Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants of Kulbo Forest, Ethiopia: cross-regional comparison and conservation implications

Abstract

Ethnoveterinary medicine is still the primary livestock healthcare system for forest-dependent communities in southwest Ethiopia, where access to modern veterinary services is limited. Although numerous ethnoveterinary studies have been conducted in Ethiopia, most remain largely descriptive, with limited hypothesis testing, cross-regional comparison, and conservation integration. Kulbo Forest, a moist Afromontane ecosystem in Maji District inhabited mainly by Dizi communities, has not previously been studied from an ethnoveterinary perspective