1:12,500 scale (2 x vertical exaggeration) Participatory 3D Model (P3DM) of the districts of Dinsho, Sinana, Goba, Agarfa and Adaba , Bale and West Arsi, Oromia, Ethiopia. (January 10 - February 15 2009).

Note: The model measuring 3.6 x 2.8 m (1575 km² on the ground) has been the 1^st Participatory 3D Model constructed in Ethiopia.

The exercise has been done in an area where MELCA has been active for a long time with the objective to to plan out the sustainable management of the area, revive local bio-cultural diversity and support local environmental education.

A total of 72 representatives from 24 Kebele (3 from each Kebele) from the districts of Dinsho, Sinana, Goba, Agarfa and Adaba attended the exercise. These included traditional leaders, elders, farmers, men and women, and youth.

Under the guidance of MELCA coordinator, Mr. Million Belay, students from the Dinsho Elementary and High Schools assembled the blank models (3 units 1.2 m x 2.8 m each).  Knowledge holders populated the model with their memories and reconstructed the present landscape.

Trainees included representatives from the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Bale Mountain National Park and MELCA staff.

Recommended reading:

Belay M. 2009. Summary Activity Report: Training on Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling In Dinsho, Bale, Ethiopia; January - February 2009

Mersha Yilma. 2011. Proceedings from International Conference on Participatory Mapping for Sustainable Life, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Report on Trainings in Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling at Dinsho in Bale, Holeta in Suba-Sebeta and Masha in Sheka, Ethiopia.

Image courtesy of Million Belay © / 2009 MELCA

Image courtesy of Million Belay © / 2009 MELCA

Image courtesy of Million Belay © / 2009 MELCA

MELCA Mahiber - Movement for Ecological Learning and Community Action - was founded in 2004, to work for the conservation of ecosystem and for the revival and enhancement of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and to protect the rights of communities in Ethiopia through research, advocacy, endogenous development and intergenerational learning.

The word ‘melca’ means ford both in Amharic and Oromo language – two of the widely spoken languages of Ethiopia. It means a crossing point on a river, which is symbolically used to indicate the need to take people away from their misconception about local people and culture to an understanding and appreciation of traditional ecological knowledge. A river also signifies linkage with a source. If the source dries, the river also dries. MELCA emphasizes that culture is the source of identity and wisdom, and that the destruction or degradation of culture will result lose of a vast amount of knowledge and identity.

MELCA currently works with local communities, elders, schools and youth in the Sheka Forest region in southeast Ethiopia, the Bale Mountains National Park, and Menagesha Suba forest near to Addis Ababa. MELCA is also a regional node for the African Biodiversity Network.