Woodlands of Ethiopia are estimated to be around 70%. Unfortunately, this woodland is seriously under threats, mostly linked to human interference, livestock and climate change. To overcome these problems, protected woodlands were implemented in different parts of the country including Dugda Woreda Giraba KorkeAdii Kebele. However, the perception of local community towards protected woodlands was not studied. As a result, the main purpose of this study was to assess the perception of local community toward protected woodland at Dugda Woreda, East Shoa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Before deciding the method of data collection, a reconnaissance survey was undertaken to obtain the impressions of the study site conditions and select sampling sites. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select the kebele from the Woreda. The sample size of households for the survey was determined by the proportional sampling method. A total of 138 households were selected for the survey; of these, 61 households are poor, 53 households are medium in terms of income and 21 households are rich. Semi-structured questionnaires were prepared for household interviews and the data were analyzed using Microsoft excel and SPSS and results were presented using descriptive statistics. Of the total respondents, 88.32% had positive attitudes towards the protected woodland practices. However, various problems were also identified such as shortages of firewood (83.34%) and scarcity of pastureland (74.64%) and poor infrastructure which are challenges to the sustainability of protected woodland for the future.

 

Key words:  Community, perception, protected, woodland.