Copyright © Journal of the Drylands 2006 ISSN 1817-3322 JOURNAL OF THE DRYLANDS 1(2): pp, 2006 Population Viability Risk Management applied Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst in North-eastern Ethiopia Abrham Abiyu 1* , Harald Vacik 2 and Gerhard Glatzel 2 Abiyu A, Vacik H and Glatzel G (2006): Population Viability Risk Management (PVRM) applied to in-situ management of Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst in North-eastern Ethiopia. Journal of the Drylands 1(2) Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst, is an ecologically and economically important tree species found in the arid lowlands of Ethiopia. As Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest producers of Frankincense (olibanum), the exploitation of olibanum is one of the top employment generating activities in the remotest parts of Ethiopia and therefore a very important source of income for the rural people residing there. Due to this exploitation the potential range of forest communities with B. papyrifera is greatly reduced and the species itself is classified as endangered. In Amhara region, there is a large reserve of approximately 604,000 ha of this forest in Tekeze and Abay (Blue Nile) catchments, where the species is cohabiting the same niche with Acacia and Commiphora species. Based on this background the framework of a Population viability risk management (PVRM) is used for the design and evaluation of in-situ conservation strategies for B. papyrifera population in Amhara region. As part of the PVRM the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to evaluate the conservation strategies with regard to the viability of Boswellia. The viability of B. papyrifera is described based on the results of an analysis of the current environmental, social and economical state and a characterization of the ecological parameters of its population. The significant risk factors such as successful regeneration, pressures like grazing and tapping or the kind of ownership are compared and prioritized against their impact on the viability of B. papyrifera population. Effects of different conservation strategies (e.g. change of tapping frequency, grazing regime) are determined through a qualitative assessment of the probability of a decrease of B. papyrifera population along with scenarios under different environmental conditions. In this context strategies combining silvicultural measures that increase regeneration and growth of Boswellia and measures that consider ownership and benefit sharing seem to be the most effective. The rational and pitfalls using the concept of population viability risk management is discussed along with the results of the scenario analysis. Key words: frankincense, Analytical Hierarchy Process, Multicriteria Decision Making, conservation strategy, nature conservation, dryland forest 1 Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences 2 University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Peter Jordanstrasse 70, A-1190 Vienna, Austria * Author for correspondence: Abrham Abiyu, Tel. +43-650-7710793, E-mail: abrhamabiyu@yahoo.com Received December 2004, Accepted December 2005 Introduction Poverty and land degradation has been identified as the major problems in Ethiopia. In resolving the problem of poverty while at the same time mitigating the effects of land use conflicts, the various regional states of Ethiopia have embarked on conservation and rehabilitation of their woodland resources. The economic benefits arising from the use of non-wood products such as gum and incense are substantial when integrated with existing land use systems (Guinand 2001, Abrham et al 2003). Integrated and sustainable resource use plans help to resolve existing land use conflicts (anonymous, 1997). Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst, is an ecologically and economically important tree species found in the arid lowlands of Ethiopia. As Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest producers of Frankincense (olibanum), the exploitation of olibanum is one of the top income and employment generating activities in the remotest parts of Ethiopia and therefore a very important source of revenue for the country and the rural people (Mulugeta et al 2003). Due to this