OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Biodiversity andConservation June 2018 ISSN 2141-243X DOI: 10.5897/IJBC www.academicjournals.org ABOUT IJBC The International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation (IJBC) (ISSN2141-243X) is published Monthly (one volume per year) by Academic Journals. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation (IJBC)provides rapid publication (monthly) of articles in all areas of the subject such as Information Technology and its Applications in Environmental Management and Planning, Environmental Management and Technologies, Green Technology and Environmental Conservation, Health: Environment and Sustainable Development etc. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published shortly after acceptance. All articles published in IJBC are peer reviewed. Contact Us Editorial Office: [email protected] Help Desk: [email protected] Website: http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/IJBC Submit manuscript online http://ms.academicjournals.me/ Editor-In-Chief Associate Editors Prof. Samir I. Ghabbour Dr. Shannon Barber-Meyer Department of Natural Resources, World Wildlife Fund Institute of African Research & Studies, Cairo 1250 24th St. NW, Washington, DC 20037 University, Egypt USA Editors Dr. Shyam Singh Yadav National Agricultural Research Institute, Papua New Guinea Dr. Edilegnaw Wale, PhD Department of Agricultural Economics Schoolof Agricultural Sciences and Agribusiness Dr. Michael G. Andreu University of Kwazulu-Natal School of Forest Resources and Conservation P bag X 01 Scoffsville 3209 University of Florida - GCREC Pietermaritzburg 1200 N. Park Road South Africa. Plant City, FL USA Dr. BeqirajSajmir Department of Biology Dr. S.S. Samant Faculty of Natural Sciences, Biodiversity Conservation and Management University of Tirana G>B. Pant Institute of Himalayan BulevardiZog I, Tirana, Environment and Development, Albania Himachal Unit, Mohal-Kullu- 175 126, Himachal Pradesh, India Dr. Grizelle González Research Ecologist Int. Inst. of Tropical Forestry / USDA Forest Service Prof. M. A. Said JardínBotánico Sur National Institute of Oceanography & Fisheries, KayetBey, 1201 CalleCeiba Alexandria, Egypt San Juan, PR 00926-1119 Prof. RedaHelmySammour Dr. KorousKhoshbakht Botany Department ShahidBeheshtiUnivertsity Faculty of Science, Environmental Science Research Institute Tanta University Vice President of Research & Post Graduation Tanta, Evin, Tehran, Iran Egypt Dr. Al. Kucheryavyy Ichthyology Dep. of Biological Sci Faculty Moscow State University. Ecology and Evolution Lab, IPEE (www.sevin.ru) Russia Dr. Marko Sabovljevic Institute of Botany and Garden Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade Takovska 43, 11000 Belgrade Serbia. EditorialBoard Shreekar Pant Audil Rashid Centre for Biodiversity Studies Assistant Professor School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Department of Environmental Sciences Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University. PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi India Pakistan Prof. Philomena George KrishnenduMondal Karunyanagar, coimbatore ,tamilnadu, Wildlife Institute of India. P.O. Box 18. India. Chandrabani. Dehradun 248001. Uttarakhand, India Feng XU Xinjiang Institute of Ecologyand Geography, Anna Maria Mercuri Chinese Academyof Sciences,China Department of Biology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Naseem Ahmad VialeCaduti in Guerra 127, 41123 Modena - Italy Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh- 202002 (UP)India OzgeZencir Erzincan University Eman AAlam Kemah Vocational Training School, National Research Centre, El-behoos street, Erzincan University, Kemah, Erzincan, Turkey Dokki, Giza, Egypt Ashwinikumarbhagwantkshirsagar Mgm, College of Agricultural Biotechnology Hemant K Badola Mgm campus, n6 Cidco, Aurangabad GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, Sikkim Unit, India Prof emer. Edmond de Langhe KatholiekeUniversiteit Leuven, AshwinikumarBhagwantKshirsagar BelgiumLeeuwerikenstraat 52/0801 MGM Campus, N6 CIDCO, Aurangabad. India ElsayedElsayed Hafez City for Scientific Research and Wagner de Souza Tavares Technology Applications Universidade Federal de Viçosa - Campus New Borg el Arab City, Alexandria, Universitário, Egypt Brasil Gary M. Barker Landcare Research, Private Bag Suphla Gupta 3127,Hamilton, New Zealand Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Mahmudul Hasan (CSIR-IIIM), China Agricultural University India Department of Plant Nutrition, China Agricultural University,Beijing-100093, pr China Prof. Dharma Raj Dangol Department of Environmental Science Hemant K Badola Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science Gb Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Tribhuvan University Rampur, Chitwan, Development, Sikkim Unit Nepal. Po box-40, Gangtok, Sikkim 737 101, India Prof. Hu K. Sankar China West Normal University, Institute of Rare Wildlife Institute of India Wildlife,Shida rd. Nanchong, Sichuan, 637009. P. O. Box 18. Chandrabani P.R.China Dehradun- 248001. Uttarakhand Laghetti Gaetano Dr. MulugetaTaye Institute of Plant Genetics (National Research Production Ecology and Resource Council) Conservation/Horticulture/ Via g. Amendola, 165/a - 70126 – bari. Rural Development Italy Institute of Agriculture and Development Studies Ethiopia OseiYeboah North Carolina Agricultural Technical State Dr. Murugan Sankaran University Breeding and Biotechnology of Horticultural Crops 1601 east market street, greensboro, nc 27441 Division of Horticulture and Forestry Central Agricultural Research Institute, Roberto Cazzolla Gatti Port Blair-744101, A&N Islands University of Tuscia (viterbo) India Via San Camillo de Lellis, Snc 01100 Viterbo, Italy Seyed Kazem Sabbagh Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zzabol, Iran, siastan –balochistan, Zabol, 4km Bonjarddv. Uzoma Darlington Chima University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria Dept. of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323 Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Dr. Vu Dinh Thong Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology 18 Hoang Quoc Viet road, caugiay district, Hanoi, Vietnam Yusuf Garba Bayero University, Kano P.M.B 3011 Kano - Nigeria Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bayero University, Kano InternaInternationaltionalJournal JournalofMed ofic iBiodiversityne and Me dandica lSConservationciences Table of Contents: Volume 10 Number 6 June 2018 ARTICLES Indigenous knowledge based identification of medicinal plants in Central Zone of Tigray, North Ethiopia 265 Gebrekidan Abrha, Sibhatleab Hintsa and Gebrekiros Gebremedhin Conservation status of bird fauna of South West of Omo National Park, Ethiopia 276 Debebe Dana Feleha On-farm description and status of Nuer (Abigar) cattle breed in Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia 292 Nakachew Minuye, Girma Abebe and Tadelle Dessie Vol. 10(6), pp. 265-275, June 2018 DOI: 10.5897/IJBC2017.1159 Article Number: A9B3B5057165 International Journal of Biodiversity and ISSN 2141-243X Copyright © 2018 Conservation Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/IJBC Full Length Research Paper Indigenous knowledge based identification of medicinal plants in Central Zone of Tigray, North Ethiopia Gebrekidan Abrha*, Sibhatleab Hintsa and Gebrekiros Gebremedhin Abergelle Agricultural Research Center, Tigray Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia. Received 11 October, 2017; Accepted 12 March, 2018 There are many traditional medicine practitioners in every corner of the world, which can be grouped into spiritual healers and herbalists. Both groups do not tell to others about medicinal plants sometimes even to their descendants. This may have many different reasons, some say the medicine becomes functional if it is used in secret and some do not tell others fearing for competition of market as well as the medicinal plants because their abundance is mostly limited due to over exploitation. This study was conducted in the central zone of Tigray in specific sites called Tanqua-Abergelle, Kola- Tembien and Weri-Leke with the objective of identifying of medicinal plants based on indigenous knowledge. Purposive sampling was used for respondent selection and semi-structured interviews were employed. Then, the collected data were subjected to descriptive statistical method such as percentage and frequency which was employed to analyze and summarize the data on medicinal plants. From the identified medicinal plants, 92 plant species were used to cure human disease and 29 species for animal diseases and another 8 species were used to treat both human and livestock diseases. Even though medicinal plants are very crucial particularly for the people who dwell in remote and rural areas, some medicinal plants are being endangered due to low awareness on management of these plants. Hence, policy makers and other concerned bodies should give emphasis on conservation of medicinal plants. Key words: Herbalists, medicinal plants, indigenous knowledge, spiritual healers. INTRODUCTION Ethiopia is a country bordered by five countries in East 2008). Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan), and The country is endowed with a wide range of climatic has the second-largest population in sub-Saharan Africa and environmental conditions holding vast diversity of after Nigeria. Most of its population lives in country side flora and fauna (Pankhurst,