Asfaw Zemede (PhD)Tamene Sintayehu2018-07-192023-11-092018-07-192023-11-092011-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/9318An ethnobotanical study was conducted in Wondo Genet Wereda between December 01 to 23, 2010 and February 02 to 21, 2011. The objective of this study was to document indigenous medicinal plant utilization, management and the threats affecting them. Information was gathered from 80 people (63 males and 17 females). The informants, except the healers, were selected randomly and no appointment was made prior to the visits. Ethnobotanical data were collected using semi-structured interviews with informants, field observations, guided field walk, group discussion, preference, paired comparison and direct matrix ranking with traditional medicine practitioners. The ethnomedicinal use of 85 plant species was documented in the study area used as cure for 61 ailments. They are distributed across 79 genera and 44 families. Of these, 54 medicinal plants were reported for human ailments treatment, eight for livestock and 23 for both human and livestock ailment treatment. Most of the medicinal species were collected from the wild. The most frequently utilized plant parts were leaves followed by stem bark and roots. The largest number of remedies was used to treat intestinal parasites infections followed by pneumonia and external injuries like body swellings. This probably indicates a high incidence of these types of diseases in the area, possibly due to the poor socio-economic and sanitary conditions of the people. The administration routes are oral, external, ear and nasal. Preference ranking analysis indicates that Solanum incanum ranked first and most effective medicinal plant to cure intestinal problems followed by Phytolacca dodecandra and Vernonia amygdalina in human and for livestock Ranunculus multifidus ranked first and most effective medicinal plant to cure pneumonia. The pair wise comparison showed that Stephania abyssinica ranked first and most effective medicinal plant to cure jaundice in humans as compared to the others. Direct matrix analysis showed that Eucalyptus citriodora ranked first and it is the most preferred plant by local people for various uses. Cordia africana and Podocarpus falcatus scored second and third. This shows that both trees are more preferable or have high utility value for the local community. The medicinal plants that were presumed to be effective in treating a certain disease had higher ICF values. Informant consensus analysis showed that ailments like rabies, poisoning and snake bite scored the highest value (0.98). Evil spirit and evil eye scored the second highest value (0.97). Wound and body swelling (0.83), intestinal parasite (0.75) and pneumonia and jaundice scored the lowest values (0.63) respectively. The principal threatening factors for medicinal plants reported were agricultural expansion and fire. Documenting the eroding plants and associated indigenous knowledge can be used as a basis for developing management plans for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in the area. Key words: Wondo Genet, Medicinal plant, Indigenous knowledge, Informant consensusenWondo GenetMedicinal plantIndigenous knowledgeInformant consensusThesis