Preliminary ethnobotanical studies of the Rwenzori Mountain forest area in Bundibugyo District, Uganda

Ethnobotanical studies o f the Rwenzori Mountain forest area in Bundibugyo District in Uganda were carried out between May and December 1991, and covered the northern part o f the Rwenzori Mountain slopes occupied by the Bakonjo people. The presence of a major footpath through the forest with numerous utility trails radiating from it showed that some forest resources are being sought by the local population. Plant biodiversity is high, as is indicated by the fact that in a study plot of only 4 250 m , a total o f 115 plant species, 101 genera and 57 families were identified from a collection of 300 plant specimens. Seventy-seven plant species were found to be o f some importance to the local communities. Out of the 77 useful plant species recorded: 22 species were used for medicinal purposes; 16 for firewood; 13 for construction, joinery and furniture; 12 for craftwork; 10 provided edible fruits and vegetables; and 27 were used for a variety of other purposes. These other purposes include construction of shrines, covering of granary floors, use as toilet paper, carry ing luggage, and fodder for goats, sheep and cattle. Arundinaria alpina K. Schum. (bamboo) is the species that is most extensively harvested from the forest.


INTRODUCTION
In the conservation of forests our governments quite often have taken no account of the non-timber products important in national economies.This attitude has also been observed in Latin America's humid tropical forests (Pinedo-Vasquez et al. 1990).Prance et al. (1987) clas sified these non-timber products into craft materials, medicinals, seeds and fruits and other edibles, as well as sources of latex, construction fibres and poles and many other gtxxJs that cannot easily be categorized.
Studies of the vegetation of Uganda are available (Snowden 1953;Langdale-Brown 1960;Lind & Tallantire 1975;Hamilton 1984: Howard 1991), but few eth nobotanical studies have been carried out.There is also a general lack of public awareness in Uganda of the values of wild plants and the need to use them sustainably.This has led to careless and wanton destruction of many valu able plant species with unacceptable consequences (Karani 1982;Hamilton 1984).
Sociobotanical studies in Uganda have mainly ad dressed the relationship between humans and plants as defined in terms of cultural use.The main aim has been to explore human use of certain plants and how such plants are identified with particular social situations.It is in this identification that the social or cultural value of a plant is seen to be institutionalized in people's culture.For instance, some scholars have focused on the impor tance of the banana plant to the Baganda culture, millet to some aspects of culture of the Iteso and the story of the barkcloth in Buganda (Musoke 1975;Nyanzi-Makumbi 1976: L'Obwolo 1980).
W ith regard to traditional medicines, there are two dis tinct groups of people who deal with illnesses.These are the 'medicine man' or the 'diviner' who not only issues medicines but is also socially sanctioned to explain the cause(s) of illnesses.The other group is made up of her balists who literally deal exclusively with herbs and herbal medicines for specific illnesses but not with their supposed underlying supernatural causes.Ogwal & Kakudidi (1989 unpublished) have made some preliminary collections of medicinal plants which have been deposited in the Her barium of the Department of Botany.Makerere University.In Uganda, Anokbongo (1972) undertook a general pharm acological experim ental study of nine local medicinal plants with a view to confirming or disproving their pharmacological and medicinal potency.Kokwaro (1976) in his book entitled Medicinal plants o f East Africa briefly discussed a number of medicinal plants used in Kenya and Tanzania.Cunningham (1990) reported a mas sive trade in herbal medicines among the Zulu people of South Africa.Other publications on medicinal plants of Africa include those of Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk (1962) on Medicinal and poisonous plants o f southern and east ern Africa and Verdcourt & Trump (1969) on Common poisonous plants o f East Africa.
Our project was intended to cover some ethnobotanical aspects of the Bakonjo and Baamba who live in Bundibugyo District on the northern slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains.The Rwenzori Forest Reserve Area was gazetted as a National Park in 1991 by the Uganda Government.
Objectives of the project included making an inventory of the plants in the Rwenzori Forest Reserve Area, un dertaking ethnobotanical studies of the forested area and its environs, stimulating public awareness of the impor tance of sustainable utilization of wild plants, identifica tion of conservation problems and enhancing local participation in finding solutions for such problems.
Apart from timber-producing trees, scientific informa tion on other plants in the mountain region has not been documented.It is speculated that nine species of higher plants are endemic to the Rwenzori Mountain region  (Howard 1988).Such rare plant species need to be proper ly documented and conservation measures adopted to protect them from becoming extinct.
The flats on the northern foot of the mountains lie within the East African Rift Valley System and are at an altitude of about 600 m.The land rises to about 3 650 m at Karangora, the highest point in Bundibugyo.
Field work was carried out between May and Decem ber 1991.This involved camping at two sites.The first camping site was at Bupompoli Primary School, two and a half hours walk up to the forest edge of the Bupompoli Ridge.The second camping site was located in Kizimba Village close to the forest.The study utilized a major human footpath passing over Bupompoli Ridge (Figure 1).Secondary trails radiating from the main footpath were treated as transects.In all, six transects of different lengths were used.
A number of sample plots were studied in each tran sect, depending on the length of each trail.Transect I con sisted of four sample plots, transect II of three, transect III of two, transect IV of three, transect V of four sample plots and transect VI of one sample plot.plot had the dimensions of 50 x 5 m.making a total sample area of 4 250 m2.
Specimens of every plant species found in each of the sample plots were collected, whereas only the presence was recorded if already collected.Specimens of very tall trees were not in many cases collected be cause of inaccessibility of the branches.The names of such tall trees, where known, were written down.As the plants were being collected, the Field Assistants (local to the area) were asked to give vernacular names whenever possible.
The local use(s) of the plants collected were recorded.Plant specimens collected were brought to the camping sites where people were asked to give ver nacular names and uses.The specimens were then prepared for pressing and later identified by reference to material in the herbarium of the Department of Botany, M akerere University.Our vouchers were deposited in the same herbarium.
Interviews were also conducted among the people in Kizimba Village about their attitudes towards the forest reserve bordering their village.They were asked about the values of the land use practices and associated problems.Finally, the villagers were also asked about their history of settlement in this area close to the forest reserve.

Local communities
There are two major indigenous ethnic groups inhabit ing Bundibugyo District.These are the Baamba and the Bakonjo.The Baamba inhabit the flat areas between the mountains while the Bakonjo occupy the higher slopes.The Baamba have a medium population density of about 50/km2 except in areas of forest reserves where they are not allowed to settle, while the Bakonjo have a higher population density except in the gullies which are unin habited.The Baamba extensively grow wheat, potatoes, cabbages and coffee whereas the Bakonjo grow coffee and cocoa.

Harvesting o f forest plants
The existence of a major footpath passing through the forest reserve (now a National Park) from Bundibugyo District to Kabarole District shows that some business is being conducted between the two districts.Secondly, the presence of numerous secondary trails radiating from the major footpath into the forest shows that there are certain things the people are collecting in the forest.This study revealed that 77 plant species collected from the forest had some use locally.The most notable forest plant har vested by the Bakonjo was Arundinaria alpina (Figure 2).Tables 1-6 & 8 show different ways in which the Bakonjo and Baamba use wild plants from the forest or their sur roundings.

Medicinal plants
From our interviews in the local communities we found that 22 plant species were used for treating a variety of diseases or medical conditions (Table 1).These include grey speck in the eye, diarrhoea, boils, skin rashes, hy pertension.stomach ache, tapeworm, fever and other bodi ly pains.Some species were also perportedly used for increasing sexual potency in men and others were used for driving out evil spirits from people.Herbs constituted 59.1% (13/22) of the medicinal plants.13.6% (3/22) were shrubs, 18.2% (4/22) were climbers and 9.1% (2/22) were trees.Most of the medicinal plants were prepared by crushing the plant materials and using water to extract the active ingredients.The water extracts were mainly ad ministered orally or applied directly to the affected part of the body.The medicinal plants made up 28.6% (22/11) Among the plant species identified as medicinals, species of the family Cucurbitaceae made up 22.7% (5/22) of the 14 families.Members of the family Asteraceae ac counted for 13.6% (3/22), species of Chenopodiaceae and Myrtaceae each 9.1% (2/22).The remaining families had only one species each of medicinal value.

Firewood
Sixteen plant species were identified as being used as firewood (Table 2).This is quite a large number of plant species sought for by villagers close to the forest.Trees constituted 62.5% (10/16) of the plant species used as firewood, 25% (4/16) were shrubs and 12.5% (2/16) were herbs.The herbs and shrubs were mainly fetched from the vicinity of homes w here most trees had been cut down to make room for agriculture.The herbs and shrubs were gathered for fast cooking or when it was too late for travelling long distances for more substantial fuel.Twenty five per cent (4/16) of the plant species used as Firewood by the Bakonjo and Baamba belonged to the genus Vernonia of the family Asteraceae.Families Acanthaceae and Myrsinaceae had two species each, and Rubiaceae had three species used as firewood.

Construction
A fairly large number of plant species from the forest were also used for construction, mainly as poles, rafters or fibres (Table 3).Timber production was not carried out to any significant degree because the terrain made motorized transportation very difficult.Trees made up 76.9% (10/13) of the plant species used for construction joinery and furniture.One (1/13) was a climber and one a tree fern.Arundinaria alpina was the most extensively used material.

Craftwork
In the making of craftwork, a total of 12 plant species were documented as being valuable to the Bakonjo and Baamba (

Food
Ten plant species were said to be used as food (Table 5).These consisted mainly of edible fruits and vegetables.They were not harvested in lar^e quantities according to information obtained from the Field Assistants.The num ber of plant species used by the Bakonjo and Baamba as food was rather small.They made up only 13% (10/77) of useful plant species and 8.7% (10/115) of all plant species recorded.The number of wild species collected for food was small, probably because both the Bakonjo and Baamba are able to grow most of the food crops they need.

Minor uses
Another group of plant species was said to be used for miscellaneous purposes (Table 6).This category of plants made up 35.1% (27/77) of useful plant species and 23.5% (27/115) of all plants listed.Such purposes included con struction of shrines, protection of crop fields against other people's evil motives, making of flutes and charms, cover ing granary floors, use as toilet paper, trapping birds, car rying luggage and fodder for livestock.Herbs constituted 59.3% (16/27) of this miscellaneous group of species, 25.9% (7/27) were shrubs, 11.1% (3/27) were trees and only one species was a grass.The families Aspleniaceae and Asteraceae were the most important in this category of uses, collectively making up 40.7% (11/27) of the species.Twelve other families constituted 44.4% of the species listed.

No special value
A relatively large number of plant species identified, 33% (38/115), had no economic value to the Bakonjo and Baamba communities.These fell into 26 families, 37 genera and 38 species (Table 7).

DISCUSSION
Of the plant species documented, 67% (77/115), were found to be useful in one way or the other by the Bakonjo and Baamba communities interviewed.This level of utilization falls within the range of 48.6% to 78.7% recorded for the Amazonian Parc, Tembe, Kaapo and Chacobo communities by Prance et al. (1987).Pinedo-  Vasquez et al. (1990) dealing with trees only, found that 60.1% of them were useful to the San Rafael community of northern Peru.These authors dealt with a larger number of tree species and individuals over a larger sample area than ours.However, our area appears to have a greater plant species richness.
The medicinal plants Maesa lanceolata and Mondia whitei which are used by the Bakonjo and Baamba as a remedy for stomachache and other bodily pains and increas ing sexual potency in man, are also reported to be extensively used by the Zulu (Cunningham 1990) without mention of the purpose for which they were employed.Piper capense, Plectranthus laxiflorus, Polygonum setosulum, Desmodium repandum, Crassocephalum spp., Dracaena afromontana, Momordica foetida, M. pterocarpa and Lagenaria sphaerica were found to be used for medicinal purposes by the Bakonjo and Baamba people during this study.On the other hand, while species belonging to the genera Acalypha, Asplenium, Phyllanthus and Syzygium are used in a variety of nonmedicinal ways by the Bakonjo and Baamba in Uganda, the Siberut of Indonesia and people of western Nigeria (Adjanohoun et al. 1990) use some species of the same genera specifically as medicinal plants (Wanda 1990).Whereas Helichrysum sp. is only used for carrying luggage by the Bakonjo and Baamba, it is a traditional Zulu plant (Cunningham 1990).
The most extensively exploited species was Arundinaria alpina (bamboo).Mostiy dry or dead bamboos were harvested and used for construction of walls, roofs of houses and granaries by the Bakonjo and Baamba.Only a few species were actually shaped into planks because of the very difficult terrain or unavailability of modem equipment for saw milling.These species included Cordia mellinii, Strombosia scheffleri, Cyathea manniana.Cyathea manniana is known to be particularly resistant to attacks by termites.Production of craftwork is becoming a fairly lucrative activity among the Bakonjo and Baamba.Some beautiful bags (Figure 3) made from vegetative parts of Urera hyp-selodendron and seeds o f Ensete edule are very market able in many craftshops and other commercial outlets in Uganda.Rapanea melanophloeos (L.) Mez is used for craftwork by the Bakonjo and Baamba, whereas in the Kwa-Zulu-Natal region, it is a medicinal plant (Cunningham 1990).
Table 8 is a list of plant species and the variety of ways in which each species is used by the Bakonjo and Baamba.Only 5.2% (4/77) plant species are used for three different purposes.For instance Maesa lanceolata is used as medicinal plant, food and firewood.Melchiora schliebenii and Xymalos monospora are both used for construc tion/timber production, craftwork and food.Plant species used for two purposes, made up 22.1% (17/77) of the useful plant species and those with only one application made up 72.7% (56/77).
The degree of usefulness of families indicated in Table 9 shows that only Euphorbiaceae and Myrtaceae, 4.8% (2/42), had species put to four categories of use by the Bakonjo and Baamba; 11.9% (5/42) of the families have species put to three categories of use; 28.6% (12/42) to two categories of use; and 52.4% (22/42) families to one category of use.Representatives of 14 families were used medicinally, 13 families for construction, joinery and fur niture and 12 for craftwork.Species of six families, the lowest number, were collected as food by the Bakonjo and Baamba.There were 15 families with no economic value to the Bakonjo and Baamba (Table 10).

FIGURE
FIGURE 1.-Map o f Uganda with study site o f the Rwenzori Mountain forest area in Bundibugyo District, forest reserve boundary; xxx, Bupompoli Ridge (25-9-91).
FIGURE 3.-A handbag made from vegetative parts o f LJrera hypselodendron and seeds o f Ensete edule being sold in a shop in Bundibugyo town (26-9-91).

TABLE 1 .
-Species used by the Bakonjo and Baamba as medicinals

TABLE 4 .-Species used for craftwork by the Bakonjo and Baamba
Other craftwork include baskets made from Si da cf.humilis and Stnilax anceps, as well as combs, axe handles, mortars and pestles made from Connarus longistipitatus, Canthium rwenzoriense, Melchiora schliebenii and Rapanea rhododendmides.Plant species used for craftwork made up 15.6% (12/77) of useful plants and 10.4% (12/115) of all plants recorded.

TABLE 5 .
-Species used for food by the Bakonjo and Baamba communities

Solanaceae Discopodium penninen um Hochst. 48 tree trapping birds Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq. 81 shrub making charms Thelypteridaceae Thelypteris den tat us Forssk. 63 herb making shrines Verbenaceae
Clerodendrum cf.johnstonii Oliv.109 shrub drinking straws/smoking pipes T A B L E 7.-S p ecies w ith no rep o rted eco n o m ic value to th e B ak o njo and B aam ba