Park Facts

In 1966, Awash National Park, the most important conservation area in the Ethiopian lowland, became the first legally established national park in Ethiopia and, today, is still one of only three gazetted parks in the country. The park is located 200km to the east of Addis Ababa in the Rift Valley, within the National Regional States of Oromia and Afar. The 756 square kilometre Awash site was chosen as a representation of a dry lowland environment as it had previously been protected hunting ground for Emperor Haile Selassie, is close to the capital, has stunning scenery and diverse and abundant wildlife.

The purpose of Awash National Park is to conserve the ecological and hydrological systems of the Awash Valley, including, the semi-arid savannah, scrubland and palm habitats, with their rare, diverse and endemic species while contributing to the social and economic wellbeing of the present and future generations of people locally in Ethiopia.

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