Abstract
This paper reports on the plant use of laypeople of the Oromo in Southern Ethiopia. The Oromo in Bale had names/uses for 294 species in comparison to 230 species documented in the lower reaches of the Bale area. Only 13 species was used for veterinary purposes, or as human medicine (46). Plant medicine served mostly to treat common everyday ailments such as stomach problems and diarrhea, for wound treatment and as toothbrush-sticks, as anthelmintic, for skin infections and to treat sore muscles and. Interestingly, 9 species were used to treat spiritual ailments and to expel demons. In most cases of medicinal applications the leaves or roots were employed.Traditional plant knowledge has clearly declined in a large part of the research area. Western style health care services as provided by governments and NGOs, in particular in rural areas, seem to have contributed to a decline in traditional knowledge, in part because the local population simply regards western medicine as more effective and safer.
Highlights
Plants have been an integral part of life in many indigenous communities, and Africa is no exception [1,2]
Apart from providing building materials, fodder, weapons and other commodities, plants are especially important as traditional medicines
Western style healthcare supplied by some governments has been expanded in the last decades, but it is still often not readily available and many regions remain completely underserved
Summary
Plants have been an integral part of life in many indigenous communities, and Africa is no exception [1,2]. Most rural communities still use herbal remedies as readily and cheaply available alternatives This knowledge is rapidly dwindling due to desired changes towards a more Western lifestyle, and the influence of modern tourism and other agents of globalization. Just beyond the northern edges of the study area, the landscape is heavily populated with people and livestock. The current government has continued the practice on a voluntary basis as an effort to provide people access to natural resources, which have been depleted in other parts of the country These events have put an enormous strain on forests in the Bale Mountains, and are changing the local economy and traditional customs profoundly. The ethnobotany of various subgroups of the Oromo has been focal point of a few recent studies [40,41,42]
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