This study aimed at examining whether or to what degree the Ethiopian governmentrnnational park governance policy facilitates or debilitates local communitiesâ€™ involvementrnto conserve the biodiversity of their surroundings and benefits the tourism industry. Thernstudy adopted a qualitative approach with particular methods such as semi-structuredrninterviews with critical informants and Focus Group Discussion with different actorsrnincluding local communities. Moreover, data was collected from secondary sourcesrnwritten about Awash National Park (ANP) that include reports, the General ManagementrnPlan of ANP among others. The data collected were then transcribed, translated, andrnanalyzed using content analysis method. The result subsequently shows that the nationalrnpark governance policy that has been used in ANP, Fortress/conservationist, orrnCommunity-Based Conservation (CBC) approach, could not give due attention to thernlocal community. Local communitiesâ€™ have not been empowered to manage the NP evenrnthough officials wrongly claim that community based conservation approach is practicedrnin ANP. Thus, the ANP governance policy, which has been introduced since the reign ofrnEmperor Hayle Selassie, has never met the twin target of natural resource conservationrnand benefiting the local community from tourism to date. It has, instead, become a sourcernof conflict. Even though the CBC approach supports the local community participation tornrunning the ANP theoretically, it failed to actualize this in to practice. This research hasrncome up with a proposal for national park development where communities are anrnintegral part of the national park protection and, at the same time, beneficiaries form thernnational park through park-based benefits and various tourism development activities.