TY - JOUR T1 - Profile JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 228 LP - 230 VL - 49 IS - 3 AU - Dan Vanden Bosch Y1 - 1994/05/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/49/3/228.abstract N2 - Imagine being 50 km (31 miles) from the nearest road accessible to vehicles and hundreds of kilometers from hospitals, theaters, and other modern conveniences of Western life, all while living in a thatched-roof hut. That was Hans Hurni's situation 20 years ago, between 1974 and 1977, when he lived 3,600 m (11,811 ft) above sea-level in the Simen Mountains National Park in northern Ethiopia. Situated between the uppermost Ericaceous forest and a mountain steppe that reached an elevation of 4,000 m (13,123 ft), he was within 20 minutes walking distance of a 3,000-meter (9,842 ft) deep canyon, twice the depth of Arizona's Grand Canyon. He was living on those steep cliffs with the remaining 100-200 examples of Walya ibex, once a widespread species of mountain goat that was now on the verge of extinction and needed to be protected. Having just completed his MS thesis on soil erosion based on fieldwork in the Simen Mountains, Hurni was ready to take over the challenging job of warden of the park, for which he was employed by World … ER -