Non-timber forest products and local ecological knowledge on livelihoods in Mocuba district, Mozambique

The dependency of many african rural households on natural resources for sustenance is widely acknowledged. Local ecological Knowledge is developed from the continuous relationship between humans and their environment, mainly through the daily use of natural resources. The abandonment of uses may cause the loss of this kind of knowledge, which frequently occurs due to changes in life style. This paper aimed to evaluate the knowledge and the dynamics of the effective use of native forest in Mocuba District, in Mozambique. The data collection and analysis were based on the integration participatory rural appraisal techniques to ascertain the significance of ethnobotanical methods in the livelihoods. The results revealed that, local people are aware of knowledge of the native forest species of the region and the effective present use of these forest resources in mainly for subsistence, highlighting the dependence of the rural livelihoods on firewood. However, timber use has declined in recent years due, mainly, to limitations of legal access to native forest species. The respondents older than 45 years cited higher species richness, with a more equitable distribution of species, compared to younger respondents. In addition, attenuation of the correlation between knowledge and present use of species among younger people was noticed. The data suggest the existence of a gradual process of loss of transmission of traditional local knowledge and there is a risk of erosion of accumulated knowledge.