WILD COFFEA ARABICA. IN THE AFROMONTANE RAINFORESTS OF ETHIOPIA: DISTRIBUfION, ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Abstract

Coffea arabica L., native to the Afromontane rainforests of Ethiopia. These rainforests are
the last refugia for wild genetic resources of Arabica coffee. To understand the ecological characteri'>tics
and the conservation options of wild coffee populations,'a study was conducted in Bonga, Harenna,
Maji, Berhane-Kontir and Yayu forests. In each forest, quadrats of 20 x 20 m were laid along transects to
collect coffee related data. Wild populations of Arabica coffee are distributed over a wide range of
geographical regions, but locally have a patchy distribution in the rainforests. The highest abundance of
wild coffee plants p~r plot was recorded in Yayu and the lowest in the Bonga/Berhane-Konm: forests. A
low frequency of occurrence was observed in Harenna (71 %) and the highest in Maji and Yayu forests
(100%). This is related to the major spatial discontinuities caused by factors in edaphic, biotic,
microdimatic and topographic features. Wild coffee occurs mostly between 1000 m and 2000 m but its
critical altitude is between 1300 m and 1600 m. There is a negative correlation between the abundance
of wild coffee and an increase in slope angle. The wild populationS of Arabica coffee are also influenced
by the structural arrangement of the forest. Slight forest disturbance such as selective tree cutting may
create favorable environmental conditions for coffee recruitment. However, serious disturbances such
as overgrazing can limit the regeneration capacity of coffee plants in the forest. To conserve the greatest
possible amount of wild coffee populations, ·the rainforests must be maintained and not converted to
other types of land use. Nafltre reserve networks should be established across the Afromontane
rainforests of Ethiopia.