Wound Healing and Antioxidant Properties of 80% Methanol Leaf Extract of Verbascum sinaiticum (Scrophulariaceae):An Ethiopian Medicinal Plant

Wounds account for severe morbidity, socioeconomic distress, and mortality around the globe. For several years, various herbal products are used to expedite and augment the innate wound healing process. In Ethiopian folkloric medicine, Verbascum sinaiticum L. (V. sinaiticum) is commonly applied as a wound-healing agent. The present study investigated the potential wound healing and antioxidant properties of hydroalcoholic leaf extract of V. sinaiticum. The 80% methanol extract, formulated as 5% (w/w) and 10% (w/w) ointments, was evaluated in excision and incision wound models using nitrofurazone and simple ointment as positive and negative controls, respectively. Parameters such as wound contraction, period of epithelialization, and tensile strength were determined. Moreover, its in vitro antioxidant property was evaluated using a DPPH assay. In the excision model, both doses (5% and 10% w/w) of the extract showed a significant (p<0.001) wound healing efficacy compared to the negative control as evidenced by enhanced wound contraction rate and shorter epithelialization time records. In the incision model, the lower dose (5% w/w) ointment formulation of the extract exhibited the maximum increment in tensile strength (85.6%) that was significant (p<0.001) compared to negative and untreated controls. Animals treated with 5% w/w ointment, furthermore, showed a significantly (p<0.05) higher percentage of tensile strength than nitrofurazone treated ones. Moreover, the hydroalcoholic extract of the plant showed a noticeable free radical scavenging property. The result of the present study upholds the folkloric use of V. sinaiticum in the treatment of wounds

Creating multifunctional climate resilient landscapes: approaches, processes and technologies

The report outlines major activities related to efforts to create multifunctional climate resilient landscapes under various projects. The interventions were mainly in the highlands of Ethiopia but the lessons can be scaled to other regions. The key objectives were: (1) co-identification and co-implementation of land water management options at landscape scale; (2) generation of evidences about the performances of the various soil and water conservation practices implemented in learning watersheds and upscaling sites; (3) provide capacity building to different stakeholders in the study areas. The results show the need for: (a) sectoral coordination to sustain interventions, (b) continuing awareness creation to communities on the benefits of land and water management interventions, (c) creating evidences about the performances of interventions to learn lessons and scale successful ones, and (d) build capacity of stakeholders on both problems analysis, technology identification, matching options with context and evidence generation. Engaging stakeholders who are activate in the study sites has been instrumental to enhance coordination and promote synergy

Impacts of land use and land cover dynamics on ecosystem services in the Yayo coffee forest biosphere reserve, southwestern Ethiopia

Land management to increase food production while conserving the environment and associated ecosystem services (ESs) is one of the major development and research challenges of the 21st Century. Any land-use practice or change to obtain a particular ecosystem service affects the other ES positively or negatively. The dynamics of these changes is more marked in biodiversity hotspot areas like UNESCO registered Yayo coffee forest biosphere reserve in southwestern Ethiopia. We used a time series InVEST modeling framework to estimate six ESs and analyze their spatial and temporal dynamics due to land-use/cover change over the last 31 years. Pearson correlation coefficients and k-mean clustering were employed to analyze tradeoffs/synergies and to cluster ESs supply spatially. The analysis also considers land-use change impact in the three management zones (core, transition and buffer) of the Yayo biosphere area. The production efficient frontier is used to identify the optimal combination of ESs and to suggest where an increase of one ES is possible without decreasing the others. Mostly, the highest change is observed in the transition zone followed by buffer zones. Positive correlation (synergies) are observed between regulating ecosystem services. Negative correlations (tradeoffs) are observed between provision ecosystem services. The clustering analysis shows that the spatial ESs can be divided in two clusters (bundle): cluster 1 with “High regulating ESs” that can be characterized by core zone and some forest patches in the central part of the biosphere reserve, and cluster 2 with “High provisioning ESs areas'' that can be characterized by cultivated lands at transition and buffer zones. The result shows that the existing ES pairs are far from the Pareto efficient combination(s), confirming that landscape optimization for ES bundles are rarely possible on the ground due to many reasons and indicating the need for well thought land restoration strategies and land management practices that are forest type and context specific

Assessing multifunctionality and climate smartness of landscapes in Ethiopia

Integrated implementation of various land management options is the key for successful land restoration programs. Integrated sustainable land management (SLM) practices could improve land restoration success and enhance multiple ecosystem services generated by the landscape. Implementation of land and water management options at landscape level can cause tradeoffs due to conflicting land uses and varying needs of land users. It is thus essential to assess the climate-smartness of those landscapes to sustain the benefits associated with the management practices. We used various in-situ data, empirical and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (INVEST) models to assess the multifunctionality of landscapes and evaluate the associated benefits enjoyed in selected landscapes of Ethiopia. We employed a climate smartness landscape index to determine the climate-smartness of those landscapes by integrating multifunctional services provided by the landscapes due to the various interventions. We obtained a positive change in multiple ecosystem services due to land restoration efforts in four watersheds in Ethiopia. The result is substantiated by both modelling results and in-situ observation data. Even though the land management activities conducted in the study watersheds brought a positive impact, the optimal scenario shows that there are still opportunities to further enhance the magnitude and multifunctionalities of ecosystem services that would be obtained in the optimal land management scenario. All watersheds analysed in this study showed climate smartness at the landscape level, with some level of difference among them. Gudoberet and Aba Gerima watersheds showed more climate smartness than the Anjeni and Debre Mewi. The study shows that investigating the multiple functions of more than five ecosystem services can be designated as multifunctional landscapes