Assessment of potentials and challenges of ecotourism Development in chebera churchura national park, South western Ethiopia

Ecotourism has become an important trade and prosperity sector in the world. Ethiopia is endowed with the vast array of ecotourism resources including cultural, historical and natural resources which are ideal for the development of sustainable ecotourism ventures. To save degradation of resources national parks are very crucial. Among various national parks in Ethiopia, Chebera Churchura National Park is one of the highest wildlife resources sites and has a potential for ecotourism development in the country. This study was conducted with objective of assessing the potentials and challenges of ecotourism development in Chebera Churchura National Park. The research has attempted to integrate both qualitative and quantitative approaches and descriptive method. Questionnaire, interview, focus group discussion and observation were used as instruments of data collection. The collected data was analysed by using SPSS Version 20 software and presents by using descriptive statistics like frequency and percentage. The findings showed that Chebera Churchura National Park is rich in wildlife, cultural and natural beauty that has great potential for ecotourism development. The park consists of more than 1000 elephants; 3000 buffalos; rivers and more than three hot springs, five beautiful creator lakes which have hippopotamus, crocodiles, water birds, cultural attractions, caves, dense forests and waterfalls inside the park. The main challenges in the park for ecotourism development are lack of awareness, lack of infrastructure, livestock grazing, illegal farming and hunting and wildfire. Therefore, the study generally suggests that, all the concerned bodies have to focus on solving the challenges for strengthening ecotourism development in Chebera Churchura National Park.