Browsing by Subject "Volksmedizin"

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Agrobiodiversity and its use in Naban River Watershed National Nature Reserve : implications for bio-cultural diversity conservation
(2012) Ghorbani Dahaneh, Abdolbaset; Sauerborn, Joachim
This study was conducted in the Naban River Watershed National Nature Reserve (NRWNNR), Xishuangbanna Dai Prefecture, SW China and aimed at identifying the diversity of medicinal and food plants used by local people living in NRWNNR and documenting their applications. NRWNNR is diverse biologically and culturally and people living in its territories get benefits from their diverse natural environment. However the extension of cash crops such as rubber (Hevea brasilliens (Willd. ex A. Juss.) Müll. Arg.) plantations and fragmentation of natural habitats including forests resulted in decreasing biological diversity which could be used by the local people. This also put more pressure on the remaining forests and plant resources. In order to find sustainable alternatives to conserve biodiversity and at the same time helping the development of the area it is necessary to know the available resources in the area. Among important plant resources in the area are non-timber forest products with economic and cultural importance including medicinal and food plants. Therefore, using ethnobotanical methods this study intended to document wild medicinal and food plant resources used by ethnic groups and their use details including their collection practices, preparation methods and habitat preferences. Data on useful plant resources was used to identify the main land use sources of useful plants for local people. The study also intended to understand the role of these plants in local people?s livelihood by identifying economically important medicinal and food plants traded in the area. Vulnerability of plant species to resource exploitation and harvest sustainability for selected species were assessed. To achieve above mentioned objectives, an ethnobotanical inventory of useful wild plant resources was conducted in the area to collect data on wild plant resources and uses. Semi-structured, freelisting, and household interviews were conducted from January 2008 to January 2010. Informants from Dai, Hani, Lahu and Mountain Han ethnic groups were selected randomly for freelisting and semi-structured interviews and key informants by the snowball method. Household interviews were conducted in six villages. Interviews were also conducted with harvesters and traders. All interviews were supplemented with plant sample collection for botanical identification. Plant specimens were prepared, dried, and identified with the help of local botanists. To address the vulnerability and sustainability of plant harvest, strip-transects were used to estimate the density and distribution of selected species in natural populations. Results showed that 480 plant species (25% of recorded flora) from 117 families and 334 genera are used by the local population. From these, 378 species (19%) belonging to 102 families and 277 genera are used as medicine and 161 species (8%) representing 68 families and 116 genera are used as food plants. Concerning livelihood contribution, most of these plants are used at the subsistence level and not for income generation. However some households can get from 1.1% up to 25.4% of their total annual income from sale of few medicinal species. Among food plants only bamboo shoots and mushrooms contribute to the cash income of households with the highest share in BenGang Hani village (1.1%). Knowledge of medicinal plant use and folk medicine still exists in the area and there are local healers and practitioners who are active in some villages. However this knowledge shows some differences among ethnic groups. Number of medicinal plants used by Lahu and Hani is different and some species are solely known and used by only one ethnic group. Since these ethnic groups live in neighboring villages, it was expected that a large proportion of their medicinal plant knowledge is shared. However, the diversity of medicinal species utilized by the two ethnic groups show 30% overlap. Medicinal plants are grouped into different categories based on frequency of use. 1- Frequently used medicinal plants which are few in number. 2- A large number of medicinal species are only known and collected by traditional healers or some knowledgeable elderly people. 3- A few numbers of medicinal plants are frequently and in high amounts harvested by locale people for commercial purposes and not for self consumption. Examples of these species include Asparagus subscandens F.T. Wang & S.C. Chen, Asparagus filicinus Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don, Stemona tuberosa Lour. and Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis (Franch) Hand -Mazz. Although use of these medicinal plants is known to traditional healers, majority of the villagers which are involved in harvesting of these species are not knowledgeable about their medicinal applications. In fact harvest is driven by market demand which is brought to the area by middlemen and retailers visiting the villages. Wild food plants are also grouped based on harvest and use frequency into different categories. The first group includes species with high frequency of use which have a very common distribution range in the area. Second group includes bamboo shoots and mushrooms which are traded to some extent. The last group includes a large number of species which are not used frequently but are potential food plants used only by a small proportion of the local population or during famine or crop failure periods. Based on vulnerability assessment of marketed species in the area, most of the important plants are in danger of overexploitation. However frequently used food plants are not threatened with overharvesting since they are very common in the area. Among the wild food resources bamboo shoots and mushrooms are exploited without sustainability measures. Collection of high economically valuable medicinal plants is also not sustainable as subterranean parts are harvested and collection is fatal for the plant. Sustainable harvest and management strategies should be implemented to prevent overexploitation of these species. Findings also highlight plant species which can be proper candidates for cultivation especially in agroforestry systems. There is already a good potential on the improvement of economic gains from some forest products such as mushrooms with value adding by improving drying methods and establishment of village based enterprises. Cultivation of economically important medicinal plants in herbal gardens or agroforestry systems are recommended since it can reduce pressure on natural population and at the same time diversify and secure the economic gain of villagers.