ECOLOGICAL STATUS AND SOCIO ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF Choerospondias axillaris AT PHALEWAS, PARBAT DISTRICT, NEPAL

Abstract

Choerospondias axillaris (Roxb.) B.L.Burtt & A.W.Hill is one of the important non timber forest products of Nepal belonging to family anacardiaceae. It is grown in hills of 900 to 2000m above sea level. It is a native tree to Nepal. The main objective of the study was to assess ecological status, vegetation structure and socio economic benefits ofC. axillaris in four wards of Phalewas Municipality of Parbat district namely Shankarpokhari, Thapathana, Thanamaula, and Bhangara areas. For ecological study systematic random sampling was applied for vegetation study. Total 72 quadrate were laid. Quadrate of 10 m radii were laid for trees and sub quadrates of 5 m radii were used for sampled of shrubs and sapling ofC. axillaris and quadrates of 1m radii was sampled in each 10 m radii quadrate for sampling of herbs and seedlings of C. axillaris . For socio-economic survey; questionnaire was done with the 61 people from 4 wards including local farmers, local government officials, and small entrepreneurs tradingC. axillaris. Likewise, secondary data were collected from the concerned authorities. Altogether, seventy two quadrates were sampled from 4 different wards. Ninety plants species belonging to 51 families were recorded along with C. axillaris from the study area. The highest density of C. axillaris was recorded from Bhangara area and lowest density was recorded from Thanamaula area. Similarly ecological parameters including frequency, density, and IVI were found highest forC. axillaris among the associate trees in all study sites. Besides C. axillaris major associated tree species were Schima wallichi and Ficus nerifolia. Similarly the biodiversity indices Shannon-Wiener's index (H) was found in between 2.31- 2.53 and Simpson index of diversity (D) of trees was found in between 0.84-0.91. The regeneration pattern ofC. axillaris was found very poor in all study sites. DBH and height class showed irregular distribution of C. axillaris. Economic status showed people sellC. axillaris fruits in raw form while some prepare Achar and Candy to earn money. The trend of the annual production and productive area of C. axillaris over period of 10 years (2067/68-2077/78) in Parbat district was slightly decreasing while that of productivity was increasing.C. axillaris is most important and dominant plant species in study sites with high socio-economic value from which local people were directly benefited