BackgroundAn ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants was conducted in Burji District, Segan Area Zone of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to identify and document wild edible plants and the associated ethnobotanical knowledge of the local people.MethodsRelevant ethnobotanical data focused on wild edible plants were collected using guided field walk, semi-structured interview, and direct field observation. Informant consensus method and group discussion were conducted for crosschecking and verification of the information. Both descriptive statistics and quantitative ethnobotanical methods were used for data analysis.ResultsWe documented 46 species distributed in 37 genera and 29 families based on local claims of use as food. Local users collect most of these plants from the wild. The common plant families that encompass more number of wild edible plant species were Anacardiaceae (five species) followed by Boraginaceae, Fabaceae and Solanaceae which contributed three species each.ConclusionThe study showed the existence of a number of wild edible plants which mitigate food insecurity situations during problematic times that the people of the area face occasionally. Informants stated that wild growing edible plants are under threat due to increased anthropogenic pressure and disturbed climatic conditions. This calls for urgent and collaborative actions to keep the balance between edible plants availability in the wild and their utilization by the community. Furthermore, the study attempted to prioritize very important wild edible plants as perceived by the local people for possible domestication and/or sustainable utilization.

Background: Ethnobotanical studies are useful in documenting, analyzing, and communicating knowledge and interaction between plant diversity and human societies. Indigenous knowledge has developed as a result of human interaction with their environment. Overstocking and farmland expansion has become the main causes of natural resource degradation. Studies on the ethnobotany of the woodland and dry Afromontane vegetation in Suro Barguda District are lacking. So, it was important to study the diversity of medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge to determine the level of their usage, depletion, or conservation.Methods: Ethnobotanical data of traditional medicinal plants were collected by interviewing 196 informants (145 males and 51 females). Guided field walks and discussions (both group and individual discussion) were used in collecting the data. Quantitative approaches were used to determine the informant consensus factor, fidelity level, and use-value. Ethnomedicinal knowledge apprehended by different informant categories was compared using t-tests with R- software.Results: A total of 98 medicinal plant species belonging to 87 genera and 48 families were reported to be used for treating human ailments. Family Fabaceae was represented by the highest number of species followed by Lamiaceae. Four of the medicinal plants were endemic to Ethiopia. Shrubs were more dominant than trees and herbs. Most of the remedy preparations were from freshly collected plant parts; the major way of herbal medicine preparation was through chopping or pounding the plant parts and homogenizing them with cold and clean water; the oral application was the most common route of administration.Conclusion: The study area was rich in having medicinal plants and corresponding indigenous knowledge diversity. Most of the medicinal plants were found to play a multipurpose role across different use categories and consequently, some are under serious pressure challenging their survival. Hence, recorded high use value indices of multipurpose plant species in the study area can be used as signals of high use pressure and can be used as keys to design and implement well-coordinated complementary in situ and ex situ conservation activity to save these widely used plant species.

Background: This research aimed to identify and document ethnoveterinary medicinal plants and their associated indigenous knowledge, their preparation, application methods used by traditional healers, and status of their conservation with Guji Semi-Pastoralist People of Suro Barguda District, West Guji Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.Methods: Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants data were collected by interviewing 196 informants (145 males and 51 females). Guided field walks and discussions (group and individual discussion) were used in collecting the data. Quantitative approaches were used to determine the informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL), and use value (UV). Ethnoveterinary medicinal knowledge apprehended by different informant categories was compared using t-tests with R- software. Results: Forty-six ethnoveterinary medicinal plant species representing 43 genera and 29 families were identified in the district (Appendix 1). About 26.1% of the families (twelve families) were represented by more than one species. The highest number of species was recorded for Asteraceae (5 species, 10.9%), followed by Euphorbiaceae (4 species, 8.7%) and most ethnoveterinary medicines were prepared from herbs and shrubs than other growth forms. Chopping/pounding the remedial parts and homogenizing them with cold water was found to be the major mode of remedy preparation. All the documented ethnoveterinary plant species were harvested from the wild and observed as exposed for depletion. About 4.4% (two species) of the ethnoveterinary medicinal plants of Suro Barguda District were endemic to Ethiopia.Conclusion: This study indicated that the study area encompasses different species of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants which should be given conservation priority and the local community depends largely on these plants for the treatment of different livestock ailments though the healers had a very high intention to keep their traditional knowledge secrete. The indigenous knowledge of pastoralists about plants (a traditional system of rangeland management) and livestock (breeding different species of livestock (grazers with browsers), as well as their environmental management system (traditional forest, soil, and water conservation system), should be incorporated in the planning and implementation of developmental interventions.