Nechisar National Park is a national park located in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) (also spelled Nech Sar National Park). It is situated in the Great Rift Valley, in the southwest Ethiopian Highlands. As part of a 1960s UNESCO effort to safeguard and conserve the nation’s environment and natural resources, a two-person team of UNESCO consultants spent three months examining the majority of Ethiopia’s key wildlife areas. They formally presented their proposals to the Animal Conservation Board in 1965, which included setting up a game reserve to the east of Lake Chamo to safeguard the Swayne’s hartebeest population and other local wildlife. A significant regional hub for the park is Arba Minch in the Main Ethiopian Rift. 15% of the park is made up of lakes, including Lake Abaya in the north and Lake Chamo in the south. The landscape includes dry grassland plains in addition to the groundwater forest and lakeshore. From 1,108 meters above sea level near Lake Chamo’s shore to 1,650 meters on Mount Tabala in the northeast, which is well-known for its hot springs, is the elevation range. The southern part of the park is dominated by edaphic grassland and calcareous black clay soil. Both invasive species and the invasion of woody plants pose a threat to the national park’s biodiversity. The park has a sizable population of Grant’s gazelles. Among the creatures that may be seen in the park are the plains zebra, Grant’s gazelle, dik-dik, hippopotamus, African leopard, spotted hyena, greater kudu, and one of the last three populations of Swayne’s hartebeest. A region on Lake Chamo’s northwest shore known as Crocodile Market is where many Nile crocodiles gather to sunbathe.
