Carapa procera, Lophira lanceolata, and Pentadesma butyracea are three underutilized but increasingly threatened indigenous oil-seed tree species (IOS) in tropical Africa. Because local knowledge is vital for sustainable management, this study investigated the socio-economic factors that explain local people’s (i) preferences for these IOS, (ii) attitudes toward their conservation, and (iii) ability to identify “plus trees” based on seed traits. We predicted a positive relationship between response variables and informants’ age, residence status, gender (femaleness), and existence of market opportunities for each IOS. We also predicted that a higher preference for a given IOS has a positive effect on people’s attitudes for its conservation and the aptitude to identify its “plus trees.” We additionally expected significant differences among ethnic groups for each response variable. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with 336 informants from 14 randomly selected villages in the species distribution area of Kénédougou province. For each species, the collected data were the number of actual uses reported (converted to use value—UV, as a measure of the species preference), practiced conservation actions (converted to conservation attitude using a four-scale scoring method), and possible criteria for selecting preferred trees for seed oil extraction. Generalized linear mixed models were used to test for the fixed effects of socio-economic factors, and account for the random variation across villages. The results showed species-specific patterns. Carapa procera had the highest UV and hence was the most preferred IOS, particularly by women. Informants from the Siamou ethnic group had the highest UV irrespective of IOS. The most cited conservation actions were assisted natural regeneration and banning of tree cutting, which were practiced for C. procera and L. lanceolata. No conservation measure was cited for P. butyracea. The practice of tree planting was not recorded for any of the IOS. Young and male informants participated less in conservation actions. Tree selection for oil-seed collection was mainly guided not by “oil extraction yield” but rather by the “quality of extracted oil” (namely oil color and taste for food uses, and oil bitterness for medicinal efficacy). The selection mainly concerned L. lanceolata and was mostly practiced by elderly people. This study provided useful local knowledge-based information to guide conservation actions and valorization strategies of three IOS. The study sheds further light on the socio-economic factors that are associated to local people’s preferences, conservation attitudes, and individual tree selection.

中文翻译：

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西非布基纳法索的肯纳杜古省，当地人对三种本土油料种子植物的偏爱以及对其保护的态度。

Carapa procera，Lophira lanceolata和Pentadesma butyracea是热带非洲三种未充分利用但受威胁日益严重的本土油籽树种（IOS）。因为当地知识对于可持续管理至关重要，所以本研究调查了社会经济因素，这些因素解释了当地人（i）对这些IOS的偏好，（ii）对其养护的态度以及（iii）基于“种子性状。我们预测响应变量与线人的年龄，居住状态，性别（女性）和每个IOS的市场机会之间存在正相关。我们还预测到，对特定IOS的更高偏好将对人们对其保护的态度以及识别其“优树”的能力产生积极影响。我们还期望每个响应变量的种族之间存在显着差异。通过从Kénédougou省物种分布地区的14个随机选择的村庄中的336名信息提供者进行的半结构化访谈，收集了数据。对于每个物种，收集的数据包括报告的实际使用数量（转换为使用价值-UV，以衡量物种偏好），实践的保护措施（使用四级评分法转换为保护态度）以及可能的数量。选择种子油优选树种的标准。广义线性混合模型用于检验社会经济因素的固定影响，并解释各个村庄之间的随机变化。结果显示出特定物种的模式。Carapa procera具有最高的紫外线，因此是最优选的IOS，尤其是女性。与IOS无关，来自Siamou族的信息提供者的紫外线最高。被引用最多的保护措施是自然促进和禁止砍伐树木，这是针对proc.procera和L.lanceolata进行的。丁香假单胞菌未引用任何保护措施。没有为任何IOS记录植树的做法。青年和男性线人较少参与保护行动。用于油料种子收集的树木选择主要不是以“油的提取产量”为指导，而是以“提取的油的质量”（即食用油的颜色和味道，以及药用功效的油苦味）为指导。该选择主要涉及轮叶草，主要由老年人进行。这项研究提供了有用的基于本地知识的信息，以指导三个IOS的保护行动和增值策略。该研究进一步揭示了与当地人的偏好，保护态度和个体树种选择相关的社会经济因素。