A Survey Of Nontimber Forest Products And Their Conservation Status In The Gimbo District Snnpr Southwest Ethiopia

The study was carried out to document the NTFPs and assess their conservation status within thernBonga Forest of Gimbo District. Also in the study, by comparing two forest patches one managedrnby PFM and another freely accessed by the local people, the role of PFM in forest conservation isrnevaluated. To do all these, ethnobotanical studies, market surveys and vegetation studies wererncarried out. Ethnobotanical and market data collection were done in accordance with PRArntechniques. And vegetation data were collected within 60 sample plots that have a dimension ofrn30 m X 30 m wherein data for all trees and lianas were recorded. Data for all the shrubs and herbsrnwere also collected within subplots of 5 m X 5 m and 2 m X 2 m respectively. Random walkingrntechnique was used to lay the main plots. Vegetation study determined stem density, forestrnstructure, population structures of important tree species, IVI and biodiversity patterns. The studyrndocumented 26 NTFPs categories. Out of these, house construction materials, honey and coffeernare the most preferred NTFPs. NTFPs; coffee, honey and beeswax, korrorima, wild pepper,rncarpets made of phoenix reclinata leaves, fruits of Fagaropsis angolensis, Ramnus prinioidesrnleaves and branchs, firewood, charcoal, ropes of different kinds are the NTFPs widely found inrnthe local markets. The status of NTFPs in the study area has reduced over the years and the stutusrnof Fagaropsis angolensis was known to have reduced highly. Student’s t-test revealed thatrnneither total stem density nor trees and shrubs density separately in the forests under PFM andrnfree access differ significantly. This shows that although higher rate of selective logging isrnevident in the free access forest, there is also high rate of reproduction or regeneration orrnsuccession within this forest. The biodiversity pattern of the forests in the study area was found tornbe high (H’= 4.37 & 4.27) and (E =0.94 & 0.91) in the PFM and free access forests respectively.rnPreference ranking results shows that Olea welwitschii, Elaeodendron buchananii, Syzygiumrnguineense, Allophylous abyssinicus, Millettia ferruginea, Cordia Africana, Ehretia cymosa ,rnEuphorbia ampliphylla, Ficus sur, Poutera adolfi-friedericii, Shefflera abyssinica and vernoniarnamygdalina are the most preferred tree species that are source of NTFPs and the IVI resultrnindivcated Cordia africana, Ficus thonningii, Dombeya torrida, Ekebergia capensis, Vernoniarnauriculifera, Fagaropsis angolensis, Galinieria saxifrage, Pitosporum virdiflourm and Psychotriarnorophilia to be the least important tree species. Therefore, the above-mentioned tree speciesrnshould be a center of foret conservation scheme in the area either due to their high preferrednessrnor due to their low abundance.rnKey words: Nontimber forest products, participatory forest management, forest structure,rnpopulation structure, importance value index, preference ranking

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