Abstract:
Humans and environment must coexist while respecting one another's requirements for the forest to play
a vital role in natural preservation and sustainable development. The purpose of the study was to analyze
the ethno-botanical survey conducted in the Kulbo forest, Maji district, SWE, and to establish the
composition, variety, regeneration status, and structural characteristics of plant species. 70 (400 m2)
sample plots were used to gather the vegetation data. Plots and transect lines were separated by 200 and
400 meters, respectively. DBH of woody species with a height >2 m and a diameter >2.5 cm was measured
and reported. Shannon diversity, Simpson's diversity index, and evenness indexes were used to calculate
floral diversity and evenness. The Jaccards coefficient of similarity index was used to calculate the
similarities between different plant groups. Hierarchical cluster analysis was also computed to determine
plant community using PC-ORD v.5. Qualitative and quantitative data were also collected for ethnobotanical survey and each data were analyzed by using Microsoft excel and SPSS. There were 104 woody
species in all, spanning 48 families. The leading family was Rubiaceae, followed by Euphorbiaceae,
Asteraceae, and Fabaceae. Average values for the Kulbo forest's Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′) and
evenness were 2.83 and 0.84, respectively. The presence or absence values of each species were used to
identify four different types of plant communities. 1595.23 ha-1 of woody species had DBHs greater than
2.5 cm. The DBH and height class distributions show that the forest has significant potential for
regeneration. Dracaena afromontana was the species that was most frequently seen. There were 954ha-1,
4021ha-1, and 6010ha-1 of different tree and shrub species as adults, saplings, and seedlings, respectively.
The ethno-botany survey result shows that the most prominent sources of indigenous knowledge in the
study area are Parents (62.3%) followed by herbalists (11.6%), Religious book (8%), Relatives and friends
(3.65) and others (10.9%). From the collected 97 species in the study area (74.77% were used to treat
human ailments, while (17.76%) were used to treat livestock ailments. The family Solanaceae was highest
number (7.48 %), followed by Lamiaceae (5.61 %), Euphorbiaceae (4.67 %). Out of the 97 species, (68.22%)
had a wild origin while (31.78%) were collected from home garden. However, the selective cutting of
particular woody species for diverse purposes constitutes the biggest threat to the forest. Agricultural
expansion and deforestation were found to be the main threats for the medicinal plants. As a result of this
study, it is advised that forest management regimes be developed and implemented in the region in order
to encourage healthy regeneration of the species, manage mature trees to decrease anthropogenic activities,
and conserve species while making sustainable use of the forest resources.
