Traditional Practices of the Ethnoveterinary Plants in the Kaghan Valley, Western Himalayas-Pakistan
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ISSN Printed: 0034-7744 ISSN digital: 2215-2075 DOI 10.15517/rbt.v69i1.42021 Traditional practices of the ethnoveterinary plants in the Kaghan Valley, Western Himalayas-Pakistan Ghazala Shoaib1, Ghulam Mujtaba Shah1, Nasir Shad2*, Yunus Dogan3, Zeeshan Siddique4, Abbas Hussain Shah5, Muhammad Farooq5, Khalid Rasheed Khan5 & Anely Nedelcheva6 1. Department of Botany, Hazara University, Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; ghazalashoaib1987@gmail. com, [email protected] 2. Key Laboratory of Silviculture, College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China; dear- [email protected] 3. Buca Faculty of Education, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey; [email protected] 4. Department of Bioscience, University of Wah, Wah Cantt, Pakistan; [email protected] 5. Department of Botany Government Post Graduate College Mansehra, Pakistan; [email protected], khan4uk@ gmail.com, [email protected] 6. Department of Organic Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria; [email protected] * Correspondence Received 27-V-2020. Corrected 18-VIII-2020. Accepted 16-IX-2020. ABSTRACT. Introduction: Indigenous people in a far-flung mountainous area without basic facilities, mainly rely on medicinal plants to cope with various veterinary health problems. Objective: The present study was car- ried out to explore the traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary practices in Kaghan Valley, district Mansehra, Western Himalayas-Pakistan. Method: Ethnoveterinary data were collected between February to October 2014 from nine villages of the Kaghan Valley by involving 80 local people include traditional healers using a semi- structured interview. Results: A sum of 41 plant taxa of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants was documented for treating livestock ailments. Out of which, herbaceous plants were recorded with high percentage (27 species, 65.8 %). Most of the species were used to treat gastrointestinal diseases (12 taxa), followed by health improve- ment (7 taxa). The widely used part of plants for livestock aliments was the whole plant (9 species) followed by leaves (7 species), and preparation were paste (18 species) followed by powder with 10 species. The highest used values were recorded for Arisaema costatum (0.82), Primula denticulata (0.76), and high relative frequency citations for Berberis lyceum and Dryopteris ramosa with 0.37 each. Among the plant species Skimmia laureola, Thymus linearis and Phytolacca latbenia were among the taxa with cent fidelity level. Conclusion: The flora used in traditional remedies of the valley was found mostly endemic due to excessive utilization. Thus, further chemical investigation, better utilization and conservation of indigenous use of the reported species should be considered for future work. Key words: traditional knowledge; livestock ailments; medicinal plants; Kaghan Valley. Shoaib, G., Shah, G.M., Shad, N., Dogan, Y., Siddique, Z., Shah, A.H., Farooq, M., Khan, K.R., & Nedelcheva, A. (2020). Traditional practices of the ethnoveterinary plants in the Kaghan Valley, Western Himalayas-Pakistan. Revista de Biología Tropical, 69(1), 1-11. DOI 10.15517/rbt.v69i1.42021 Plants have been used throughout human (EVB) or Ethnoveterinary Medicine (EVM) evolution for different purposes. The ethnovet- deals with all the traditional techniques applied erinary covers the utilization of plants by by humans not only to control the common dis- humans to prevent, control, and cure cattle’s ail- eases of domestic animals but also to improve ments. The subject of Ethnoveterinary botany the breeding practices in them (Guzman, 2015). Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021 1 The dwellers of remote and mountainous ter- necessities from mountain agriculture, ani- ritories preferred ethnoveterinary medicinal mal husbandry, medicinal plants, and forest plants for the health issues of their livestock resources (Kiran, Jean-Yves, & Brigitte, 2011). (Mathias, 2001). Cattles are one of the primary Domestic animals (goats, sheep, and cows income sources in the mountain communities of different varieties) are the major source of and are considered experts in animal rearing, income and dairy products for the poor com- pastoralism, and animal husbandry (Butzer, munity of the Kaghan Valley. The cultivation 1988). The interaction of indigenous plants and of medicinally important plants is limited by domestic animals plays a key role in the subsis- the noteworthy deficiency of accessible data tence of far-flung human communities provid- on the spread and management of significant ing a wide range of dairy products (Gordon, species limits (Abbasi et al., 2013). Allopathic 2000). Ample literature found on uses of plants drugs for cattle are challenging to access and by humans such as wild fruit, wild vegetable, afford for the people of remote and rural areas fuelwood, ethnomedicine, thatching, timber, of Pakistan (Shinwari, 2010). As a result, the etc. The traditional ethnoveterinary knowl- local people highly depend on the herbal rem- edge got scientific attention for two decades edy to treat many acute and chronic diseases and reported worldwide, for instance, in East (Abbas, Khan, Alam, Khan, & Abbasi, 2017). Africa (Dharani et al., 2015), sub-Saharan The present work was based on the field works Africa (Toyang, Wanyama, Nuwanyakpa, & and aimed to document the medicinal plants Diango, 2007), Nigeria (Chafe, Musa, & Dog- used in veterinary diseases. The major aim of ara, 2008), Zimbabwe (Matekaire & Bwakura, this study was to make discussion and keep- 2004), Ethiopia (Yineger, Kelbessa, Bekele, ing given limitation in the knowledge in the & Lulekal, 2007), Uganda (Tabuti, Dhillion, selected localities; this research was carried & Lye, 2003), Cameroon (Nfi et al., 2001), out to gather more vital information about Canada (Lans, Turner, Khan, Brauer, & Boep- ethnoveterinary plants in the Kaghan Valley, ple, 2007), India (Usha, Rajasekaran, & Siva, Western Himalayas-Pakistan. 2016), Europe (Mayer, Vogl, Amorena, Ham- burger, & Walkenhorst, 2014), etc. In Pakistan, MATERIALS AND METHODS few and fragmented literature are present from different parts of the country such as Greater Study area: Kaghan Valley is situated Cholistan desert (Khan, 2009), Southern Pun- between (34º 14′-35º 11′ N & 72º 49′ - 74º 08′ jab (Jabbar, Raza, Iqbal, & Khan, 2006). E), lies under the administration of District About 258 650 species of higher plants Mansehra, Pakistan. It is the catchment area of have been reported worldwide, and among River Kunhar, covering an area of 1 627 km2 them, more than 10 % of plants are used for (Fig. 1). The valley is bounded by Azad Jammu the cure of various diseases as a community and Kashmir from East and South direction, scale (Christenhusz & Byng, 2016). Based on West by Allai valley, North by Chillas and Gil- traditional knowledge along with many known git Baltistan. Floristically, the valley falls in the drugs (e.g., reserpine, tubocurarine, morphine, Sino-Japanese region (Takhtajan, 1986). The and aspirin, etc.), new plants are being stud- study area has four ecological zones (temper- ied for their medicinal uses (Rahman et al., ate, subalpine, alpine, and sub-tropical) with 2018). Mountainous communities, particularly rich forests and high altitudinal mountains of of the developing countries, are considered the Himalayan region with averagely 22 °C deprived and poorest due to the absence of minimum and 40 °C maximum temperature. basic facilities of life. The Northern part of (Champion, Seth, & Khattak, 1965; Schick- Pakistan is mountainous and encompasses a hoff, 1995). The exclusive features of the vast population with no or poor basic facili- Kaghan valley are the presence of nomads with ties. These people endeavor to fulfill all their a number of herds (Sardar, 2003; Schickhoff, 2 Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021 Fig. 1. The study area and visited localities Bank of River Kunhar in Kaghan valley. 1995). The valley is mainly inhabited by the were interviewed directly by semi-structured Gujars tribe and Hindko language speakers. It approach (Martin, 2004). During field trips is the famous and common route of nomadic a total of 80 informants (male and female) people, and a considerable number of people between 20-80 years of age were interviewed travel by horses, mules, and donkeys and some- with inform consents and willing to share their times by vehicles through the valley as well as knowledge (Table 1), old people had more stay at high pastures (Siri Payya, Baser, Gitti information regarding medicinal plants for Das, etc.) in the summer season. During the cattle compared to young people. Socioeco- winter season, they move towards warmer parts nomically, they were farmers, herdsmen, and of the country like lower Hazara and different nomads. Questions on the utility of various parts of the Punjab Province. plants, their part used, type of preparation, ethnoveterinary uses, and route of admin- Filed survey and data collection: Field istration were asked through questionnaires trips were arranged consecutively in the study (Martin, 2004). The recorded taxa and their area from February to October 2014 for the local veterinary remedies were comparatively collection of ethnoveterinary information and assessed with available literature of the coun- documented plants. Nine villages were selected try, nomenclature mainly based on Flora of based