Regeneration and restoration status of miombo woodland following land use land cover changes at the buffer zone of Gile National Park's Central Mozambique

In the context of the current intensified disturbances of miombo woodland, its regenerating capacity is fundamental to endure such disturbances. Miombo woodland in the buffer zone of Gile national park (Gile NP) is facing land cover change. This study aimed to assess regeneration structure, the status of restoration, and factors affecting regeneration of miombo woodland in the buffer zone of Gile NP. In total 12 transects, 48 plots, and 240 subplots were sampled purposively in dense miombo woodland (DMWL), open miombo woodland (OMWL), and abandoned agricultural land (AAL) to collect data. Household interviews, key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus group discussions (FGD) were used to collect socio-economic data. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test, and regression were used to analyze data. A total of 1863 matured woody individuals representing 85 species and 29 families were identified. Matured woody species density was significantly different between AAL&DMWL and DMWL & OMWL but there was no significant difference between OMWL and AAL. Totally 903 regenerated individuals representing 70 species and 23 families were registerd. Regeneration density was significantly different between each land-use type and the mean density of regeneration in DMWL, AAL, and OMWL were 39.87±13.82, 50.25±21.1, and 23 ± 9.98 stems ha−1, respectively. The most regenerated family was Fabaceae. All respondents reported as no assisted restoration activity was/is taking place in their area. Five most factors affecting the regeneration of miombo woodland were identified of which, slash and burn agriculture, and grazing by animals were ranked as first and last respectively. Increasing pressure for land demand become a determining factor for miombo woodland regeneration. Buffer zone of Gile NP is characterized by a moderate diversity of woody species, with the number of regenerated woody species increasing in AAL. Our findings suggest the importance of diversifying sources of income, creating a market value chain for their product, and strengthening collaboration between the park and community surrounding the park could reduce the dependence of the community from slash and burn agriculture as well as safeguard the park from degradation and at the some time maintain the livelihood of the community.