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Fuel wood remains the main energy source for the majority of the people in Gechi District of South Western Ethiopia. As compared to the situation in the past, the forest cover is now generally very sparse in the densely populated areas where rapid rates of deforestation and forest degradation have occurred due to the heavy demand on forest products, mainly fuel wood. Therefore, this study was conducted with the objective of assessing the impact of fuel wood consumption on the forest resources in Gechi district. The vegetation sampling was conducted in the Chara forest to determine the average volumes of the standing trees per hectare on systematically laid plots along transects. In each plot, data were collected on tree species, plant height, diameter at breast height (DBH) and volume of standing trees per hectare was determined and compared with the household fuel wood consumption. The study revealed that 6529.90 tons of fuel wood had been utilized in Chara, while the standing forest was 10593.75 tons on 125 ha of land implying that 1.76 ha of forest resources was consumed per annum for fuel wood by the community members. The most preferred and extracted tree species from the forest resources of the area for fuel wood were Syzygium guineense, Maesa lanceolate and Albizia gummifera. In order to address the forest resource degradation of the area due to fuel wood utilization as energy sources, the use of efficient energy saving technologies, planting fast growing tree species for use as fuel wood are recommended.

This paper is a review from various research articles and literatures on factors affecting regeneration of indigenous tree species in Ethiopia. A couple of decades ago, the regeneration status of indigenous tree species in the natural forest of the country were better as compared to the situation at the present. In addition, because of the various benefits they provide for farming community, farmers cultivate indigenous tree species on their farmlands as components of agroforestry systems. The regeneration status of these indigenous tree species can be determined by comparing the population of seedlings, saplings, and matured trees of each species. The successful regeneration of these indigenous woody species depends on several factors. The ability of these woody species to initiate new seedlings and their survival and also growth of seedlings and saplings of the species are among the major factors affecting their regeneration. In addition, knowledge gap on seed biology and germination physiology, which is the base for planning quality seed collection by understanding the maturity of seeds; climatic and environmental factors that affect the resistance of a tree species and seedling survival; expansion of invasive alien species that affect the stage of either fruiting, germination or growth of tree species; anthropogenic activities such as deforestation and forest fragmentation; as well as expansion of exotic tree species are also some of the factors that affect the regeneration of these native tree species. Therefore, management and conservation strategies and interventions that are well aligned with addressing these factors should be designed and implemented for enhancing the regeneration of indigenous tree species of the country.

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