Mekelle University the School of Graduate Studies Faculty Of
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CGSpace Mekelle University The School of Graduate Studies Faculty of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources Understanding Local forest management institutions and their role in conserving woody species biodiversity: A Case study of Alamata Woreda, southern Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. By Tirhas Mebrahtu A thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science Degree In Tropical Land Resources Management Supervisors: Kindeya Gebrehiwot (PhD) Girmay Tesfay (PhD) January, 2009 DECLARATION This is to certify that this thesis entitled "Understanding local forest management institutions and their role in conserving woody species biodiversity: a case study of Alama Woreda, Southern Tigray, Northern Ethiopia." submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of M.Sc., in Tropical Land Resource Management to the School of Graduate Studies, Mekelle University, through the Department of Land Resources Management and Environmental Protection, done by miss Tirhas Mebrahtu Hindeya, Id.No FDA/PS0037/98 is an authentic work carried out by her under our guidance. The matter embodied in this project work has not been submitted earlier for award of any degree or diploma to the best of our knowledge and belief. Name of Student: Tirhas Mebrahtu Hindeya, Signature and date__________ Name of Major advisor: Dr. Kindeya Gebrehiwot, Signature and date______ Name of Co-advisor: Dr. Girmay Tesfay, Signature and date_____________ II TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... VII ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. VIII LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ X CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of the problem ....................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Significance of the study ....................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Hypothesis ............................................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 4 1.6 Research questions ................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERTURE REVIEW ........................................................................................... 6 2.1 Managing forests as common property ................................................................................. 6 2.2 Indigenous knowledge ........................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Indigenous forest management institutions ........................................................................... 9 2.4 Factors affecting common property forest management ..................................................... 10 2.4.1 Physical and technical characteristics of the resource .................................................. 10 2.4.2 Characteristics of the group of users ............................................................................ 11 2.4.3 Attributes of institutional arrangements ....................................................................... 12 2.5 Biodiversity ......................................................................................................................... 14 2.6 Values in Biodiversity Conservation ................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS .......................................................................... 17 3.1 Description of the study sites............................................................................................... 17 3.1.1 Location and physiography ......................................................................................... 17 3.1.2 Soil and climate ........................................................................................................... 18 3.1.3 Population ................................................................................................................... 19 3.1.4 Land use and farming system ..................................................................................... 19 3.1.5 Vegetation .................................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Site selection and sampling method .................................................................................... 21 3.2.1 Site Selection ................................................................................................................ 21 3.2.2 Vegetation sampling method ........................................................................................ 22 3.2.3 Socio-economic sampling method ................................................................................ 24 3.3 Data collection ..................................................................................................................... 25 3.4 Data processing and analysis ............................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................... 32 4.1 Vegetation survey ................................................................................................................ 32 4.1.1 Species area curve of the different land uses ................................................................ 32 4.1.2 Species composition, abundance and basal area of woody plants of trees .................. 34 4.1.3 Species composition, abundance and basal area of woody plants of saplings ............ 38 4.1.4 Species composition, abundance and basal area of woody plants of seedlings .......... 40 4.1.5 Ground cover of herbs .................................................................................................. 41 4.1.6 Diversity, evenness and similarity of Woody Species ................................................ 42 4.1.7 Population structure of woody species ......................................................................... 44 III 4.2 Socio-economic ................................................................................................................. 49 4.2.1 Socio-economic conditions of the sample individuals ............................................... 49 4.2.2 Tenure history of the study sites ................................................................................. 53 4.2.3 Institutional arrangements .......................................................................................... 59 4.2.4 Perception of the community towards the communal forests ..................................... 68 5.2.5 Perception of Tabia administration and office of agriculture towards communal forest ............................................................................................................................................... 72 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................ 73 6.1 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 73 6.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 76 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 78 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................... 86 Appendix I: List of woody species and important parameters of the three sites. ...................... 86 Appendix II: Questionnaires ...................................................................................................... 98 Appendix III: Informal survey ............................................................................................. 105 IV ABSTRACT Even though many communities in Tigray have developed their own institutions and methods of environmental management that enjoy great local legitimacy, the interventions by government and numerous projects in the name of development and environmental protection have generally failed to recognize this. Hence, a study on understanding the local forest management institutions and their role in conserving biodiversity of woody plants were carried out in Alamata woreda, southern zone of Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia.