Indigenous ways of environmental protection in Gedeo community, Southern Ethiopia: A socio-ecological perspective

Figures & data

Figure 1. Administrative map of study area.

Figure 2. Indigenous niches of tree biodiversity conservation and its protection purposes.

Figure 3. Songo social institutions, songo cultural house and its sacred trees (Dhadachcha) (Photo taken by Y.Maru.).

Figure 4. The deadwood chopped from sacred forest for setting fire in songo ritualistic hearth in songo houses for elders (Photo taken by Y.Maru.).

Figure 5. Old tree felled from the sacred forest (with consent of cultural elders) to laid down over river as public bridge (Photo taken by Y.Maru).

Figure 6. Indigenous old trees found in sacred forest: (Photo taken by Y.Maru.).

Table 1. Dominate woody/indigenous tree species in amba sacred forest and conservation statuses in adjacent agroforestry

No	Scientific name	Local name	Local reported count status or conservation status in SF	Observed frequency of occurrence in FL	Count status in farming landscapes or adjacent agroforestry
					IUCN^a	Magurran^b	Local criteria^c
1	Podocarpus falcatus	Birbirissa	Ab	Extremely rare, but highly observed in SF	NE
2	Albizia gummifera	Goribbee	Ab	Observed rarely	NE	R
3	Pouteria adolfi- friedericii	Gudubbo	Ab	Highly endangered (observed once)	NE
4	Croton macrostachyus	Mokenissa	R	Observed Ab
5	Erythrina abyssinica	Wollenna	Ab	Observed Ab	LC
6	Ficus vasta	Qilixxa	Ab	Observed (declining)		R
7	Ficus sur (F. capensis)	Oddee’e	Ab	Observed (declining)			Ln
8	Polyscias fulva	Talla’a	Ab	Observed
9	Prunus africana	Garibee	Ab	Observed rarely	V
10	Maytenus senegalensis	Ko’mollicha	Ab	Observed rarely
11	Bersama abyssinica	Xxibirro	Ab	Observed
12	Spathodea campanulata	laffa	Ab	Observed (rarely)
13	Veronia dainellii	Ebichcha	R	Observed	LC
14	Syzygium guineense	Badessa	Ab	Observed rarely
15	Cordia africana	Wodessa	Ab	Extremely rare
16	*	Oda-badde	Ab	Observed (rarely)
17	*	Mee’e	Ab	Observed (rarely)
18	E. capensis	Onono	R	Observed		R
19	Galiniera coffeoides	Abaye’ee	Ab	observed		R
20	Brucea antidysenterica	Laffa	Ab	Observed			Ln
21	Glutinosa	Haa’lessa	Ab	Observed (declining)	V
22	O. welwitschii	Dega	Ab	Extremely rare		R

*(Scientific name is unavailable): Symbols read as: LC least concern, V vulnerable, R rare, Ln least number of individuals, FL, SF sacred forest, Ab abundantly, NE non estimated and

^aAccording to IUCN RED lists (Vivero et al., 2005)

^bDesignated as rare for 25% of species that least occurred (Magurran, 2004)

^cLeast number of individuals (\100,000 individuals in the country) as per local criteria (Bekele et al., 1999)

Table 2. Some dominate plant species in adjacent non-sacred farming habitat and its origin and uses

No	Scientific name	Local name	Origin of species	Locally reported conservation status in farming landscape	Reason for retaining on farms
1	Erythrina abyssinica	Wollenna	Indigenous	Abundant, observed highly	Shading, soil improvement, erosion control
2	Millettia ferrunginea	Dhadhatto	Indigenous	Abundant but highly declining due to the multiple uses	Firewood, soil improvement, fodder, crop shading
3	Cordia africana	Wodessa	Indigenous	observed (rarely)	Timber, soil improvement, crops shading, firewood
4	Veronia amygdalina Del.	Ebichcha	Indigenous	Abundant	soil improvement, firewood, fodder, medicinal, hygiene
5	Polyscias fulva	Talla’a	Indigenous	Abundant	construction, firewood, timber
6	Ficus vasta	Qillixxa	Indigenous	Fast Declining	Firewood, shading, soil improvement
7	Ficus sur (F. capensis)	Ode’ee	Indigenous	Fast Declining	Firewood, timber, shading, soil improvement
8	Croton macrostachyus	Mokenissa	Indigenous	Abundant	Firewood, medicine, fodder, poles
9	Ensete ventricosum	Wesse	Indigenous	Abundant, food crop	Food, soil improvement, soil erosion control
10	Coffea arabica	Bunno	Indigenous	Abundant, cash crop	Stimulant, cash crops (income)
11	Albizia gummifera	Goribe	Indigenous	Abundant	Firewood, timber, construction
12	Podocarpus falcatus	Birbirissa	Indigenous	Already declining (observed twice)	Timber, poles, firewood
13	Eucalyptus camaldulens	Barizaffee	Exotic	Increasing retaining	Timber, poles, income and house uses
14	Magnifera indica	Manigoo	Exotic	Increasing retaining	Food (fruit), income
15	Persea americana Mill.	Avocado	Exotic	Increasing retaining	Food (fruit), timber, construction, income
16	Galiniera coffeoides Del.	Abayee	Indigenous	Abundant	Timber, fuelwood, construction
17	Pouteria adolfi-friedericii	Gudubo	Indigenous	Extremely observed rarely, only abundantly observed in SF	Timber, construction, income
18	Podocarpus falcatus	Birbirisa		Extremely observed rarely, only abundantly counted in SF	Timber, construction, income, sacred trees

Figure 7. Household heads’ opinions of sacred forests’ role as showcase for threatened native trees not found elsewhere, Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia (n = 287).

Figure 8. The religion distribution with age category of respondents, HHS, June 2019, Gedeo, Ethiopia (n = 287).

Figure 9. Sacred songo place converted into farming fields due to the unplanned rural infrastructural development (rural road construction) (photo taken by Y.Maru).

Vivero, I. J., Kelbessa, E., & Demissiew, S. (2005). The red-list of endemic trees and shrubs of ethiopia and eritrea (pp. pp 23). Cambridge: Fauna and flora international.

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Magurran, A. E. (2004). Measuring biological diversity black-well science. Oxford.

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