Utilization of Afzelia africana Sm. ex Pers. (Magnoliopsida: Fabales: Fabaceae) in Nigeria and its implications for conservation

: This study investigated the ethnobotanical uses of Afzelia africana Sm. ex Pers . , a threatened tree species in Nigeria to determine the impact of uses of this species on the risk of its extinction. Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted by means of semi-structured questionnaires with the local community called Ijebu Igbo in Ogun state of Nigeria and a total of 60 respondents were interviewed from this community. Herbalists, artisans, Islamic scholars, traders, and retirees were interviewed to document their knowledge of the uses of A. africana. This study revealed that there are different uses of A. africana , among which its spiritual and medicinal uses were the most dominant. An unsustainable harvest of A. africana for these uses will aggravate the decline of its population, thereby increasing the risk of extinction. This study recommends local awareness of the indigenous people of possible ways this species can be utilized in a sustainable manner to prevent its extinction.


INTRODUCTION
Utilization and sustainability of biological resources are to be given high level consideration in controlling the risk of plant extinction because anthropogenic activities have been a major player in the subject of biodiversity conservation (Marchese 2015).Human craves to satisfy their needs in terms of food, medicine, shelter, clothing, and horticulture have increased decline in plant species globally (Haines-Young & Potschin 2010;Pimm 2021).And if these needs for resources are not effectively managed, the damage to global biodiversity might be beyond control in decades to come.
Perspectives of the indigenous knowledge holders is important in sustainable utilization and protection of biological resources (Cuni-Sanchez et al. 2016;Mensah et al. 2017).The interaction of local people with their natural environment is a factor that affects biodiversity conservation (Houdanon et al. 2018;Rasethe et al. 2022).Several plant species are sources of ecosystem services for many communities and the perception of the beneficiaries of these services is extremely important for the sustainability of these species (Brockerhoff et al. 2017).Some economic uses of plant resources in communities include timber production, medicine, firewood, and charcoal, and these are causing habitat degradation and gradual increase in extinction risk of many plant taxa (Diaz et al. 2019).Climate regulation, soil and environmental regulation are some of the ecological importance of indigenous trees in communities where the species exists (Byabashaija et al. 2004).Lack of sustainable utilization of species of trees will promote decline of their populations and this will further result in loss of ecosystem services (Jiao et al. 2019).
Afzelia africana (African Mahogany) is a tree species of high economic and ecological importance.It belongs to the family of Fabaceae (Oshingboye et al. 2017).It is highly desired for timber production (Balima et al. 2022), and currently listed as 'Vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List (Hills 2020;Bamigboye et al. 2022).Anthropogenic factors identified as a threat to this species are timber production, medicinal uses, livestock feeding and habitat destruction (Bamigboye et al. 2022).There are excessive threats to natural distribution of Afzelia africana in Africa due to international timber trade of this species (Mensah et al. 2014;Assogbadjo et al. 2017).The trade of this species as brown wood transcends Africa to Asia, Europe and the United States of America (Biara et al. 2021).
Afzelia africana is a widely harvested species for many ethnobotanical uses.It is being used for medicinal purposes to treat many ailments locally which include headache, Malaria, ulcer, chronic cough, tooth ache, hemorrhoids, stomach ache and Meningitis (Balima et al. 2018;Houehanou et al. 2023).The leaves are source of food for humans and livestock (Nzekwe et al. 2016;Avornyo et al. 2018).The main aim of this study is to conduct ethnobotanical surveys in a local community called Ijebu igbo in Nigeria to determine the perception of local people on the utilization of Afzelia africana.This is to determine the risk of extinction of this species based on the local uses and also make recommendations on the sustainability of this species in Nigeria.The specific objectives of this study are as follows: (i) to determine the diverse utilization of Afzelia africana and to understand how this utilization will increase the risk of extinction in a community in Ogun state Nigeria, (ii) to understand the usage of parts of this plant species that are heavily harvested by the local people to meet several human demands in the community where this study was conducted, (iii) to determine how the harvesting of different parts of Afzellia africana will affect its sustainability and regeneration potential, and (iv) to make recommendations on how the perspective of the local people can be integrated into plans and policies that will protect and minimize the risk of extinction of Afzelia africana.

Study area
This study was conducted in Ijebu Igbo (Coordinates: 6.9792° N, 3.9980° E), Ogun-State, Nigeria.The natural vegetation is predominately deciduous forest (Bayewu et al. 2014).Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State Nigeria has an average temperature between 21 o C-32 o C (Bayewu et al. 2014).There are many indigenous people residing in this area.The main livelihood option in the region is timber harvesting (Olanipekun 2022).Majority of the natural forests have been converted to several farmlands and heavy deforestation occurs in this area because of timber trade.

Data collection
A semi structured questionnaires were administered to 60 people in the study area on the uses of Afzelia africana in their local community.The justification of the sample size is that only people who could identify the plant and gave their consent to be interviewed were the only respondents captured in this study.This survey was conducted in Yoruba, the local language of the indigenous people in this community.Photographs of the species were taken along during the survey for identification and some of the indigenous knowledge holders volunteered to go and identify the species in the wild.Afzelia africana is called Apa in this community.All the respondents identified this species through this local name.

Data analysis
Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data.Quantifications was done in percentages in which the percentages of respondents who mentioned different use categories was determined.The percentages that mentioned the parts of Afzelia africana being used for several purposes was calculated.The percentage of respondents that mentioned if the species is rare or not was calculated.

RESULTS
The highest percentage of the respondents mentioned that Afzelia africana is used for spiritual purpose.This implies that this plant species is common in this community for its spiritual uses (Figure 2).The spiritual uses mentioned includes warding off spiritual attacks, spiritual protection from evil spirits, money rituals and charm for having good luck.The parts used for spiritual purpose are the leaves, stem, bark, roots and the seeds.
After the spiritual purpose the medicinal uses were the second most mentioned by the respondents (Figure 2).The medicinal uses mentioned are wound healing, easing childbirth, treating eye infection, gonorrhea, enhancing male sexual performance, treating lap inflammation and curing food poison.This revealed there is a wide range of medicinal uses of this plant species with the bark, root, leaves and seeds used for various medicinal purposes (Table 1; Figure 3).
The seed of Afzelia africana is a source of food for human consumption as reported in this study (Table 1; Figure 3).It is being uses locally for soup making and added to other food items for human consumption.Also, there are other uses which include furniture making, timber production and as a source of firewood mentioned by the respondents (Figure 2).Individuals of this species are taken out completely for timber production through the use of the industrial saw.The stem cut down are broken into smaller pieces with axe for producing firewood.This is a common practice

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J TT throughout the year round.Because individuals being removed for timber production and firewood in the wild are not being replaced by planting, this practice becomes unsustainable.This contributes to the population decline of this species.
Half of the respondents believed that Afzelia africana is becoming rare within the community (Figure 4).Although a few respondents do not know whether it is rare or not but the result can still be justified that there is possibility of increase in decline of the population of this species within this community.

Harvesting of Afzelia africana for spiritual purpose
There are many spiritual beliefs that are being attached to plants (Gupta 1971(Gupta , 1996;;Negi 2005).Many cultures around the world believe that plants have several spiritual uses (Kandari et al. 2014;Kawa 2016;Bamigboye et al. 2017;Aziz et al. 2020).The main use category mentioned by most of the respondents in this study was the use of Afzelia africana for spiritual purpose J TT

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(Figure 2).A study conducted by Balima et al. (2018) on ethnobotany of Afzelia africana in Burkina Faso revealed that after fodder and medicine, the most common uses of this species were the use for spiritual purpose.This revealed in a community in Burkina Faso, Afzelia africana is known for spiritual uses but not as common as medicinal and fodder while in Ijebu Igbo a small community in Nigeria where this study was conducted Afzelia africana is more popular for spiritual uses than uses for medicine and fodder (Figure 2).Studies have shown that certain communities preserve some plant species due to some spiritual perception attached to the plant species (Shukla & Gardner 2006;Irakiza et al. 2016;Rankoana 2016;Yeshi et al. 2021).Also, the study by Balima et al. (2018) further revealed that Afzelia africana is protected in the traditional agroforest systems in Burkina Faso due to the spiritual belief attached to this plant.This implies that the spiritual perception of this plant species might contribute to the local conservation of this species.

Harvesting of Afzelia africana for medicinal uses
Plant harvest for medicinal purposes keeps generating concerns in biodiversity conservation (Jimoh et al. 2023).Continuous harvest of threatened species for medicinal uses will keep aggravating the decline of their populations (Williams et al. 2013;Bamigboye et al. 2017;van Wyk & Prinsloo 2018).Harvest for medicinal uses have been identified as a threat to Afzelia africana (Bamigboye et al. 2022).Next to spiritual purpose, harvest for medicinal uses was the most mentioned by the respondents in this study (Figure 2).Continuous harvest of this species for medicinal purpose will  J TT increase the risk of extinction of this species if not done in a sustainable manner.

Bark harvesting of Afzelia africana
Bark harvesting have been a practice responsible for plant species extinction (Bamigboye et al. 2018).Bark harvesting can lead to death of individuals of tree species and it can result into poor regeneration of tree species (Tshisikhawe et al. 2012).Nacoulma et al. (2016) revealed that bark harvesting of Afzelia africana reduced its fruit production, thereby affecting its reproduction.This study identified bark harvesting of Afzelia africana for spiritual and medicinal purpose as common practice in this community this study was conducted (Table 1; Figure 3).The practice of bark harvesting will reduce the regeneration potential of this species if they are not done in a sustainable way.

Harvesting of Afzelia africana for timber production
Harvest of tree taxa for timber production poses threats to the survival of many tree species and it has exterminated many populations of tree taxa hence increase their risk of extinction (Edward et al. 2014;Bont et al. 2020).The economic viability of this adventure has made many people defer regulations and engage in indiscriminate harvest of so many trees which is contributing to biodiversity loss (Frey et al. 2021).From ecological perspective, arboreal species that survive based on the presence of these trees have to migrate through ecological corridors due to habitat fragmentation (Arroyo-Rodríguez & Mandujano 2009).The susceptibility of these species to habitat fragmentation is due to the practice of removing individuals of tree species from the wild for timber production.Some studies have reported Afzelia africana being excessively harvested for timber production and also project this practice as the main threats to this species (Mensah et al. 2014;Assogbadjo et al. 2017;Biara et al. 2020).In a bit of a contrary, this study found this plant to be more desired in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun-State, Nigeria where this study was conducted for spiritual and medicinal purposes more than that for timber production (Figure 2).This implies that there may be less popularity of this species for timber production in this area or the spiritual belief attached to the plant might have restricted the practice of harvesting this species for timber production.

Perception on rarity of Afzelia africana
Perception on rarity is extremely important in biodiversity.Species perceived to be rare can become target of harvest for economic gains thereby increasing their risk of population decline (Courchamp et al. 2006;Hall et al. 2008).Online and offline resources consulted on this subject could not reveal that Afzelia africana is currently protected in Nigeria.Based on the current perception on the rarity of the species (Figure 4) in this study, it is recommended that Afzelia africana should be protected in Nigeria.

CONCLUSION
This study revealed that several parts of Afzelia africana are being harvested for different purposes which might keep declining the populations of this species in the wild.Intensive harvest over time will further aggravate the risk of extinction of Afzelia africana in Nigeria.This study recommends that further studies on population ecology of Afzelia africana should be carried out to determine the current status of this species in terms of conservation in Nigeria.There is a need for creating local awareness among the indigenous people on the need to conserve this species.Prohibition of indiscriminate harvest of Afzelia africana should be enacted by local conservation authorities.Local cultivation of Afzelia africana within the region of this study should be encouraged to prevent extirpation of this species and also improve its regeneration in Nigeria.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Map of the study area where the ethnobotanical survey of Afzelia africana was conducted.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Percentages of respondents that mentioned different use categories of Afzelia Africana.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Percentages of respondents that mentioned different parts of Afzelia africana used for different purposes.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Percentages of respondents that showed their knowledge on rarity of Afzelia africana where this study was conducted.

Table 1 . Demographic information on the respondents, the use categories of Afzelia africana mentioned, parts used mentioned and perception of rarity of the respondent regarding the species. Gender Occupation Age Uses Part used Is the plant rare or not?
Journal of ThreatenedTaxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org| 26 February 2024 | 16(2):