges, including view of Zeyi Abune Aregawi church under a cliff
• Anthropogenic Boswellia papyrifera landscapes and incense harvesting

The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invite for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism".{{cite book |last1=Miruts Hagos and colleagues |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |chapter=Geosites, Geoheritage, Human-Environment Interactions, and Sustainable Geotourism in Dogu'a Tembien |series=GeoGuide |date=2019 |pages=3–27 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_1 |s2cid=199095921 }}

Trekking routes have been established in this tabia.{{cite book |date=2019 |publisher=Springer-Nature |pages=557–675 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_38 |series=GeoGuide |last1=Nyssen |first1=Jan |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |chapter=Description of Trekking Routes in Dogu'a Tembien |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |s2cid=199271514 }} The tracks are not marked on the ground but can be followed using downloaded. GPX files.{{cite web|url=https://www.openstreetmap.org/traces/tag/nyssen-jacob-frankl|title=Public GPS traces tagged with nyssen-jacob-frankl|website=OpenStreetMap|accessdate=2019-10-11}}

• Trek 9, from Hagere Selam to Inda Sillasie allows visiting the northern part of the tabia
• Trek 8, southbound from Zeyi church and cave, crosses the southern part of the tabia to Giba River and allows visiting the slopes of the Giba gorge, with numerous incense trees

• Dogu'a Tembien district.

{{reflist}}

{{Geographic location

|Centre = Walta

|North = Seret

|East = Inda Sillasie

|South = Saharti Samre

|West = Simret

|Northeast = Mika'el Abiy

}}

{{ Tabias (municipalities) of Dogu’a Tembien }}

Category:Dogu'a Tembien

Category:Populated places in the Tigray Region