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International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/SAgri/42

Assessment of ethno-medicinal knowledge and conservation threats to medicinal flora
of Dassu-District Kohistan, KPK Pakistan
Muhammad Amin, Dr. Arshad Mehmood Abbasi, Dr Nazir Ahmed, Khalid Ahmed and Waheed
Ullah
Deptt of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad.

Correspondence: aminenviro66@gmail.com
Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate traditional ethno-medicinal knowledge (TEK) and
conservation threats to plant biodiversity, particularly the medicinal flora of district Kohistan.
The ethno-botanical data were collected based on field surveys using semi structured
interviews, questionnaires and group discussion with local informants, traditional healers and
herbalists. The data were analyzed by using various ethno-botanical tools such as relative
frequency of citation, use value, informant consensus factor and fidelity level. In total 112 plant
species belonging to 89 genera and 49 families were documented from the twelve localities of
the Swat and Hazara Kohistan. The Asteraceae and Rosaceae families were dominant with
maximum number of species (10 species each). About 40.17% of the reported species were
used ethno-medicinally comprising 51 recipes to treat various diseases such as gastro-intestinal
disorders, skin infections, respiratory disorders, wounds healing, fever, nervous disorders, and
urinary tract problems. The nervous disorder exhibited highest value for informant consensus
factor (1.00), followed insect repellant, joint/muscular pain, liver disorders, urinary problems,
and gastro-intestinal disorders (0.80, 0.75, 0.66, 0.62 and 0.61, respectively). The Ajuga
bracteosa, Cirsium arvense, Datisca cannabina, Juglans regia, Mentha longifolia, Oxalis
corniculata, Plantago major, Polygonatum multiflorum, Polypodium sibiricum, Rumex
hastatus, Solanum nigrum, Trifolium pratense and Valeriana jatamansi were among highly
consumed medicinal plant species. About 88.3% plant species were used as fodder, followed
by food and medicines (40.1% for each) and as fuel wood (36.6%). The Abies pindrow, Acer
cappadocicum, Cedrus deodara, Indigofera tinctoria, Juglans regia, Morus nigra, Olea
ferrugine, Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana, Picea smithiana, Pinus wallichiana, Pistacia khinjuk,
Punica granatum, Salix tetrasperma and Ziziphus oxyphylla were the species with maximum
relative frequency of citation (RFC), used value (UV) and fedility level (FL). The critically
threatened plant species of the study area were Cedrus deodara, Olea ferruginea, Picea
smithiana, Pinus gerardiana, Pinus wallichiana, Quercus glauca, Q. semecarpifolia and Viola
pilosa. The information on ethno-medicinal uses could be useful for in depth phytochemical
screening and in vitro/in vivo studies of various activities of highly utilized medicinal plant
species of the area to authenticate the traditional knowledge of local inhabitants. Moreover, the
present study provides base line data, which is highly significant for conservation managers
and concerned authorities to protect the medicinal and economic plant species of the area on
urgent basis.
Keywords: flora; conservation; medicinal plant

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

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