Jornal de Ecossistema e Ecografia

Abstrato

The Link between Ethnobotany and Watershed Development for Sustainable Use of Land and Plant Resources in Ethiopia

Haimanot Reta Terefe, Zemede Asfaw and Sebsebie Demissew

A watershed is a naturally delineated unit of land that drains water, sediment, dissolved materials and biota to a common outlet along a stream channel. Its development and management creates an opportunity for different people to consider elements of watershed for optimum production with minimum disturbance to the environment. This review paper aims to understand how the knowledge of ethnobotany is important to manage plants in the landscape for better watershed management. To achieve this, the review was focused at concepts and working principles of watershed management; elements of watershed; historical development of watershed management in Ethiopia with its achievements. Furthermore, application of ethnobotany in the understanding and management of watershed and experiences of other countries in using human knowledge of plant for watershed management based on the published facts are key issues addressed by this review. In general, the literature reviewed showed that for watershed development and management, the contribution of local people’s knowledge, consortium approach and adoption of new technology are important to achieve desired result for insuring sustainable utilization of natural resources in a given watershed.