An ethnobotanical study of wild medicinal plants among the mountain community of Western Himalayas: A case study of Govind wildlife sanctuary and national park

Abstract

The biodiversity of Indian Himalayan Region has always provided the local mountain community with various goods and services, shaping their traditional food and healthcare system. For years, this forest-based resource subsistence has accumulated a great deal of traditional knowledge and practices, but is declining through younger generations. The present study aims to document the indigenous knowledge of the mountain community, regarding medicinal and aromatic plants, wild fruits and vegetables, in the villages around Govind Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in the Western Himalayas. For the study, participatory rural appraisal tools (household survey, key informant interview, focus group discussion, field visit) were used to collect primary information from the local people. A total of 55 species were documented along with the uses for traditionally curing the diseases. The dependency of the community on medicinal plants was analyzed through Relative Frequency Citation (RFC), Relative Importance Index (RI), Cultural Importance Index (CI), Cultural Value Index (CV) and Fidelity Level (FL). The homogeneity of ethnomedicinal knowledge among the people was tested through Informant Consensus Factor (Fic). The respondents were divided into three age groups, old (> 50 years), adult (25-50 years) and young (<25 years) for the calculation of Knowledge Richness Index (KRI) across different generations. The study revealed that the traditional ethnomedicinal knowledge is declining among youth and it is important to identify, collect, organize and document it in some way, in order to maintain, use, disseminate and/or protect, so that the true holders of such knowledge can reap the future benefits of their culture. The study highlighted that the dependency of inaccessible and remote villages on traditional remedies was higher than the villages near roadhead. The study recommends agricultural diversification through medicinal and aromatic plant cultivation, to sustain the traditional healthcare system with a sustainable livelihood opportunity for the rural mountain community. The study suggests further research on biophysical and climatic conditions for medicinal plant cultivation, along with the demand-supply chain analysis of the same.