| The coastal plains of Kenya are dotted by pockets of indigenous rainforest locally referred to as Kayas. The diversified vegetation in these Kaya forests has fulfilled the needs of the local communities and immensely contributed to their livelihoods. The local communities living around these forests have used this flora for traditional medicine for generations. The population therefore, possess a great deal of knowledge on their ethnic plants which calls for documentation and preservation. An ethnobotanical demographic study was carried out around the sacred Kaya forests of Kauma and Tsolokero in Kilifi, Kenya between 2015 and 2016 to assess knowledge on useful plants to the population. A survey was carried out in 26 villages surrounding Kaya Kauma and Kaya Tsolokero forest of Kilifi, Kenya. The survey stratified the population into several categories to assess the level of knowledge the communities had on useful plants in their study forests. Data from the survey was analysed using Kruskal-Wallis
H Test using SPSS Statistics. Kaya Kauma forest surrounded by eighteen (18) villages was inhabited by the Kauma, Duruma, Chonyi, Digo, Girima and Kambe Mijikenda sub-groups while Kaya Tsolokero forest had eight (8) adjacent villages inhabited by the Chonyi, Giriama, Jibana and Kauma sub-groups. A total of 444 useful plants were mentioned by the respondents using local names. However, 138 and 181 plant species were scientifically validated for Kaya Kauma and Kaya Tsolokero, respectively. The Kauma andthe Chonyi communities’ fromKaya Kauma and Tsolokero respectively, were the most knowledgeable in useful plant species. The statistical analysis depicted significant (p<0.05) differences in knowledge among diverse categories of respondents. However, a big knowledge gap was noted between the adults and youth respondents. These findings shall not only provide recognition to this knowledge and the useful traditional plants but also help in the conservation of important skills and knowledge and endangered plant species. This study helped to bridge the knowledge gap between the older and the younger population.
Keywords: Kaya forest, Kilifi, Kenya
|