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Priority Species and Management Approaches for Woody Species: A Case Study of Awach Sub-county, Gulu District, Uganda

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Abstract

Woody plants support livelihoods and the well-being of billions of people worldwide. However, the establishment, management, and use of essential woody species can vary across regions. We sought to describe the diversity and uses of woody species and explore the values for which people maintain and protect these plants. We conducted research in the Awach Sub-county of Uganda, using household interviews with randomly selected informants and applied exploratory quantitative ethnobotany analysis to analyze the survey results. The results revealed 64 multipurpose tree species valued for their material contributions to the households. We outline the key challenges, such as pests, diseases, and lack of infrastructure that hamper the establishment and growth of woody species in the region. Our findings offer insights into potential policy mechanisms targeting the establishment of trees in the region and other parts of Uganda and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Enhancement of Research Capacity (ENRECA) project of Gulu University. We thank the respondents who participated in this study for their time. We also thank Mr. Samuel Abwola, Senior Forest Officer Gulu District Local Government, for his kind assistance and guidance during this study. Thanks also to the local leaders of Awach sub-county Gulu for allowing us to conduct this study in their communities.

Funding

This study was funded by the Enhancement of Research Capacity (ENRECA) project of Gulu University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Management, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda

    John Robert Stephen Tabuti

  2. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Gulu University, P.O. Box 166, Gulu, Uganda

    Esther Patricia Adoch

  3. Department of Extension and Innovation Studies, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda

    Christopher Mawa

  4. Horticultural Sciences, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn, P.O. Box 166, Bonn, Germany

    Cory Whitney

Authors
  1. John Robert Stephen Tabuti
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  2. Esther Patricia Adoch
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  3. Christopher Mawa
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  4. Cory Whitney
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Robert Stephen Tabuti.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

This study was conducted in line with the ethical standards established by Uganda National Council for Science and Technology.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The data and personal information collected through this study were treated confidentially.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Species reported by informants as useful to the community during the study. The table shows the Fidelity Level (FL) values which indicate the most critical use for the species. The higher the FL for a use category, the more important that use category is for that species.

Species

Family

Endemicity

Firewood

Food

Timber

Poles

Income

Charcoal

Craft

Med

icine

Cultural

rituals

Shade

Soap

Wind-

breaks

Manure

Ornamental

Fencing material

Protecting environment

Acacia hockii De Wild.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

36

13

9

13

 

16

7

 

4

      

2

Acacia polyacantha Willd.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

33

12

18

8

5

9

8

2

 

5

  

2

   

Acacia sieberiana DC.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

21

17

17

2

11

13

2

 

2

8

 

2

4

 

2

 

Albizia coriaria Oliv.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

10

18

34

10

6

9

3

4

    

2

 

3

 

Albizia grandibracteata Taub.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

28

14

16

12

5

12

3

3

2

4

0.3

1

1

 

0.3

1

Allophylus abyssinicus (Hochst.) Radlk.

Sapindaceae

Indigenous

24

5

26

24

 

11

8

3

        

Annona senegalensis Pers.

Annonaceae

Indigenous

18

29

23

2

3

6

3

6

6

1

2

 

1

   

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.

Moraceae

Naturalised

21

28

14

4

20

4

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

 

0.3

1

Borassus aethiopum Mart.

Arecaceae

Indigenous

26

22

12

11

11

6

3

1

3

2

0

0.3

   

1

Bridelia micrantha (Hochst.) Baill.

Phyllanthaceae

Indigenous

33

14

31

7

2

7

2

2

1

 

1

     

Carissa spinarum L.

Apocynaceae

Indigenous

24

30

16

9

 

4

1

1

12

1

      

Carica papaya L.

Caricaceae

Naturalised

6

33

20

 

14

6

2

10

  

2

 

4

 

4

 

Senna siamea (Lam.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Fabaceae

Indigenous

23

13

29

9

13

6

1

1

2

1

   

1

  

Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck

Rutaceae

Naturalised

14

29

19

3

15

5

2

3

2

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck

Rutaceae

Naturalised

20

26

17

3

20

4

1

2

0.4

4

0.4

1

1

 

1

0.4

Cocos nucifera L.

Arecaceae

Exotic

9

55

18

 

9

  

9

        

Combretum collinum Fresen.

Combretaceae

Indigenous

30

11

22

7

7

10

4

2

1

2

 

1

0.4

0.2

0.4

1

Combretum molle R.Br. ex G.Don

Combretaceae

Indigenous

30

13

10

20

 

18

  

10

       

Croton macrostachyus Hochst. ex Delile

Euphorbiaceae

Indigenous

16

26

26

3

 

2

5

5

15

 

1

     

Dombeya kirkii Mast.

Malvaceae

Indigenous

 

31

31

19

 

6

6

6

        

Eucalyptus sp.

Myrtaceae

Exotic

17

20

24

8

21

3

1

2

2

2

1

 

1

0.3

 

0.3

Ficus natalensis Hochst.

Moraceae

Indigenous

24

12

18

24

12

    

6

 

6

    

Ficus laurifolia Lam.

Moraceae

Indigenous

39

18

23

5

2

11

2

     

2

   

Ficus sur Forssk.

Moraceae

Indigenous

20

24

24

 

4

12

8

4

 

4

2

     

Ficus sycomorus L.

Moraceae

Indigenous

24

14

23

3

5

13

6

2

2

3

 

2

 

1

2

 

Gardenia imperialis K.Schum.

Rubiaceae

Indigenous

18

24

6

 

18

6

12

    

12

 

6

  

Gardenia ternifolia Schumach. & Thonn.

Rubiaceae

Indigenous

26

 

11

37

 

21

5

         

Grewia mollis Juss.

Malvaceae

Indigenous

29

18

17

5

9

8

7

1

1

4

  

2

  

1

Khaya anthotheca (Welw.) C.DC.

Meliaceae

Indigenous

50

17

33

             

Lannea barteri (Oliv.) Engl.

Anacardiaceae

Indigenous

24

18

24

10

 

10

12

2

        

Lonchocarpus laxiflorus Guill. & Perr.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

31

17

11

8

1

11

2

2

15

2

 

1

    

Lophira alata Banks ex C.F.Gaertn.

Ochnaceae

Indigenous

21

37

11

11

  

5

11

  

5

     

Mangifera indica L.

Anacardiaceae

Naturalised

22

26

16

5

13

5

2

3

2

4

1

1

0

0

0.4

0

Margaritaria discoidea (Baill.) G.L.Webster

Phyllanthaceae

Indigenous

23

16

14

11

13

8

3

1

 

7

  

1

 

1

2

Markhamia lutea (Benth.) K.Schum.

Bignoniaceae

Indigenous

24

9

32

12

12

9

     

1

 

1

  

Maytenus acuminata (L.f.) Loes.

Celastraceae

Indigenous

13

37

22

5

1

 

4

5

9

 

4

     

Milicia excelsa (Welw.) C.C.Berg

Moraceae

Indigenous

23

16

24

6

13

7

2

3

1

3

 

1

 

1

  

Moringa oleifera Lam.

Moringaceae

Naturalised

25

42

  

8

  

25

        

Musanga cecropioides R.Br. ex Tedlie

Urticaceae

Indigenous

25

 

25

 

42

        

8

  

Oxytenanthera abyssinica (A.Rich.) Munro

Poaceae

Indigenous

18

15

18

10

10

5

5

5

10

      

3

Persea americana Mill.

Lauraceae

Naturalised

20

26

14

5

22

3

2

3

 

3

0.3

1

1

0

0.3

0.3

Phoenix reclinata Jacq.

Arecaceae

Indigenous

29

12

24

12

6

18

          

Phyllanthus muellerianus (Kuntze) Exell

Phyllanthaceae

Indigenous

41

21

6

15

 

12

  

6

       

Bauhinia thonningii Schum.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

31

15

17

6

10

8

3

0

1

7

 

1

1

0

  

Pinus sp.

Pinaceae

Indigenous

22

19

20

7

19

5

1

1

3

2

 

0.2

0

0

 

0.4

Pseudocedrela kotschyi (Schweinf.) Harms

Meliaceae

Indigenous

28

15

15

12

2

13

2

1

10

2

0.4

0.4

1

   

Psidium guajava L.

Myrtaceae

Naturalised

35

28

15

6

 

1

1

3

8

1

      

Shirakiopsis elliptica (Hochst.) Esser

Euphorbiaceae

Indigenous

20

26

17

20

 

6

3

3

6

       

Sarcocephalus latifolius (Sm.) E.A.Bruce

Rubiaceae

Indigenous

21

11

42

11

  

11

5

        

Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst.

Anacardiaceae

Indigenous

27

17

21

15

4

6

8

2

        

Securidaca longipedunculata Fresen.

Polygalaceae

Indigenous

7

35

22

4

7

4

6

7

3

 

6

 

1

   

Senna spectabilis (DC.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

Fabaceae

Naturalised

22

22

14

12

21

2

1

  

3

 

1

   

1

Steganotaenia araliacea Hochst.

Apiaceae

Indigenous

6

25

35

10

4

8

 

6

4

     

4

 

Strychnos spinosa Lam.

Loganiaceae

Indigenous

16

39

13

8

3

 

5

8

3

 

5

     

Euphorbia umbellata (Pax) Bruyns

Euphorbiaceae

Indigenous

 

31

31

19

 

6

6

6

        

Tamarindus indica L.

Fabaceae

Indigenous

27

33

14

4

6

4

3

5

 

2

      

Terminalia glaucescens Planch. ex Benth.

Combretaceae

Indigenous

26

15

18

9

8

11

3

2

2

3

0.3

1

1

0.2

0.5

0.3

Vernonia amygdalina Delile

Compositae

Indigenous

26

 

11

37

 

21

5

         

Vitex doniana Sweet

Lamiaceae

Indigenous

29

24

17

8

5

6

3

2

2

2

1

0.5

1

   

Vitex madiensis Oliv.

Lamiaceae

Indigenous

21

14

26

12

2

12

 

12

        

Vitellaria paradoxa C.F.Gaertn.

Sapotaceae

Indigenous

18

24

21

8

4

10

3

4

5

1

1

1

1

0.2

1

 

Ximenia americana L.

Olacaceae

Indigenous

18

29

21

7

2

7

4

5

5

1

2

     

Zanha golungensis Hiern

Sapindaceae

Indigenous

21

18

24

9

8

9

3

3

2

2

1

1

1

 

0.4

0.2

Ziziphus abyssinica Hochst.

Rhamnaceae

Indigenous

21

11

42

11

  

11

5

        

Total

  

1,450

1,326

1,281

588

457

454

219

211

161

95

37

37

28

21

20

14

Appendix 2

Reasons provided by respondents as to why they are interested in tree growing. Also shown are nature’s contributions to people’s categories of values

Value

Nature’s contribution to the people category

Use reports (%)

Firewood

Material

22.7

Food

Material

20.7

Timber

Material

20.0

Poles

Material

9.2

Income

Material

7.1

Charcoal

Material

7.1

Craft (e.g., drums, knife handles etc.)

Material

3.4

Medicine

Material

3.3

Cultural rituals

Non-material

2.5

Shade

Material

1.5

Soap

Material

0.6

Windbreaks

Regulating

0.6

Manure

Regulating

0.4

Ornamental

Non-material

0.3

Fencing material

Material

0.3

Protecting environment

Regulating

0.2

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Tabuti, J.R., Adoch, E.P., Mawa, C. et al. Priority Species and Management Approaches for Woody Species: A Case Study of Awach Sub-county, Gulu District, Uganda. Hum Ecol 50, 1115–1127 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00360-2

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