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Background: Hyphaene thebaica is a Palm tree or shrub often with dichotomous branching that is predominantly found in an open wet landscape, riverbeds/flood plains, and around river valleys. This study was conducted to document the ethnobotany of Hyphaene thebaica in the Afar depressions, Ethiopia.Methods: A purposeful sampling method was used to select the informants. A total of 80 informants -20 informants from each district and 15 of them in each district were women. Out of the selected informants 12 of them i.e., three from each district were considered key informants based on the recommendations from the administrators of different hierarchies who are believed to have sufficient knowledge about the plant and communities. The remainder (68 informants) were general informants. Direct matrix ranking was used to rank the preferred use of H. thebaica. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using OriginPro 2022.Results: Results revealed that H. thebaica has numerous importance as implied by the informants in the Afar communities. These include material culture and Sennan Ari (100%), Doma (45%), and medicinal value (32%). The use preference ranking of the species revealed that material culture and making Sennan Ari were ranked first with 100% of the key informants confirming the information.Conclusions: The present study investigated the indigenous knowledge of the desert Palm, Hyphaene thebaica, and found the plant is multipurpose and is utilized for material culture production, temporary shelter/house (Sennan Ari) making, extraction of an alcohol/liquor, medicinal value, and income-generation. Advancing the material culture production by integrating current knowledge and phytochemical investigation on the alcohol extract and determining its efficacy is recommended.

Background: Pastoral communities of the Afar people in northeastern Ethiopia use medicinal plants for various health problems. However, very limited scientific documents are found addressing ethnomedicinal knowledge of the community. Objective: This study aimed at documenting herbal medicine and the associated knowledge from Koneba district of Afar Regional State, Ethiopia. Methods: Purposive sampling method was used to select study sites and key informants. General informants were selected through simple random sampling methods. Semi-structured interviews and guided field walk were used to collect data while Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), Fidelity Level (FL) and Preference Ranking were used to analyze and verify data. Results: A total of 67 medicinal plant species used to treat humans and livestock ailments were recorded and collected. Thirteen medicinal plant species were mentioned as effective medicine against snake bite (ICF; 0.68) while nine species used to treat malaria, common cold and fever (ICF: 0.67). Cyphostemma adenocaule (Steud. ex A.Rich.) Desc. ex Wild & R.B.Drumm. was the most preferred species used to combat snakebite, which was prevalent in the area. Conclusion: Snake bite, malaria, common cold and fever are common health problems in the study area. Efficient use of herbal medicine has minimized the impact of these diseases. Keywords: Ethnomedicine; informant consensus; snakebite.

Dobera glabra is a much branched multipurpose evergreen shrub or tree, which is distributed in Acacia savanna, Acacia open woodland with grassy clearings, and Acacia nubica scrub. This study investigates the population structure, regeneration status, cultural importance, and major threats to D. glabra and provides input for policy and decision-makers to develop conservation strategies that improve the population of the species. A sample plot of 30 × 20 meters and 10 × 10 meters were systematically laid along transect lines for the mature D. glabra population and seedling and saplings of the species, respectively. The historical distribution and principal threats to D. glabra were collected through semistructured interviews and focused group discussion with the purposively selected informants. Moreover, direct field observation of threats such as cutting and debarking was recorded. The density of D. glabra was found to be 18.33 stem ha−1. The mean DBH was 43.55 cm (SE ± 1.58), showing a bell-shaped pattern implying the mid-DBH class is the dominant class. The mean height and crown diameter was 5.5 m (SE ± 0.19) and 8.60 m (SE ± 0.31), respectively. Furthermore, the regeneration status of the D. glabra was found to be extremely poor. The major threats to the species were identified as drought, lightning, grazing, cutting, and windfall. The population structure of the species revealed a bell-shaped pattern. The extremely poor natural regeneration status of the species shows the need to implement a reactive conservation approach.