Ethnoecological knowledge allied to the management of wild medicinal plants in Adaa District, East Shewa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study assessed and documented ethnoecological knowledge of the indigenous people of Ada'a District that has important contribution in the conservation of wild medicinal plants. Both purposive and random sampling methods were used to collect appropriate data. Quantitative and qualitative ethnobotanical methods were used to analyze the ethnoecological data. A significance test on the indigenous knowledge variation of the average number of reported medicinal plants was assessed. Results indicated that a total of 112 wild medicinal plants belonging to 53 families were recorded. Moreover, the indigenous knowledge about the medicinality of the reported medicinal plants were found to be evenly known (P>0.05) by all informants regardless of their demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education, marital status, and experiences). On top of this, it was found that the district has important traditional ecological knowledge that has a substantial contribution for the conservation of the medicinal plants in the wild. Therefore, we recommend that the district agricultural organization should synergize the existing traditional ecological knowledge with the conventional scientific approaches that are being promoted and implemented in the district for ensuring sustainable, integrated and long-term management of wild medicinal plants in the study area.