Woody species regeneration through exclosure and perception of local community on mountain Damota, Wolaita, Ethiopia

Restoring the degraded lands through the area exclosure has been practiced and promoted widely in different parts of Ethiopia for the past three to four decades. However, the effectiveness of the approach both in terms of supporting woody species regeneration and the socio-economic conditions around the Wolaita area has not been well studied. We assessed the regeneration status of woody species in seven years old exclosure area and the perception of the local community towards the area exclosure on Damota Mountain in Southern Ethiopia. Vegetation inventory was made in 15 (20 × 20 m) quadrats laid following two transect lines running parallel. Systematically selected 71 households from the surrounding villages were interviewed and group discussions were also made. A total of 26 species from 19 families, with a total density of 2864 individuals (DBH ≥ 2 cm) per hectare were recorded. The basal area, Shannon diversity index, and evenness in the area exclosure were 15.84 m2/ha, 2.54, and 0.39, respectively. The importance value index (IVI) revealed that Maesa lanceolata, Ozoroa insignis, Maytenus arbutifolia, Nuxia congesta, Rhamnus prinoides, and Rapanea simensis were the most dominant species. About 87.3% of the respondents support further expansion and management of the area exclosure whereas the remaining 12.7% were against the intervention. All interviewed agree on the improvement of the vegetation cover since the establishment of the exclosure. However, all wanted improved access to the grass in the exclosure area so as to use it in a cut-and-carry system. We conclude that exclosure-biological-social issues need to be handled carefully to make the effort of using area exclosure for degraded land management effective and sustainable.