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In Ethiopia, more than 95% of conventional medicinal preparations are made from plant origin. There is an extreme abundance of potential drug candidates that can be discovered in under-studied medicinal plants from sub-Saharan Africa. This study attempts to showcase some of these understudied and underestimated medicinal plants from Mount Furi forest which is located in southwestern Ethiopia. The main purpose of this study was to document medicinal plant species and related knowledge from Mount Furi Forest. Semi-structured interviews, observation, and guided field walk with informants were employed to obtain ethnobotanical data. Materials used include GPS, compass, diameter tape, computer (data entry), etc. Information regarding local names of medicinal plants, methods of preparation, part(s) used, diseases treated, and route of application was recorded. All medicinal plants for both humans and livestock were collected. Finally, 38 medicinal plant species belonging to 34 genera and 27 families were collected, which serve both human beings and their cattle. Most medicinal plants were taken orally while few have nasal and dermal applications. The use of medicinal plants by the community is low due to the access to modern health services and loss of indigenous knowledge. The study revealed the existence of indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants to treat human and livestock ailments. However, agricultural expansion, firewood collection, environmental degradation, and deforestation are the main threats to medicinal plants. Therefore, there should be mentoring for the local people in the study area to conserve their indigenous knowledge resources and prevent the extinction of medicinal plants., Journal of Equity in Sciences and sustainable Development (JESSD), Vol 5 No 2 (2022): June

Ethiopia is a significant center for biological diversity due to its wide range of altitudes and topographic features though dearth of empirical evidences. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to determine the floristic composition and vegetation structure of Mount Furi Forest. Floristic data were collected from a total of 50 sample plots of 20 m x 20 m. Frequency, Diameter at Breast Height, density, basal area, and Important Value Index were computed for the floristic composition. In addition, the Shannon Diversity index and Jaccard’s similarity index were also computed. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using Microsoft excel (2010) and SPSS version 23. A total of 93 species were represented in 62 genera and 48 families were collected of which Asteraceae and Poaceae took the leading class having 7 species each. Lamiaceae and Rosaceae have 5 species each and other 13 have 2 each and 26 have got one species each. Out of the total species, 27 species were identified to be indigenous to Ethiopia of which 8 species are endemic. Plant specimens were collected and identified in the National Herbarium of Ethiopia. The research revealed that though the forest is in good reproduction but low regeneration due to commercial cutting, overgrazing, and land conversion. The forest has a normal invented J-shape indicates the vegetation has good reproduction but low recruitment due to selective cutting of large tree for commercial purposes. Thus, conservation strategies need to be developed to minimize the threats noticed before losing valuable plant species., Journal of Equity in Sciences and sustainable Development (JESSD), Vol 5 No 2 (2022): June

Topography, climate and soil are the three important environmental abiotic factors that affect vegetation composition in rangelands. Determination of environmental factors that are responsible for the spatial distribution and abundance of vegetation is useful in ecological restorations and grazing land use planning. This study was conducted in the Borana lowlands to quantitatively explore relationships between vegetation composition and abiotic environmental factors. A combination of stratification and systematic random sampling techniques were employed to collect vegetation and environmental data in 58 plots of 500 m2 size. Redundancy Analysis (rda) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (cca) were used to detect patterns of vegetation variation that were explained by the assessed environmental variables. cca and rda ordination diagrams revealed that the composition and distribution of both woody and herbaceous vegetation were mainly determined by altitude, soil pH, calcium, cation exchange capacity and magnesium. Density of woody plants was negatively correlated with altitude. Species richness was positively correlated with sand and altitude but negatively correlated with soil nutrients and clay content. It is concluded that the measured environmental variables significantly account for variation in the composition and distribution of the plant species composition in the Borana lowlands. Therefore, rangeland managers should incorporate environmental factors in planning and implementing restoration activities and planning grazing land use.