Background
The property lies along the eastern edge of the Main Ethiopian Rift, on the steep escarpments of the highlands. UNESCO describes an area of agroforestry where large trees shelter enset, the main food crop, with coffee and other shrubs beneath; the densely settled Gedeo people manage the forest with traditional knowledge, keep sacred forests for rituals of the Gedeo religion, and care for dense clusters of megalithic monuments along the ridges.
Wikipedia: the landscape runs from 1,307 to 3,072 m and has been occupied since the Neolithic; thousands of stelae at roughly 100 sites have been recorded, the largest about 8 m high, with burial grounds, a necropolis and petroglyphs, first surveyed by Europeans in the 1920s and 1930s. More than 90 per cent of the Gedeo Zone is agroforestry, almost untilled against erosion, with harvest forbidden in the sacred forests. It was inscribed in 2023.
- MioceneVolcanism and alluvial rivers make the escarpment fertile
- NeolithicEarliest evidence of settlement in the Gedeo region
- 1920s–1930sThe first European archaeological surveys of the stelae
- 2023Inscribed as World Heritage
Find Your Way Around
The main parts of the site, in the order most visitors see them
- 1The AgroforestryEnset and coffee under native trees, with root crops below, on slopes that are almost never tilled.
- 2The Sacred ForestsGroves kept for Gedeo rituals, where no harvest is allowed.
- 3The StelaeThousands of standing stones at about 100 sites, some 8 m tall.
- 4The PetroglyphsEngraved rock art found across the landscape.
Know Before You Go
From Wikivoyage and the GoGo guides
Forest Farms and Stelae
Not yet in a GoGo guide
- 09:00Agroforestry Slopes3 hrsEnset and coffee under the trees, with a local guide.
- 14:00A Stelae Cluster2 hrsStanding stones along the ridges.
Best Time to Visit
Best months: Jul, Nov–Mar. Rainy season Apr–May, Oct.
Typical highs
Climate: NASA POWER
Pair It With
Other World Heritage sites nearby, by distance
