Medicinal practices of sacred natural sites: a socio-religious approach for successful implementation of primary healthcare services Rajasri Ray and Avik Ray Review Correspondence Abstract Rajasri Ray*, Avik Ray Centre for studies in Ethnobiology, Biodiversity and Background: Sacred groves are model systems that Sustainability (CEiBa), Malda - 732103, West have the potential to contribute to rural healthcare Bengal, India owing to their medicinal floral diversity and strong social acceptance. *Corresponding Author: Rajasri Ray;
[email protected] Methods: We examined this idea employing ethnomedicinal plants and their application Ethnobotany Research & Applications documented from sacred groves across India. A total 20:34 (2020) of 65 published documents were shortlisted for the Key words: AYUSH; Ethnomedicine; Medicinal plant; preparation of database and statistical analysis. Sacred grove; Spatial fidelity; Tropical diseases Standard ethnobotanical indices and mapping were used to capture the current trend. Background Results: A total of 1247 species from 152 families Human-nature interaction has been long entwined in has been documented for use against eighteen the history of humanity. Apart from deriving natural categories of diseases common in tropical and sub- resources, humans have a deep rooted tradition of tropical landscapes. Though the reported species venerating nature which is extensively observed are clustered around a few widely distributed across continents (Verschuuren 2010). The tradition families, 71% of them are uniquely represented from has attracted attention of researchers and policy- any single biogeographic region. The use of multiple makers for its impact on local ecological and socio- species in treating an ailment, high use value of the economic dynamics. Ethnomedicine that emanated popular plants, and cross-community similarity in from this tradition, deals health issues with nature- disease treatment reflects rich community wisdom to derived resources.