The diversity of woody plant species and socio-economic importance of salt house of thernBorana dryland were conducted in Boke. This area is a volcanic crater lake and assumes arncircular shape when viewed from the top. To study woody plant species diversity,rnevenness, richness and community type, line transects were laid along the four aspects forrnsampling purposes. A total of 22 quadrats (20 m x 20 m) were sampled. For comparativernpurposes, 39 quadrats of the same size were sampled from outside the salt house.rnParticipatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and semi-structured interviews were conducted for arnsocio-economic data collection. Vegetation, environmental variables and socio-economicrndata were analyzed using PC-ORD, CANOCO and SPSS software, and descriptivernstatistics accordingly. A total of 45 woody plant species representing 26 genera in 16rnfamilies were recorded in this study. The density of woody plant species recorded inrnBoke salt house was 2622 individuals ha-1. The diversity and evenness indices of woodyrnplant species of the study area were 2.100 and 0.661, respectively. Six plant communityrntypes were identified in the current study, of which the first two (community 1, and 3)rnwere found in Boke salt house and the other four (Community 2, 4, 5 and 6) werernrestricted to surrounding environment. Soil parameters like moisture content, organicrnmatter, total N and available P had significant positive correlation with altitude, whereasrnexchangeable Na, pH-H2O, and electrical conductivity had negative correlation. The saltrnhouse is the sole source of both table salt and black salty mud which are used as arnlivelihood safety net during drought. The indigenous people of the area extract table saltrnby using leaves of a thorn-less shrub, Suaeda monoica. It was found out that the on siternretail price of 50-60 kgs of table salt ranges from 80 to 100 ETB while the same amountrnof a black salty mud was 25-30 ETB. It has been found out that about 50,000 ETB wasrnsaid to be collected by elected local community leaders per year from eco-tourists visitingrnthe salt house. This income was/is being used for development activities under thernleadership of the community. Given the level of poverty and recurrent drought, Boke saltrnhouse is under intensive and extensive human exploitations and participatory resourcernmanagement and sustainable uses should be sought for both by local communities and thernOromia Regional State to bring about long-lasting solutions.