THE CURRENT STATUS OF PALATABLE AND ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES IN KORDOFAN FROM USERS PERSPECTIVE

This study was conducted in the three states of Kordofan, Sudan, with the objective of studying traditional knowledge about range plants and those of high nutritional value that are endangered. Preliminary data were collected from 300 respondents via structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences software. The results showed that the respondents in the age groups of 15-40 years were the majority (80%), most of them were pastoralists (55%), married (79.9%), and illiterate (52.0%). They were able to distinguish between palatable, unpalatable, undesirable and harmful plants species. The respondents also indicated the distinction between grazing plants that increase sheep production (weight gain, growth and milk production). The pastoral groups showed their dependence on rangelands as main source of feed for sheep and other animals, they also knew the plants that were more selected by animals and the effect of this selection on plants composition, and they noticed the decrease in the presence of some species that animals prefer more than others. Shepherds have special ways gained by practice and the experiences of those who grow up in the profession. The respondents explained that they could classify the palatable plants from the animals’ choice of them according to the testimony of 62.7% of them, and the nutritional value of the palatable types of animal productivity according to the opinion of 68.1% of the respondents. Most of the respondents indicated that the palatable species decreased in the percentage of their presence in the rangeland. The study concluded that the users of the rangelands were fully aware of the preferred and useful range species, and that they were aware of declining to accept animals for their choice. The study recommended more research and devise ways to preserve these plants and prevent their extinction.