Abstract:
Woody species conservation is an issue of scientific, economic, ecological and political concern at
global level. Farmlands play significant role in the woody species conservation. This study was,
conducted to investigate species diversity and traditional woody species management practices on
farmlands in De do district, Jimma zone, South West Ethiopia. Woody species on farmlands were
assessed in three study sites list and direct counting- method was used. In crop field, vegetation
data were collected from54plots with an area (50 m × 100 m) sample size quadrats. The first
transect line and plot was set purposely. The distance between two transect line was 1km and
between two quadrat was 300 meters. In each plot Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) was measured
for all woody plant species with tree height ≥ 3m and DBH ≥ 5cm. Woody species data include tree
species; density, richness, basal area, frequency, importance value index and traditional
management practices on farmland at different study sites. While stratified random sampling and
simple random sampling were used to select sample households within wealth status categories.
From three random selected sites 128 households were selected for formal and informal interview
data collection. The result shows that 21 woody species belonging to 16 families were Identified
and recorded. The average Number of individuals species per plot was 2.5 recorded in the study
area. The Shannon diversity index and Shannon evenness of woody species on farmland were 2.35
and 0.48 respectively. The average basal area of woody species on farmland in study area was
2.71m
2
. The socioeconomic factors like farmland size, educational background, and wealth status
had significant influence on the management of woody species diversity on farmland across the
study sites. The local farmers retain and planted the woody species based on their ability to
enhance source of income, soil fertility, timber, fuel-wood, fodder and housing materials. The most
preferred species by respondents were Cordia africana, Catha edulis, and Persea amercana.
Therefore, based on this study it can be concluded that farmers have traditional management
practices to wood species on their farmland but this practice has not been supported well by
extension to solve the problem.
