Traditional Forest Management Practices in Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia

Abstract

A Study on traditional forest management practices was conducted in three selected woredas of Jimma zone from January 2005 to June 2005. The objective of the study was to identify traditional practices that had contributed to the conservation of forests and to devise means of utilizing these practices presently for the conservation effort of the remaining forest resources of the zone. The methods employed in the study were interview and focus group discussion with local community elders and leaders, Woreda level agricultural experts and kebele administrators. From the study, it was found that the local communities conserve forest tree species traditionally either for religious practices as in the case of Ficus vasta, Podocarpus falcatus, Ekebergia capensis and Ficus sychomore, or for the benefits they drive from the forest as in the case of coffee shade trees (Albiza gummifera, Milletia ferrugnea and Acacia abyssinica), and for the apiculture. There are traditional administrative setups in the community for enforcing these practices but their ultimate authority is presently eroded by modern administrative setups. If these traditional practices are integrated with modern conservation efforts, it will greatly support the conservation of rapidly diminishing forests of the region. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Science Vol. 2 (2) 2007: pp. 1-10