Debre Nazret is a tabia or municipality in the Inderta district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It belonged to Degua Tembien up to January 2020. The tabia centre is in Togogwa town, located approximately 19 km to the east-southeast of Hagere Selam and 25 km to the west of Mekelle.
History
The history of the
tabia is strongly confounded with the history of Tembien.
Between 2018 and 2020, as part of a reform aimed to deepen and strengthen decentralisation, Tigray's woredas were reorganised, and new boundaries established. Debre Nazret was transferred from Dogu'a Tembien to Inderta. Three arguments were at play: historically it belonged to Inderta; the limestone environment (hence land management) is like Inderta; and being at mid-distance between woreda centres Hagere Selam and Mekelle, the latter was preferred as common travel is more frequent in direction of Mekelle.
During the Tigray War, on 22 June 2021, Togoga airstrike by the Ethiopian Air Force and approximately 54 people were killed. According to doctors, 43 injured people were brought to the hospital in Mekelle, including a 2-year-old.[Irish Times, 23 June 2021: Officials count ballots after Ethiopia's election, new fighting reported in Tigray]
Geography
The
tabia occupies a wide limestone plateau at the west of the Inderta district; at the eastern and southern side it is bound by the
Giba River gorge and at the west by Addi Keshofo River. The highest peak is Imba Bete Gyergis (2390 m a.s.l.) and the lowest place the junction of Addi Keshofo and Giba Rivers (1600 m a.s.l.).
Geology
From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present:
Geomorphology and soils
The main
geomorphic unit is the gently undulating Agula
shale plateau with
dolerite. Corresponding soil types are:
-
Dominant soil type: stony, dark cracking with good natural fertility (Vertic Cambisol)
-
Associated soil types
-
rock outcrops, stony and shallow soils (Lithic Leptosol)
-
red-brownish soils with good natural fertility (Chromic Luvisol)
-
Inclusions
-
deep, dark cracking on calcaric material with good fertility but poor drainage (Vertisol)
Springs
As there are no permanent rivers, the presence of springs is of utmost importance for the local people. For instance, in Kolal, the spring is so poor that every family may fetch only 20 litres of water every two days. If they need more water they must go down to Giba River. The following are the most important springs in the tabia:
-
May Kebakebo in Mi'am Atali
-
Ruba Minchi in Mi'am Atali
-
May Togogwa in Togogwa
-
May Bilbil in Giba River (the strong spring is inside the river bed)
May Kebakebo and May Togogwa directly feed
Inda Anbesa River
Reservoirs
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.
Vegetation and exclosures
The
tabia holds several
, areas that are set aside for regreening.
Wood harvesting and livestock range are not allowed there. Besides effects on
biodiversity,
water infiltration, protection from flooding,
sediment deposition,
carbon sequestration,
people commonly have economic benefits from these exclosures through grass harvesting, beekeeping and other non-timber forest products.
The local inhabitants also consider it as "land set aside for future generations".
In this
tabia, some exclosures are managed by the
EthioTrees project. They have as an additional benefit that the villagers receive
for the sequestered CO
2,
as part of a
carbon offset programme.
[ EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website] The revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities;
[ EthioTrees on Davines website] it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, or conservation in the exclosures. The following exclosures are managed by the Ethiotrees project in Debre Nazret:
-
Mi'am Atali (exclosure), near the homonymous village (76.75 ha)
-
Togogwa (exclosure), near the homonymous small town (108.11 ha)
Livelihood
The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by
which are clearly demarcated and are cropped every year. Hence the agricultural system is a permanent upland
farming system.
Additionally many steep slopes are currently being reforested, which led to decreased soil erosion and stabilisation of gullies.
In the villages of Addi Reget and Kayeh Guila, the youngsters will go to the deep gorge of Giba river to harvest
incense from Boswellia papyrifera trees.
Population
The
tabia centre Togogwa holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary and secondary school, and some small shops. Tuesday is the market day.
There are a few more primary schools across the
tabia. The main other populated places are:
-
Mishlam
-
Addi Reget
-
Kayeh Guila
-
Mihred Gobay
-
Qaliqil
-
Tahtay Kolal
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La'ilay Kolal
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Addi Beles
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Addi Kashi
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Halawa
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Mi'am Atali
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Micheto
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Religion and churches
Most inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. The following churches are located in the
tabia:
-
Yohannes monastery
-
Teklehaymanot
-
Mich'eto Maryam
-
Kolal Est'ifanos
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Mishlam Mika'el
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Kayeh Guila Giyergis
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Qalaqil Abune Ayezgi
|
Schools
Almost all children of the
tabia are schooled,
though in some schools there is lack of classrooms, directly related to the large intake in primary schools over the last decades.
Schools in the
tabia include Togogwa High School and
Kolal school.
Roads and communication
In the 1960s, a road was built from Mekelle through Togogwa to Hagere Selam and on to
Abiy Addi. This involved building a bridge over Giba River; the bridge stands strong nowadays, but the road is largely disused. Yet the segment on the plateau that links Togogwa to the main road
Mekelle – Hagere Selam –
Abiy Addi. There are regular minibus services to
Mekelle and Hagere Selam.
Tourism
Its mountainous nature and proximity to
Mekelle makes the
tabia fit for tourism.
Touristic attractions
-
Yohannes monastery
-
Giba gorge
Geotouristic sites
The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invites for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism".
Geosites in the
tabia include:
-
Peak of Imba Bete Giyergis
-
May Bilbil resurgence
Birdwatching
Birdwatching (for the species, see the main
Degua Tembien page) can be done particularly in exclosures and forests. The following bird-watching sites have been inventoried
in the
tabia and mapped.
-
Yohannes monastery forest
-
Kolal church forest
-
Mishlam church and slope forests
Trekking routes
Trekking routes have been established in this
tabia.
The tracks are not marked on the ground but can be followed using downloaded .GPX files.
-
Trek 18, from the old bridge on Giba River to Addi Lihtsi across the southern part of Debre Nazret
-
Trek 22, from the old bridge to Togogwa
-
Trek 15, from Togogwa to the southwest (Addi Lihtsi)
-
Trek 16, from Togogwa to the west (Rubaksa)
-
Trek 17, from Togogwa to the north (Mizane Birhan)
Inda Siwa, the local beer houses
In the main villages, there are traditional beer houses (
Inda Siwa), often in unique settings, which are a good place for resting and chatting with the local people. Most renown in the
tabia are
-
Gebrisu Tsegay at Togogwa
-
Tsega Assefa at Togogwa
-
Tinsu'i Kiros at Togogwa
Accommodation and facilities
The facilities are very basic.
One may be invited to spend the night in a rural homestead or ask permission to pitch a tent. There are basic hotels in Togogwa, essentially to host pilgrims on their way to the Dabba Hadera monastery. Better hotels are available in Hagere Selam and
Mekelle.
More detailed information
For more details on environment, agriculture, rural sociology, hydrology, ecology, culture, etc., see the overall page on the
Degua Tembien district.
