Occurrence data set of Non-Timber Forest Products species for medicinal purposes in Zimbabwe’s biodiversity hotspots

Study Extent

Data on tree species of medicinal importance were collected from Chimanimani (19°48'S;32°52'E), Chipinge (20°24'S;32°41'E) and Nyanga (18°13'S;32°44'E) in the Eastern Highlands, Mutorashanga (17°25'S;30°35'E)in the Great Dyke and Hwange (19°07'S;26°35'E) in the west.

Sampling

Data concerning species used for medicinal purposes, along with use categories, was compiled from representatives drawn from 17 communities. A total of 102 informants who included men, women, youths and traditional healers participated in the surveys. Of the selected communities, utilisation by men, women and youths was studied using group discussions and key informant interviews. For each hotspot area, separate groups of men and women were used. Information was given using local plant names, part(s) used, methods of preparation and how they are used. Additional data were compiled from publications, books and herbarium specimens collected from the hotspot areas. The species obtained from these surveys and literature were used to develop a checklist of medicinal trees. The checklist was then used to develop an occurrence data set using all the specimen in the National Herbarium and Botanical Gardens in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Quality Control

Data were checked for quality using software and databases such Catalogue of Life, Flora of Zimbabwe, Excel data cleaning, ECAT name parser, OpenRefine and GEOLocate.

Method steps

1. The goal of this project was to collect data on wild plant species of medicinal value to communities in and surrounding biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe. Forest ecosystems in Zimbabwe include afromontane, savannah and wooded grasslands. Among these are nationally and internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots containing endemic, rare, threatened and endangered plant species. To achieve the goal of this project, five of these biodiversity hotspots were purposively selected to cover the major vegetation types in the country. These areas were Chimanimani, Chipinge and Nyanga in the afromontane/ miombo vegetation zone, Mutorashanga in the miombo zone and Hwange in the dry savannah. Community meetings were held in Chimanimani, Chipinge, Nyanga, Mutorashanga and Hwange to identify species of medicinal importance. Semi-structured and key-informant interviews and group discussions were used in each community. Data on species was collected using vernacular names. Plant species used by the local communities in each study area were authenticated by botanists and taxonomists. A Multi-stakeholder meeting was held to consolidate the list of species. Groups were created basing on hotspot area. In each group, prioritisation of medicinal plant species was done by ranking them basing on importance and multiple uses. Review of literature was done to supplement the data gathered from community meetings. Prioritisation of plant species of medicinal importance was done at a multi-stakeholder meeting. The data were prepared into a checklist. This checklist was then used to develop an occurrence data set using specimen stored at National Herbarium and Botanical Garden. Data were checked for quality using databases and software such as Catalogue of Life, Flora of Zimbabwe, Excel, OpenRefine, and GEOLocate. After quality checks, the checklist was uploaded on the GBIF website.

The project was in five biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe, Nyanga, Chimanimani, Chipinge, Mutorashanga and Hwange. Nyanga, Chipinge and Chimanimani are in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe and are part of the Afro-montane region. The vegetation of this region is typically sub-montane with interspersed grasslands (Jimu and Ngoroyemoto, 2011). The mountain range comprises a complex mosaic of vegetation types including forests, woodlands, and grasslands. The geology is mainly the Precambrian Umkondo system, which consists of flat-lying shales, quartzites and intrusive dolerites. The soils are highly leached paraferallitic (Jimu and Ngoroyemoto, 2011). The drainage pattern is characterised by deeply cut valleys. The region falls in agro-ecological regions I and II with annual rainfall ranging 1741 to 2997 mm.
Chipinge has an intact forest, the Chirinda Forest with unique trees such as Chrysophyllum gorungosanum, Ficus chirindensis, Khaya anthotheca, Argomuellera macrophylla, Celtis mildbraedii, Strychnos ellodora and Strychnos mitis. These trees are either only found in Chirinda Forest or are very rare in other parts of the country. The Nyanga site has communities in and around Nyanga National Park that has some of the most important species such Prunus africana. The Chimanimani area is one of the important biodiversity conservation areas in Zimbabwe. The Great Dyke of Zimbabwe presents a geological phenomenon, holding various high value metallurgical ores that include Chrome, Platinum and Nickel (Wild, 1965). Serpentine soils are well known to have an abnormally high ex changeable magnesium to exchangeable calcium ratio (Anderson and Talbot, 1965). The Great Dyke is dominated by the miombo vegetation dominated by Julbernardia globiflora, Brachystegia spiciformis, Brachystegia boehmii and Brachystegia allenii. The Hwange biodiversity hotspot is located in the western section of the country. Communities at this site are located adjacent to Hwange National Park, which is the largest conservation area in Zimbabwe. The area is typical dystrophic savanna with nutrient poor soils comprising of sandier soils that are well drained and of variable depth but often shallow, medium grained sands or loamy sands over strong brown gravelly loamy sands or sandy loams. The common tree species in the area include Acacia sp, Sclerocarya birrea, Lonchocarpus bussei, Vangueria infausta, Ziziphus mucronata, Combretum imberbe, C. apiculatum, Dichrostachys cinerea and Colophospermum mopane.