Ethnobotanical Study Of Dessa Forest North-eastern Escarpment Of Ethiopia With Emphasis On Use And Management Of Forest Resources By The Local People

An ethnobotanical study was conducted from February to March 2008 to investigaternthe traditional uses and system of managing of the Dess’a forest by people in andrnaround the forest. The aim of this study was to identify and document the traditionalrnknowledge held by the local people in using and managing the forest resources. Sevenrnforest Kushtes (village) very close to and within the forest area were purposivelyrnselected. Ninety-two informants comprising of 74 % (68) males and 26% (24) femalesrnwere randomly selected for the study. Based on the community recommendationsrnfifteen key informants with 73 % (11) males and 27 % (4) females were selectedrnpurposefully. Information was collected using semi-structured interview, direct matrixrnranking and scoring, preference raking, pair wise ranking and focus group discussion.rnA total of 82 plants belonging to 65 genera and 43 families were recorded. Thernfamilies best represented were Fabaceae (6 species), Lamiaceae and Solanaceae (5rnspecies each) and Tiliaceae (4 species). Based on the results from the informantrnconsensus, Olea europaea subsp cuspidata and Acacia etbaica are the most popularrnamong the local people for their value. The results further indicated that the userncategories animal fodder and bee forage scored 68% each followed by firewood 45%.rnOf the utilized growth habits shrubs account 62.19%. The most frequently used plantrnparts were leaves and nectar/pollen 20.89% each followed by stem 19.40%. Thernspecies O. europaea subsp cuspidate, A. etbaica, Boscia salicifolia, Erica arborearnand Cordia africana are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th multipurpose forest plants respectively.rnThe findings showed that the local people have held forest management systemsrnthrough unique grazing area strategies for plough-oxen and open access to all otherrnlivestock. The forest trees are also used to hang beehives. The forest resources arernexclusively held by the community and no external bodies are allowed to use which isrnimportant in biological conservation. Fire hazard, fuelwood collection and use ofrnbuilding materials were ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd priority management problems in thernstudy area. Based on the informants’ perception, Erica arborea, Boscia salicifolia andrnCordia africana and Dracaena ellenbeckiana are the first, second and third locallyrnthreatened species respectively. The study generally shows the local people depend onrnthe forest for their livelihoods. Currently, the traditional forest management is erodingrndue to population growth, which negatively affects the forest protection andrnmanagement. Therefore, this study has tried to find out the traditional forest resourcernxirnmanagement systems and the main forest management problems and can contributernfor the development of new forest management plan and forest protection strategies.rnKey words: Dess’a forest, Ethnobotany, Management, Threatened species.

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