The role of indigenous knowledge in forest management practices among the kaffecho people, gimbo woreda, south west ethiopia

The indigenous knowledge attached to forest commonly restricts access to these sites. As a result, many sacred sites have survived for hundreds of years and act as important biodiversity reservoirs. This study is about the role of indigenous knowledge for forest management practices in Gimbo woreda, Kaffa zone of Ethiopia. In this woreda, the community practiced indigenous forest management systems since immemorial times. Three study sites, namely Wacha, Agama and Tulla were selected for this study. The research deals with indigenous cultural beliefs, values, ethics and taboos of indigenous knowledge in forest management practices at Gimbo woreda in the above selected sites. Accordingly, traditional religion (kollo and dedebetato), ecological knowledge and social organizations of the people are identified as units of analysis for this paper. The main objective of the study is to investigate and reveal the indigenous knowledge of Kaffecho society in forest management practices and to propose ways for maintaining useful forest knowledge for sustainable development. Both primary and secondary methods of data collection were employed to gather information in the study area. Informants such as women, men, development agents and experts were interviewed. The major findings of the research indicated that the indigenous knowledge practices of the community have important roles in forest management. Yet, some of the community knowledge has limitations on their effectiveness, functions and implementations. Similarly, scientific forest management practices have both negative and positive effects on the forest in the study area and on the community’s knowledge. This called for a new strategy whereby indigenous knowledge is transformed by creating a synthesis with scientific knowledge and its application to forest management. This approach opened up the possibility for plural knowledge applications and positive outcomes between the community’s indigenous knowledge and the governmental forest management practices in the study sites.