Indigenous Utilization and Management of Useful Plants in and around Awash National Park, Ethiopia

An ethnobotanical study in and around Awash National Park with special emphasis on useful plants was conducted from September 2014 to August 2015. The study was aimed at documenting the indigenous knowledge of people on utilization and maintenance of cultural significance useful plants in their pastoral areas. Sixty-two useful plants belonging to 49 genera and 31 families were collected and identified from the study area. Most of plants investigated in the area have multiple uses which accounted to 54 species (87% of total plants). Totally, five useful plant categories were identified, including 35 medicinal species, 22 wild edible species, 39 forage species, 17 species for cosmetics and beauty and 45 species used for construction, fuel and firewood. In preference ranking of medicinal plants, Acacia negrii was ranked first followed by Acacia senegal to treat wound. Analysis of direct matrix ranking on multiple uses of seven species revealed that Boswellia microphylla, Ziziphus spina-christi and Balanites aegyptiaca were reported to be the most important and intensively used species in the community. Informant consensus factor analysis showed that construction, fuel and charcoal (72%) and wild edible plants (71%) had high informant agreement. In plant species level, informant consensus was higher for Rostraria cristata which was cited by 91.9% used for forages followed by Grewia villosa (72.5%) and Lawsonia inermis (62.9%) for different cosmetics in the society. In and around the Awash National Park, useful plants were facing threats in their natural habitats from various human activities. Population pressure followed by drought and agricultural expansion was found as the major threatening factors. The urgent actions are needed to conserve such vital plant resources. Further analysis of pharmaceutical and nutritional values of plants should be evaluated to optimize their wise use in the future.