Academia Journal of Medicinal Plants 6(11): 365-378, November 2018 DOI: 10.15413/ajmp.2018.0171 ISSN: 2315-7720 ©2018 Academia Publishing Research Paper Ethnomedicinal use of plants by the highland communities of Kailash Sacred Landscape, Far-west Nepal . Accepted 19th November, 2018 ABSTRACT Indigenous and local communities hold wide array of ethnomedicinal knowledge often leading to drug discovery. Ethnomedicine reflects the strong bio-cultural interface of the communities. Ethnobotanical knowledge has been eroding in recent decades due to rapid socio-cultural transformations. The present study investigates the ethnomedicinal knowledge of highland communities of Kailash Sacred Landscape in far-western Nepal. Following prior informed consent, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to gather and validate the information. The informant consensus factor (ICF) and use value (UV) were calculated in order to estimate the use variability and importance of medicinal plants. The study revealed a total of seventy (70) medicinal plants from thirty-six (36) botanical families. The most dominant families were Polygonaceae and Rosaceae. Roots, stem, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, young shoots and whole plants were used to prepare different remedies to cure eighteen (18) ailments and diseases. Most of the species were used to treat gastro-intestinal disorders (15 species), cuts and wounds (12 species) and dermatological disease (12 species). Herbs were the primary source of medicinal plants (42 species), followed by shrubs (12 species). The average ICF value for all ailment categories was 0.84, indicating a high level of informant agreement. High ICF values were obtained for cardiovascular followed by cataract, tonic, cut and wounds, and gastrointestinal disorders. Species such as Tetrastigma serrulatum, Thalictrum foetidum, Xanthium strumarium and Corydalis govaniana showed the highest use value, that is, 3 Kamal Mohan Ghimire1,*, Minu Adhikari2, Yadav followed by Achyranthes aspera (2.63), Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum (2.0), Delphinium vestitum Uprety1 and Ram Prasad Chaudhary1 (1.67), Swertia chirayita (1.6), and Eskemukerjea megacarpum (1.58). These species with higher ICF and UV can be further investigated from phytochemical and pharmacological 1Research Center for Applied Science and perspectives. Our study concludes that the people in the study area are rich in traditional Technology (RECAST), Tribhuvan University, ethnobotanical knowledge. However, the herbal practitioners and users are declining which Nepal. possess serious threat to the ethnomedicinal practices. We argue that the tangible benefits 2Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Lalitpur, Nepal. from such research can be shown only if they are linked with national and international benefit sharing mechanisms under Nagoya Protocol. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Key words: Traditional use, herbal medicine, informant consensus factor, use value. INTRODUCTION Plants and peoples' interaction can be traced back to the management of the resources (Gemedo-Dalle et al., 2005; beginning of human civilization. Such a long, dynamic and Uprety et al., 2011). Conservation attempts and sustainable systematic interaction has led to the formation of rich resource management practices are successful when the knowledge systems regarding use and management of plant indigenous and local communities fully participate in such resources (Lira et al., 2009). Documenting traditional initiatives (Gemedo-Dalle et al., 2005). Documentation of knowledge systems through ethnobotanical approaches is indigenous and local knowledge is particularly important to important for conservation of biological and cultural safeguard the rights of the local people in the context of diversities as well as, sustainable utilization and globalization, intellectual property rights and access to Academia Journal of Medicinal Plants; Ghimire et al. 366 genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits ecosystems and diverse environments endowed with in the spirit of Convention on Biological Diversity and unique biological diversity, ecosystem goods and services, Nagoya Protocol. and a value-based cultural heritage. Indigenous people living on their ancestral territory The area is important for its genetic diversity including largely rely on medicinal plants for healthcare and they are its customary systems of natural resource governance and therefore rich in ethnopharmacological knowledge. management, which include unique knowledge, skills and Ethnobotany often reveals locally important plant species institutions (Chaudhary et al., 2017; Uprety et al., 2017). from such territories, sometimes leading to drug discovery Numerous sacred sites located near high-altitude lakes and (Cox and Balick, 1996) or contributing to economic snow-covered peaks across the three countries characterize development. Prioritizing high value species contributes the landscape. The holy Mt. Kailash and the adjacent directly to the process of bioprospecting (Uprety et al., Manasarovar Lake are the most important of these, and 2010). have been destinations for followers of Hinduism, The topographical characteristics of the Himalaya have Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Bon for several millennia resulted in a variety of ecological niches that host diverse (Kunwar et al., 2016; Zomer et al., 2013). The traditional medicinal plants (Singh and Singh, 1992). Medicinal plants knowledge and skills, related to genetic resources and their play vital roles in the livelihood of rural people globally and traditional uses are inherited by the local people and their Nepal is not an exception. Medicinal plants are the major socio-cultural institutions (Atreya et al., 2017). Rangelands source of traditional health care systems and income based activities including collection of medicinal plants and generation (Manandhar, 2002). However, socio-economic livestock raising make-up the major livelihoods in the study transformation, land use change, unsustainable harvesting area. and climate change have triggered the loss of these valuable resources as well as, traditional knowledge in Nepal (Uprety et al., 2012; Kunwar et al., 2016; Uddin et al., 2015). Methods Several ethnobotanical studies have been conducted in Nepal (Manandhar, 2002; Bhattarai et al., 2006; Kunwar et Ethnobotanical information on medicinal plants was al., 2006; Uprety et al., 2010; Rokaya et al., 2010) and collected by conducting Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and particularly also in Far-west Nepal (Devkota and Key Informant Interviews (KII) with local people, healers Karmacharya, 2003; Kuwar et al., 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016) and herders. Semi-structured questionnaires and but many parts of the country remain unexplored. Few guidelines were developed to facilitate the FGD and KII. A studies have attempted to estimate use variability and use total of 60 informants including 44 men and 16 women, age value of medicinal plants in Nepal. ranging from 32 to 89 years, were interviewed during the Therefore, this study was conducted in order to field visits in 2016 and 2017. Respondents were mostly document the traditional knowledge of local communities from Dhami, Dhokare, Tamata, Lothyal, Bista, Bohora, Karki of Far-west Nepal - a potential place for World Heritage Site and Jagari castes belonging to Chettri community of Indo- and also a vast repository of biodiversity and traditional Aryan origin. Prior informed consent was obtained from the knowledge. local people ensuring that the study is entirely carried out for academic purpose and that the knowledge shared by the local people will not be used for commercial purpose. MATERIALS AND METHODS Consent was granted by the local people for the dissemination of their traditional knowledge. Study area Vernacular names, parts used, mode of preparation, way of application and dose were documented. Herbarium The study was carried out in Ghusa and Khandeswori specimens were identified with the help of references Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Darchula (Polunin and Stainton, 1984; Grierson and Long, 1983- district in Far-west Nepal. Under current restructure of 2000; Press et al., 2000), taxonomic experts and consulting Nepal these VDCs fall under Api Himal Rural Municipality of relevant herbarium specimen deposited at National Far-west province. These places are located inside Api Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (KATH) and Tribhuvan Nampa Conservation Area (ANCA) within the Kailash University Central Herbarium (TUCH). Scientific name of Sacred Landscape (KSL) Nepal (Figure 1). The Kailash medicinal plants, their family, voucher specimen number, Sacred Landscape spreads across the Tibet Autonomous life form and use details were tabulated. Herbarium Region of China and adjoining areas of Nepal and India specimens were deposited in KATH. around the Mt. Kailash (Zomer and Oli, 2011). This is the The Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) was calculated to transboundary area delineated by China, India and Nepal to identify the most potential plant species in the study area conserve rich bio-cultural diversity and promote (Rahaman and Karmakar, 2015). ICF values ranges from sustainable natural resource management at landscape zero to one. Higher ICF value indicates that most of the level as this landscape hosts the world’s important informants agree to use the same plant to cure the disease, Academia Journal of Medicinal Plants; Ghimire et al. 367 Figure 1: Map of the study area. while lower