Abstract
The aim of this paper is to clarify the traditional natural resource use and social importance of the juniper in order to set an appropriate plan for conservation of the juniper woodlands.
People are engaged in clipping branches of the junipers till they grow upright. The reason they need straight trunks is to use them as building materials for their traditional houses. The mountainous land of the escarpment, which is filled with juniper trees, had been under the management and protection of na‘īb, the tribal representative of the village. When any individual of the village intended to build a new dwelling house with the wood of juniper trees, he had to request the na‘īb for permission at their council. Community members were concerned about the cutting locations and numbers of big trunks of dried or even living juniper trees. Dead branches and twigs of juniper were used as heating and cooking fuel. Ashes of these were scattered on farms as a kind of fertilizer. On the other hand, grazing any kind of livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats in the juniper woodlands had been permitted in all tribal territories.
In terms of the social aspects of conservation of the juniper woodlands, we need to consider 3 aspects: 1) bridge between social practices and the latest scientific knowledge in the local context; 2) redevelopment of cultural knowledge for preservation of biodiversity; 3) application of the traditional resource-management system for sustainable resource use in a new form.
