Human-forest interaction of useful plants in the Wof Ayzurish Forest, North Showa Zone, Ethiopia: cultural significance index, conservation, and threats.

Background: Indigenous communities have historically engaged in harvesting and management practices that have significantly influenced the state of forests globally. The Wof Ayzurish Forest community is almost entirely an agricultural society, familiar with the native flora, which has been integrated into their culture. Due to that, local communities have relied on these plants for centuries, passing down knowledge about their importance through generations. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the interaction between humans and useful plants in the Wof Ayzurish Forest, North Showa Zone, Ethiopia, with a focus on their cultural significance, conservation status, and the threats they face.

Methods: A snowball sampling technique was employed to select 100 informants and the data were collected through free listing, field walk, open-ended and semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions. To evaluate the cultural importance (CI) of the plant species, three quantitative indices, namely, the relative frequency of citations (RFC), use reports (UR), and the cultural value index (CV), were employed. Each index aims to assess the CI of plant taxa statistically. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to compare the correlations among various indices since all the variables considered are not distributed normally. The Jaccard similarity index (JI) was calculated to assess the proportion of plant species shared between the study area and other regions within Ethiopia.

Results: This study identified a total of 90 useful plants in the Wof Ayzurish Forest, categorized into ten groups based on their uses. The medicinal use category was the most represented (55 taxa), followed by firewood (44 taxa), fencing (40 taxa), and construction and furniture (37 taxa). Consequently, considering the use citations and key informant discussion, 15 plant species were identified for additional analysis using various quantitative measures including cultural importance index (CI). Based on CI score, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, Juniperus procera, Carissa spinarum, Croton macrostachyus, Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustifolia, and Eucalyptus globulus were identified and reflecting their relative cultural importance and frequent utilization. Among these, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata was the most versatile plant and ranked first due to its greater number of citations and diverse use categories.

Conclusions: The frequency with which a species is mentioned provides relevant information about its cultural significance. More versatile plants are generally more familiar to people than those with only one purpose and are often subject to high pressure due to overutilization. Thus, this information can aid in establishing sustainable use of Wof Ayzurish Forest without depletion of resources by informing community-based strategies that incorporate ethnobotanical knowledge.