Abstract
Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir, a spontaneous species from Guinean savannahs of West Africa, functions as socio-economic and cultural livelihood in rural areas of Benin. This study improved the knowledge of people about the uses of P. erinaceus organs connected to the sociolinguistic diversity in Benin, intending to enhance the pathways of conservation and sustainable management of the species. A total of 506 respondents from nine big sociolinguistic groups were interviewed using a survey questionnaire. To show the diversity of the organs/parts used as well as the categories of uses, principal component analyzes were performed to matrices including the relative frequencies of citation grouping the socio-demographic factors and the categories of uses, together under the packages FactoMineR and factoextra. The results revealed the use of all P. erinaceus organs in various forms of use for various purposes and make it an important species of livelihood for the local people. Sixty-four diseases, symptoms, or pathologies are cured by using P. erinaceus organs. These various uses of P. erinaceus varied among the sociolinguistic groups. The results of the study suggest the need to define conservation strategies for the natural stands of P. erinaceus to ensure sustainable management of the species. Key words: Forest livelihoods, traditional uses, ethnomedicinal knowledge, conservation, principal component analysis, West Africa.
Highlights
To satisfy their staple needs, people strongly use plant species on which they depend
Ouinsavi et al 201 of plant species in consideration to socio-demographic, ecological, and botanical factors, such as sociolinguistic groups, livelihood activities, age, gender, habitats, areas of occurrence of species, etc. (Agbo et al, 2020; Wanjohi et al, 2020; Salako et al, 2018; Assogbadjo et al, 2008). Such studies have grown very interesting in sustainable management of endangered species because they allow assessing the differences of knowledge about the choice and use of plant resources by sociodemographic groups for defining priorities, planning, and monitoring conservation (Dovie et al, 2008)
Relationship among the uses of Pterocarpus erinaceus and the sociodemographic factors The results showed that traditional knowledge on the uses of the organs of P. erinaceus depend on ecological zone, sociolinguistic group, gender and livelihood activity
Summary
To satisfy their staple needs, people strongly use plant species on which they depend. (Agbo et al, 2020; Wanjohi et al, 2020; Salako et al, 2018; Assogbadjo et al, 2008) Such studies have grown very interesting in sustainable management of endangered species because they allow assessing the differences of knowledge about the choice and use of plant resources by sociodemographic groups for defining priorities, planning, and monitoring conservation (Dovie et al, 2008). The ecological knowledge of people about plant species and their habitats could contribute to working out co-management strategies of plant resources for sustainable management of the environment (Wanjohi et al, 2020). Knowledge of local names facilitates the identification and assessment of species because they provide more information about the uses of species, ecology, plant interactions, and morphological traits (Agbo et al, 2020)
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