Woody plant use and management in relation to property rights: a social-ecological case study from southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Many people in less developed countries depend on woody plants, but sustainable management of woody plants often remains a challenge. We assessed people's use, perceived property rights and management of woody plants in farmland and forests in a landscape of southwestern Ethiopia. We interviewed 180 households and surveyed woody plants in 192 plots. We found that 95 species were used for eleven major purposes. The majority of plants (52) were used for house construction followed by farming tools (42), fuelwood (38) and honey production (37). These benefits were sourced from farmland, forest with coffee management and forest without coffee management. Our study found that local people perceived land tenure security and tree use rights to be limited, especially for forests. We found abundant regeneration of the most widely used tree species in all land use types. However, some of these species, including important pole and timber species, appeared to be overharvested in forests. To improve biodiversity outcomes and sustainable use, it would be beneficial to recognize local people's diverse needs for woody plants and grant them appropriate property rights. Conservation policies should encompass the entire landscape and empower local farmers to proactively manage tree populations while providing safeguards against overuse. ARTICLE HISTORY

A social-ecological assessment of food security and biodiversity conservation in Ethiopia

“…In both cases, distinct beneficiary groups were identified through hierarchical clustering, and the clusters were tested for differences in socioeconomic and geographical characteristics. We also surveyed 180 households to specifically elicit the benefits obtained from woody plants, and summarized the numbers of woody plant species and their uses (Shumi et al 2019a). This specific focus on woody plants was chosen because trees and shrubs are directly used by most local people; other elements of biodiversity may also be useful but not in the same immediate and direct ways (for example, wild mammals are not usually hunted here, unlike in many other parts of Africa).…”

Woody plant species diversity as a predictor of ecosystem services in a social–ecological system of southwestern Ethiopia

“…The human population of the study kebeles ranged from 3230 to 9975 people per kebele (Dorresteijn et al 2017). The largest ethnic group in the study area is the Oromo, while Amhara, Kefficho and Tigre people are minorities (see Table S1; Shumi et al 2019a).…”

“…Local people sourced these benefits from farmland (mainly arable land and grazing land), and forests (with and without coffee management). For details of methods, such as the characteristics of respondents and sources of woody plants, see Shumi et al (2019a) and Table S1.…”

“…Redressing existing problems requires recognition and improved understanding of people's livelihoods (e.g. Jiren et al 2017;Leta et al 2019;Shumi et al 2019a), as well as more clearly defined property rights and better access to land and other environmental resources (Lemenih and Kassa 2014;Tura 2018;Shumi et al 2019a). Both ecological and social aspects in the landscape thus must be carefully managed to prevent a worsening of the livelihood situation and wellbeing of people, especially those who are already marginalized.…”

“…Kassa et al 2016) and thus negatively impact woody plant species diversity and associated ES. At present, local people depend on multiple ES provided by different woody plant species for their day-to-day livelihoods (Ango et al 2014;Dorresteijn et al 2017;Shumi et al 2019a). To explore how woody plant species diversity was related to ES diversity in the landscape, we collected social data on local people's benefits obtained from different woody plant species.…”