Ethnoveterinary medicine practices of Guji Semi-Pastoralist People, Suro Barguda District, West Guji Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Background: This research aimed to identify and document ethnoveterinary medicinal plants and their associated indigenous knowledge, their preparation, application methods used by traditional healers, and status of their conservation with Guji Semi-Pastoralist People of Suro Barguda District, West Guji Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Methods: Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants data were collected by interviewing 196 informants (145 males and 51 females). Guided eld walks and discussions (group and individual discussion) were used in collecting the data. Quantitative approaches were used to determine the informant consensus factor (ICF), delity level (FL), and use value (UV). Ethnoveterinary medicinal knowledge apprehended by different informant categories was compared using t-tests with R- software. Results: Forty-six ethnoveterinary medicinal plant species representing 43 genera and 29 families were identied in the district (Appendix 1). About 26.1% of the families (twelve families) were represented by more than one species. The highest number of species was recorded for Asteraceae (5 species, 10.9%), followed by Euphorbiaceae (4 species, 8.7%) and most ethnoveterinary medicines were prepared from herbs and shrubs than other growth forms. Chopping/pounding the remedial parts and homogenizing them with cold water was found to be the major mode of remedy preparation. All the documented ethnoveterinary plant species were harvested from the wild and observed as exposed for depletion. About 4.4% (two species) of the ethnoveterinary medicinal plants of Suro Barguda District were endemic to Ethiopia. Conclusion: This study indicated that the study area encompasses different species of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants which should be given conservation priority and the local community depends largely on these plants for the treatment of different livestock ailments though the healers had a very high intention to keep their traditional knowledge secrete. The indigenous pastoralists about plants (a traditional system rangeland management) and livestock (breeding different species of livestock (grazers with as well management forest, and water conservation system), should in

livestock diseases [16,17,18]. Ethnoveterinary medicine provides traditional medicines, which are locally available and usually cheaper than standard treatments. Livestock holders can prepare and use homemade remedies at minimum expense. The knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants is on the edge of irreversible loss and declining to deterioration due to the oral passage of herbal heritage from generation to generation rather than in writings, despite their vital role in providing for the health of the human, and livestock population [19]. Environmental degradation, agricultural expansions, cultivation of marginal lands, and urbanization are also posing a signi cant threat to the future wellbeing of human and animal populations that have relied on these resources to combat various ailments for generations [20,21,22] deserving urgent need to document and preserve the indigenous knowledge. So, this research was targeted to glean out information on how these practices were implemented in Guji semi-pastoralist people, Suro Barguda District, west Guji Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.

Materials And Methods
Description of the study area The present study was conducted in Suro Barguda District, West Guji Zone of Oromia Regional State, Southern Ethiopia. Suro Barguda District is established recently and located 497 km south of Addis Ababa -the capital of Ethiopia, and 30 km from Bule Hora town, the capital of West Guji Zone. The district is generally characterized by rough and rugged topography and lies between latitudes 5°30'0'' N and 5°50'0'' N, and longitudes 37°50'0'' E and 38°20'0'' E. The altitude ranges from 900 to 2350 m.a.s.l.
Suro Barguda District's Land Administration O ce reported (unpublished annual report) that the total area of the district is 154,958.4 hectares (Figure 1). This district is divided into two agro-ecological zones, namely the lowlands (from 900 -1500 m a.s.l) and the middle altitude ranging from 1501-2500 m a.s.l. Accordingly, the proportion of the two agro-climatic zones in the district is 41.8% lowlands and 58.2% mid-altitude. The district falls within the southern bimodal rainfall regime of Ethiopia [23,24] and is justi ed by Figure 2. Since there was no Meteorological Station at Suro Barguda District, fteen years of Meteorological data (2004 -2018) registered by the nearby Station (Bule Hora District Station) was taken from National Meteorological Service Agency.
Based on the analysis of this data the district receives high rainfall between March and half of June as well as a relatively good amount from half of September to half of December. The dry season extends from half of December to February and some extent from half of June to half of September. The highest mean annual average rainfall of the study area within fteen years was 171.3 mm recorded in May, whereas the lowest mean average was 12.4 mm recorded in February. The lowest mean average temperature over fteen years was 10.8 Co recorded in December whereas the highest was 28.7 Co recorded in February. The mean annual rainfall of the study area was 853 mm whereas the mean annual temperature was 19.8 Co. Based on [25] classi cation of Ethiopian vegetation the study area vegetation is included in Acacia -Commiphora woodland and Bushland, Combretum-Terminalia Woodland, and Dry Evergreen Afro-Montane Forest and Grassland complex.
Demographics and livestock health care system in the district Since Suro Barguda District was established recently, a population census was not carried out. But the district is predominantly (99.9%) occupied by Guji Oromo people who speak the Oromo language with unique dialect and the majority of the residents live in rural areas. Pastoralism with subsistence farming is the most common economic mainstay of the people. In one or another way, their livelihoods depend upon the presence of different plant species and vegetation. Modern veterinary services have been playing a relatively good role in the control and action taken to prevent livestock diseases in the past three decades in Ethiopia. However, they could not so far deliver complete coverage in preventive and healing health care practices because of inadequate veterinary health professionals, logistic problems, the unpredictable supply of drugs, and the high cost of drugs and equipment. Besides, the majority of livestock breeders in rural areas are far from the site of veterinary clinics/posts, and those who have access to these clinics may not be able to afford to pay for them [8]. Ethnoveterinary medicine provides traditional remedies, which are available nearby and usually cheaper than standard treatments. Livestock holders can prepare and use homemade remedies at minimum expense. For many livestock holders in Suro Barguda District where there are relatively few veterinarians and shortages of other facilities, traditional medications were the only choice to treat different livestock ailments.

Site and informant selection
A reconnaissance survey of the study area was conducted from May 06 -21, 2019 to obtain information about the agro-ecology of the area, status of the vegetation, indigenous knowledge of the local people in using plants for different purposes and determine the sites from where and how the data should be collected. The study district had 10 semi-pastoralist kebeles (the smallest administrative units) and currently, these kebeles are rearranged/subdivided to be 19 kebeles to decentralize the administration processes. Study sites from the ten kebeles were selected based on distance from the administrative town (Suro town), and presence/absence of health facilities for collecting medicinal plant information.

Informant size determination
The informant size for collecting quantitative and qualitative data for medicinal plants research to ensure the required representative size of households from all semi-pastoralist kebeles was followed Cochran's (1977) formula as indicated by [26]. Informants were included from different age and sex groups of households of the 10 semi-pastoralist kebeles in the district.

Data analysis
Ethnobotanical data were analyzed following the basic analytical tools [29,30,31]. Potentially effective medicinal plants were identi ed by the method of informant consensus factor (Trotter and Logan 1996) in [32]. So, rank-ordering (Preference ranking) of medicinal plants was used to determine their order of cultural importance across a community. The most important in the set was given the highest number, decreasing in number as the members of the set decreases in importance. Preference ranking was computed by taking 10 key informants to assess the degree of effectiveness on those medicinal plants highly cited by the informants used to treat a particular disease [29]. Direct matrix ranking is a more multifaceted version of preference ranking. Here informants order ethnoveterinary medicinal plants by considering several attributes one at a time, i.e. it draws explicitly upon multiple dimensions. Direct matrix ranking was performed as a group exercise in which participants reach a consensus on the ranking of each item based on their evaluations [29]. The ranking of threats on 10 ethnoveterinary medicinal plants that were reported by most of the informants in the study area was conducted using ten key informants as described by [29] and [33]. This information was used to determine the highest threats to traditional ethnoveterinary medicinal plants in the study area and help to suggest appropriate conservation measures as considered. Informant consensus factor (ICF) was considered for each group of ailments to identify the agreement of the informants on the reported cures for the group of aliments of the plant. ICF was computed as follows: several use citations in each group (nur) minus the number of species used (nt), divided by the number of use citations in each group minus one [3]. The mentioned ailments were grouped and then the ICF values were calculated as: Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants that were effective in treating groups of ailments had a higher informant consensus factor value.
The Fidelity level (FL) computes the signi cance of a species for a given purpose. Most commonly used medicinal plants have high delity level value. The delity level (FL) among medicinal plants of the study area was computed based on the following formula: FL= Np/N. To calculate the percentage of Fidelity level: FL% = (Np/N) × 100 was used [33]. Np is the number of informants who independently cited the importance of a species to treat a particular disease, and N is a total number of informants who reported the plant to treat any given disease.
The local importance of each species cited in the study area was calculated using Use-Value (UV) technique following [11]. Use-Value (UV) is a quantitative method that demonstrates the relative importance of species known locally, which re ects the importance of each species to informants i. e. more than one species. The highest number of species was recorded for Asteraceae (5 species, 10.9%), followed by Euphorbiaceae (4 species, 8.7%) and Apiaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, and Solanaceae with three species (6.5%) each. About 4.4% (two species) of the ethnoveterinary medicinal plants of Suro Barguda District were endemic to Ethiopia. Concerning the growth forms of plants used for livestock treatment, there were more herbs and shrubs (12 species, 26.1% each), followed by trees (10 species, 21.7%) and lianas (6 species, 13%). All the documented ethnoveterinary plant species were harvested from the wild and overgrazing, deforestation; charcoal making, and rewood collection were claimed as major factors affecting the ethnoveterinary plant species of the study area.

Livestock ailments and their prevalence
A total of 79 veterinary ailment types were identi ed in the study area for which informants reported to use one or more medicinal plant species (Appendix 1). Of which twenty-six (32.9%) veterinary ailment types belonged to breathing system diseases, sixteen (20.3%) were gastrointestinal diseases and twelve (15.2%) diseases belong to blackleg, hepatitis, and FMD (Foot and mouth) disease categories. Diarrhea and breathing problems were found to be the most commonly reported (most prevalent) types of livestock ailments in the district.

Applications of ethno veterinary remedies
Even if ethnoveterinary medicinal plants of the district were asserted to be applied for ailments affecting chicken, sheep/goats, cattle, equines, or camels, the majority of the reported medicinal plant species (40, 87%) were found to be applied to treat one or more of the sixty-two different cattle ailments (Appendix 1). Eighteen (39%) equal medicinal plant species were mentioned to be used speci cally against twenty-one ailments of goats/sheep and nineteen ailments of equines respectively ( Figure 3).

Medicinal plant parts used for ethnoveterinary remedy preparation
Regardless of the different plant parts reported to be used for remedy preparation by the community, a greater proportion (41.9%) of the preparations was found to be from leaves alone, followed by barks and roots (12.8%) each ( Figure 4). Plants in mixtures of leaves rated to 10.5%, latex 5.8%, and stem 3.5% in the ethnoveterinary medication of the district. Most remedies (98.8%) were prepared from freshly harvested plant parts.
The approach of remedy preparation, routes of administration, and dosages Different modes of ethnoveterinary remedy preparation were reported to be used in the district based on the type and degree of complexity of livestock ailment. Chopping / pounding the remedial part and homogenizing it with cold water was found to be the major mode of remedy preparation (93.1%) and unprocessed forms covered only 6.9% ( Figure 5).
These ethnoveterinary remedies were reported to be given through oral, dermal, or nasal routes. The oral application was the most-cited route of administration (20 preparations, 66.7 %), followed by nasal (six preparations, 20%), and dermal (four preparations, 13.3%) routes. The physical appearance of the diseased animal and visually con rmed the degree of complexity of illness was used to determine the doses of the remedy prepared to treat livestock ailments. Some traditional practitioners reported the use of the coffee cup, water glasses, and bottles to determine dosage for some medicinal preparations, while others reported using a handful or full of a small dish unprocessed parts to treat ailments. However, no standardized doses of herbal preparations were reported by traditional practitioners for any of the remedies used to treat livestock ailments in Suro Barguda District.

Most preferred ethno veterinary plants
A preference ranking exercise with 10 key informants for eight medicinal plants that were reported to be used against breathing system diseases showed that Viscum congolense and Clematis simensis were the most preferred species to treat the reported diseases (Table 2).

Multipurpose medicinal plants used for livestock ailments and their conservation status
The output of the average direct matrix ranking score of ten key informants for ve medicinal plant species with six use diversities indicated that some multipurpose medicinal plant species were currently exploited more for rewood, charcoal, and construction purposes than for their medicinal uses (Table 3). This study clari ed that some medicinal plants were well known in the study area than others. As a result, fty informants cited such plants repeatedly as a remedy for various diseases of livestock. For example, Cyphostemma serpens and Viscum congolense were cited by all informants (100%) as sources of remedy for foot and mouth disease and shivering and abnormal breathing respectively. Dichrostachys cinerea and Syzygium guineense were also cited by 49 (98%) informants as sources of remedy for hepatitis and shivering and leech infection respectively (Table 4).  (Table 5). Hence, the highest plant use citation (55.1%) was recorded for breathing system diseases. Cyphostemma serpens revealed the highest delity level value (97%) for blackleg, hepatitis, and FMD disease category, followed by Viscum congolense (96%) for breathing system diseases. In the dermatological therapeutic category, the highest delity level value was recorded for Prunus africana (92%). Ozoroa insignis (87%) also showed relatively high healing potential under the muscular -nervous system diseases category (Table 6).   (Table 7).   [34,35,36]. All the documented ethnoveterinary plant species were harvested from the wild. This nding was in agreement with the reports of [37] in which 95.7% of the medicinal plants were collected from the wild. Overgrazing, deforestation, charcoal making, and rewood collection were claimed as major factors affecting the ethnoveterinary plant species of the study area.

Speci cation of livestock ailments, number, and part of plant species used
Even though livestock traditional medicinal plants of the district were asserted to be applied for ailments affecting chicken, sheep/goats, cattle, equines, or camels the majority of the reported medicinal plant species were found to be applied to treat one or more of the sixty-two different cattle ailments (Appendix 1). Eighteen (39%) equal medicinal plant species were mentioned to be used speci cally against twentyone ailments of goats/sheep and nineteen ailments of equines respectively.
The majority of ethnoveterinary medications were reported to comprise medicinal parts of a single medicinal plant. This nding was in line with the reports of [35,37,38,39,40]. The remaining was prepared using formulations from two or more species. [34] also reported that healers used multiple plants in the mixture to increase the strength and e cacy of the drug. Amongst all plants reported, the highest proportion of species was claimed to treat breathing problems followed by diarrhea. The highest number of multiple ethnoveterinary uses was recorded for Croton macrostachyus and Teclea salicifolia (each used against six ailment types) while Calpurnia aurea was used to treat ve livestock diseases (Appendix 1).
Similar to some other previous ndings such as [34,37,39,40] leaves were the most widely used plant parts for ethnoveterinary medicine preparations followed by barks and roots in the study area ( Figure 4). On the other hand, other ndings for instance [36, 41, 42,] reported different results which showed that roots were the most frequently utilized plant parts in their respective research areas. The possible reason could be that people living in different ecological zones could use different plants and plant parts in their treatment system. The majority (97.8%) of remedies were prepared from freshly harvested plant parts.
This nding was in line with the reports of [36,39,40,42,43,44,45], whereas 2.2% were prepared from dried forms. As reported by informants, from their long experience high e cacy was attained from freshly collected plant parts since they contain many bio-active ingredients in the form of secondary metabolites.
Viscum congolense, Clematis simensis, and Lannea rivae were the most preferred ethnoveterinary medicinal plants to treat breathing system diseases which were the most prevalent animal health problems reported in the study area (Table 2).

Livestock ailments, remedy preparation, routes of administration and dosages
Most of the veterinary ailments belong to the breathing system disease category followed by gastrointestinal diseases. Breathing problems and diarrhea were known to be the most commonly described forms of veterinary ailments in the district. This result corroborates with the report of [40].
Healers treat veterinary ailments based on observation of the animals or evidence obtained by asking the livestock owners about major symptoms shown by the diseased animals and medicines were commonly given only after the diseased animal was visually examined by a traditional healer for any symptom on its suspected body part.
Diverse modes of ethnoveterinary remedy preparations were mentioned to be used in the district based on the type and degree of complexity of livestock ailment. Chopping/pounding the remedial part and making its solution with cold water was found to be the major method of local remedy preparation ( Figure 5). This nding was in agreement with the reports of many studies such as [44,45,46]. Oral administration of traditional medicines was reported as the main route in the treatment method of most diseases. This nding was in line with the reports of [8,36,37,42,44,46]. This was followed by nasal administration. Rubbing or pasting herbal preparations were also commonly reported treatment methods for handling dermatological diseases. The physical appearance of the diseased animal and visually con rmed the degree of complexity of illness was used to determine doses of traditional medicines in treating livestock ailments. Some traditional practitioners reported the use of the coffee cup, water glasses, and bottles to determine dosage for some traditional medicines, while others reported using their ngertip or full of a small dish unprocessed parts to treat ailments. However, no standardized doses of herbal preparations were reported by traditional healers for any of the preparations used to treat livestock ailments in Suro Barguda District even if they used such various units of measurements. Similar ndings have been reported in other studies in Ethiopia such as [18,44,47,48,49].
Since informant consensus is used to identify the most cited plant species for its particular importance the highest plant use citation was recorded in the present study for breathing system diseases with the highest ICF value (Table 5). Viscum congolense was highly effective in treating breathing system diseases, whereas Cyphostemma serpens was identi ed as having the highest healing potential in treating blackleg, hepatitis, and FMD (Foot and Mouth Diseases) with FL tests (Table 6). Informant consensus factor values (ICF values) were used to identify the harmony of the informants on the reported cure for the group of ailments (breathing system diseases) of the plant while delity level (FL) computes the signi cance of a species (Viscum congolense) to treat a given disease (breathing system diseases). Hence, their analysis values were con rmed as the information obtained was tangible.

Use diversity of ethno veterinary medicinal plants
With direct matrix ranking exercise made among ve ethnoveterinary medicinal plant species to identify those having multipurpose, Prunus africana was ranked rst (most -threatened) followed by Syzygium guineense var. guineense and Combretum collinum. Higher direct matrix ranking values indicated that the plants have been used for different purposes and vice versa. The output indicated that these multipurpose medicinal plant species were exploited more for rewood, charcoal, and construction purposes than for their medicinal uses.
All ethnoveterinary medicinal plant species in the district were cited for one or more uses other than their medicinal role such as used for environmental services, construction and material making, fodder, and live fences, fuelwood (charcoal and rewood), as wild food or poison ( Figure 6). Out of the 46 different medicinal plant species used for livestock ailments treatment, the highest medicinal use values (UVmed) were recorded for Lannea rivae followed by Dichrostachys cinerea (Table 7).
Water served as 'solvent' almost in all ethno formulations of traditional medicines whenever dilution is required. Different additives were incorporated in 23.4% of the whole ethno formulations. Informants reported that certain additives were frequently used to improve the suitability of some remedies that were taken orally either through reducing their bitterness and bad avor or increasing their e cacy. The highest usage of additive was reported for "Magado" salt (locally produced salt).
Distribution of indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants among different social groups in the community of the study area Though more medicinal plants were reported by men than women, the difference was not signi cant (P >0.05) when the average number of medicinal plants mentioned by each group was compared. This could be because both men and women were knowledgeable on the use of traditional plant remedies regardless of the relative dominance of medicinal plant tradition by men which could be related to the transfer of traditional knowledge along the male line in the study area. Similar results were reported by [43,50]. Furthermore, [51] reported as there was relatively equivalent medicinal plant knowledge among men and women traditional medicine practitioners among three communities in northeastern Brazil, and [52] reported similar information for a community in southwest Niger. There was no signi cant difference observed in the number of medicinal plants listed by informants living around health centers and those living relatively far away from these health centers. However, there was a signi cant difference (P = 0.00) in the number of medicinal plants reported by senior members of the community (> 39 years old) and young-to middle-aged members (< 40 years old) -more number of medicinal plants was reported by elders than by youngsters. This could be due to their high degree of opportunity for more cultural contact and experience with plants and associated therapeutic uses than that of younger people or due to the absence of sharing indigenous knowledge freely because of its secrecy and if it presents being along the preferred male line of the family of the ethnic group of the study area. Similar reports were made by [34,44,50,53,54,55,56]. Similarly, signi cant differences were also seen in the number of medicinal plants reported by key informants and randomly taken informants, illiterate and literate informants. More medicinal plants were reported by illiterates and key informants than literates and randomly taken informants (Table 8). This could again be related to the impact of lifelong experience and serious secrecy in using medicinal plants in the former, and modernization in the latter case. Similar results were reported by [54,55].
A large number and types of livestock diseases (79 disease types) for which diseased livestock was visited by traditional healers indicated a preference of local people in the study area to use traditional medicines than modern medication. The reported reasons for this to happen were e cacy and availability of these medicines, cultural trend, and life standard (being poor), factors which force the community to visit traditional healthcare practitioners than modern healthcare centers with unreasonable prices. Similar ndings were reported by [42,44].

Indigenous knowledge transfer
Using wild plants for medicine traditionally is an indigenous science. Indigenous knowledge systems are the multifaceted assortments of knowledge, know-how, practices, and representations that guide human societies in their numerous interactions with the natural environment such as agriculture and animal husbandry; struggles against disease and injury; and strategies for coping with changing environments. It is through this day-to-day and the inevitable interplay between people and surroundings that indigenous knowledge systems have developed miscellaneous structures and content; complication, exibility, and practicality; and distinctive patterns of interpretation anchored in speci c worldviews [57].
Knowledge is produced and transferred through communications within speci c social and agroecological contexts. Hence, ethnobiological information and practice within any customs have been reported to vary by factors such as geographical basis, traditions, belief, livelihood, educational background, social status and relations, income class, age, and gender [58,59,60]. The ow of knowledge from seniors to children and its enrichment subsequently is directly conveyed through observation, imitation, free ow of information among community members, history telling, and myths [61].
The main system of traditional knowledge transfer on types of medicinal plants, traditional concepts of disease, and ways of diagnosis among traditional healers in Suro Barguda District was through word of mouth (no written documents obtained), with maximum secrecy following mainly the selected male line of the family. The way they are sharing their indigenous knowledge with their descendants was also found to be similar. This may cause indigenous knowledge to be threatened shortly unless certain measures are taken which was also clearly seen in other parts of the country and abroad [34,44,50,53,54,55,56].
Traditional knowledge is built with years of experience so elders were more knowledgeable in traditional medicines than youngsters in the study area. The depth and width of traditional knowledge on medicinal plants become lesser and lesser due to its secrecy, the unwillingness of the young generation to gain the knowledge, in uence of modern education which all result in its gradual disappearance. Ethnomedicinal knowledge diminishes with the death of elderly knowledgeable members of the society since fewer and fewer young people are willing to acquire this knowledge. That is why [62] said that erosion of knowledge on medicinal plants is more signi cant in species collected from forests for use in treating rare and unusual ailments. This nding was in line with the reports of [63,64,65].

Conservation practices
Dwellers of Suro Barguda District and their livestock population depend mainly on the natural resources of the area for their existence. Deforestation for timber production or construction, overgrazing, charcoal production, and fuelwood collection was claimed to be the anthropogenic causes of resource depletion.
This nding was in line with the reports of [46,66]. Highly affected dry evergreen montane forest and the remaining woodland area were severely degraded due to overgrazing with immense livestock population and illegal charcoal production and fuelwood collection. Not only medicinal plant species were affected but also the vegetation as a whole was in a critical condition. Some conservation practices were implemented in a very speci c area of the district but this did not guarantee the wellbeing of plant diversity and their contribution to the perpetuation of life in the area (no pronounced conservation effort).
Inhabitants of the study area simply went to the forest, woodland, or grazing area to collect medicinal plants as their need arose and did not worry about the long-term survival of these plants. Most of these informants gave the reason that the medicinal plants were easily accessible in their surroundings and hence no need for personal effort to conserve these plants. Because of this many plants in the study area were highly threatened with anthropogenic and natural factors. The natural factor affecting medicinal plant species was irregular and very short rainy season, prolonged and recurrent drought. Hence, sustainable land management which involves both the conservation and improvement of the present vegetation cover, such as through enrichment planting, enhancing soil fertility, and rehabilitating degraded lands is required to reduce pressure on and destructive use of the natural resources. This could be achieved by solving the problems associated with open access to forest resources through sustainable forest management involving the local communities neighboring this vegetation as comanagers and co-bene ciaries of the generated revenues. Traditional practitioners in the district also showed varying degrees of traditional medicinal plant use knowledge based on differences in age, experience, gender, and education level. More ethnomedicinal knowledge was observed in elderly members of the community than in younger groups; experienced/key practitioners than the general public; and more with the illiterate than the literate. Because of the cultural norm and secrecy of the traditional medication system, this knowledge is transmitted along the selected male line of the family members due to which males could be more knowledgeable than females even if the difference in knowledge concerning gender was not exaggerated in the study area. Conservation action should be followed with close follow up about its sustainability not to be affected by resources used for different needs; In natural resource conservation such as regional or national protected areas, giving responsibility and sense of ownership to the local community so that they assume it as their property and they will manage and conserve it to become bene ciaries of the economic payback that can be obtained from this action; Conservationists should set up medicinal plant nursery sites in co-operation with the District's Agriculture and Rural Development O ce to propagate seedlings of the most-preferred medicinal plants, followed by a parallel distribution of seedlings to the local community as a possible means of reducing pressure on natural stands and conserve useful medicinal plant species; The indigenous knowledge of pastoralists about plants (a traditional system of rangeland management) and livestock (breeding different species of livestock (grazers with browsers), as well as their environmental management system (traditional forest, soil and water conservation system), should be incorporated in the planning and implementation of developmental interventions; Carefully designed community-based and participatory approaches are recommended to control bush encroachment through minimizing deforestation, overgrazing, and raising awareness of the local community to use controlled burning by clearing unwanted bushes; Medicinal plants such as Prunus africana and Syzygium guineens should be given conservation priority for their multipurpose uses; Conservation measures which might be designed for vegetation resources of Suro Barguda District by policymakers, natural resource managers or stakeholders would need to take into account special protection and monitoring of the endemic taxa as well as the most important useful plant species found in the vegetation; Good effort should be made by stakeholders to close the observed generation gap in indigenous knowledge (b/n elders and youngsters) through uninterrupted professional support and training of local communities to preserve their traditional knowledge and practices through systematic documentation; The e cacy of the preparations, techniques, and practices need to be investigated to identify   Plant parts used for ethnoveterinary remedy preparation in Suro Barguda District Figure 5