Ethnobotany in the Kailash Sacred Landscape, Nepal
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ETHNOBOTANY IN THE KAILASH SACRED LANDSCAPE, NEPAL: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION THROUGH INTERACTIONS OF PLANTS, PEOPLE, CULTURE AND GEOGRAPHY by Ripu Mardhan Kunwar A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Charles E. Schmidt College of Science In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL August 2018 Copyright 2018 by Ripu Mardhan Kunwar ii Khaled Sobhan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisors Dr. Maria Fadiman and Dr. Mary Cameron for sticking with me to the final end and combing each and every sentence of this dissertation, and to my committee members Dr. Rainer W. Bussmann and Dr. Tobin Hindle who were always gracious and helpful to me to get to this point. Thanks to all my professors at Florida Atlantic University for supporting my research and for their detailed reading and correcting of my manuscript. I owe sincere thanks to Dr. Andrew Manzardo, Dr. Robbie Hart, Dr. Keshav Bhattarai, Dr. Bijay Kattel, Dr. Keshab Shrestha and Mr. Chris LeBoa for their reviews on my drafts. I feel lucky to have friendship and support from Bhagawat Rimal, Khum Thapa-Magar, Madan Suwal, Ram Prasad Acharya, Prabhat Sapkota, Yagya Adhikari, Sanjay Tiwari, Kedar Baral and Kuber Bhatta. It was nice to know I was not the only one struggling with the burden of field and data analysis. Thank you Rameshwor Bhattarai, Santosh Thapa, Kranti Kumal, Sanjeev Luintel, Sabina Gyawali, Prem Bhat, Shivraj Bhatta, Ram Prasad Chaudhary, Ram Dinesh Thakur and Roshani Mahat for your support in the field. My thank also goes to Sumitra Joshi, Krishna Shrestha, Pramod Pandey, Asha Paudel, Sudan Uprety, Tulasi Acharya, Sulochan Malla, Durga Kutal and Mukunda Pudasaini who provided support and empathy while being at Boca Raton. I am so grateful to my wife, Laxmi Mahat, for her heartfelt support throughout the Ph.D. study, research and field work. This research was supported by Dissertation Year Support Grant 2018, FAU (001-801). Travel and accommodation costs were supported by Graduate Research Inquiry Program (GRIP) grant (003844-15), FAU, endowment fund of William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden and Rufford Foundation Small Grants (18115-1) 2016 and (21198-2) 2017, UK. Logistic and office support in field and Kathmandu were made available by DFO, Baitadi and Green Era, Kathmandu. Finally, thanks be to God, with whom everything is possible. iv ABSTRACT Author: Ripu Mardhan Kunwar Title: Ethnobotany in the Kailash Sacred Landscape, Nepal: Implications for Conservation Through Interactions of Plants, People, Culture and Geography Institution: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL Dissertation Co-advisors: Dr. Maria Fadiman and Dr. Mary Cameron Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Year: 2018 Little is known about the vegetation, forests, useful plants and their patterns of use at the gradients of climate, geography and culture in Baitadi and Darchula districts, far western Nepal. The interactions among plants-people-places were analyzed using data from phyto-sociological studies, community interviews, and literature. Ecological sampling, participant observation, semi- structured interviews, and informal discussions were held between February and September 2017. We compared plant collection, use and management of two culturally distinct groups (Baitadi and Darchula), who inhabit different physiographic regions, yet share the same ecological landscape, environmental resources and livelihood challenges. We hypothesized that the salient (visible, apparent and accessible) plants and places are likely to be more frequently foraged than the non-salient ones. We also hypothesized that the elderly, native and traditional healers living in rural and remote physiographic conditions possess more diverse and detailed knowledge of plant use and conservation than young, non-native and non-healer people. A total of 18 forest types including eight from the study districts showed that the study area is rich in forests and plants. A total of 975 plant species including 82 new species records and 23 new use reports to Baitadi and Darchula districts were recorded. There were 305 (31%) useful plant species including 122 useful reported in the present study. The people of study area showed a large repertoire of knowledge that helps them execute different strategies of plant use suited to v their environment and geography. The knowledge of plant use follows a pattern according to ecological conditions (availability) as well as the cultural significance (transhumance, settlement) of the landscape. However, the latter prevails. Predominate foraging by the agro-pastoral communities from the remote undisturbed forests for quality products and medicines in Darchula district was divergent from the collections from ruderal areas in Baitadi district by generalist collectors for ritual purposes. The extensive usage of plants for socio-economic reasons, livelihood and rituals indicates that the plants and culture are inseparable. Conservation measures with acknowledgement of human, cultural, geographical and environmental variables, are therefore encouraged for sustainable management of the natural resources and traditional knowledge of the Baitadi and Darchula districts. vi DEDICATION To my father, Ram B. Kunwar and my mother, Bel K. Kunwar, for their ceaseless support and unconditional love. Your actions, words and motivation inspired me achieve my goals. To the people of the rural, remote and rugged Kailash Sacred Landscape, Nepal, who struggle for livelihood by adopting and adapting traditional agro-pastoral, livestock grazing, animal husbandry, collection and trade of medicinal plants and trade of woolen woven products. To my wife, Laxmi Mahat, who constantly supported me for years. Your love and support to my life is unrivaled. ETHNOBOTANY IN THE KAILASH SACRED LANDSCAPE, NEPAL: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION THROUGH INTERACTIONS OF PLANTS, PEOPLE, CULTURE AND GEOGRAPHY LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................ xi LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... xiii ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 Bio-geography and Culture ........................................................................................................ 1 Theoretical Concepts of Ethnobotany ....................................................................................... 3 Contextualizing and Conceptualizing ........................................................................................ 7 Research Relevance and Purpose ............................................................................................ 7 Research Hypotheses, Goals and Objectives ........................................................................... 9 Limitations of Study ................................................................................................................. 10 Kailash Sacred Landscape, Nepal .......................................................................................... 11 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................................ 23 Related Studies ....................................................................................................................... 30 Dissertation Layout .................................................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 2. PLANT BIODIVERSITY, ETHNOBOTANY AND CONSERVATION ................. 37 Plants and Useful Species ....................................................................................................... 37 Use Reports and Consensus ................................................................................................... 38 Conservation ............................................................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER 3. COMPOSITION AND CONSERVATION OF FORESTS AND VEGETATION IN KAILASH SACRED LANDSCAPE, NEPAL (SUBMITTED TO JOURNAL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH) .................................................................................................... 43 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 43 viii Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 44 Material and Methods .............................................................................................................. 46 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 50 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 56 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 62 CHAPTER 4. INTERDEPENDENCIES OF PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL INDICES AND USE VALUES: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION