Ethno-medicinal knowledge of a marginal hill community of Central Himalayas: Diversity, usage pattern and conservation concerns

Abstract Background Human beings have been dependent on surrounding resources for their survival since time immemorial. Medicinal plants have been an important resource to cure various diseases and ailments. Unfortunately, the knowledge is depleting fast thus deserves to be documented for its proper use. The present study reports ethnomedicinal know-how of a mountain community from central Himalayas of India. Methodology Extensive field visits were made to gather information on ethnomedicinal use of plant species in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand, central Himalayas. Initial survey was done in 73 villages to assess the key persons engaged in herbal healing practices as well as its usage. A total of 100 such persons were identified (70 non-healers/natives and 30 vaidyas ) and finally interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires, target interviews and group discussion. Various indices were also used to evaluate the ethno-medicinal data. Result This study revealed the ethno-medicinal plant diversity, traditional medicinal practices of local herbal practitioners and past and present scenario of ethno-medicinal cure system. A total of 70 medicinal plants used to cure diseases varying from general health care to a few complex ailments with a documented use-report ranging from 03 to 94 and their cultural importance as high as 0.97 within different taxon. A total of 35 families of such medicinal plants were recorded from traditional healers, vaidyas and marginal hill community. This type of knowledge being passed on verbally to generations needs to be preserved for the future bio-prospecting of plants that could be a potential cure to any future disease. Further ethno-botanical indices were employed in the study to analyze the relevance of the study. Conclusion The present study examines the medicinal plants that are available in the vicinity of the community or sometimes grown as daily edible food, providing an effective and affordable treatment to the marginal class of hill community. Such traditional knowledge of the community has enough relevance to provide with them, a sustainable approach which otherwise may create a disarray in conservation efforts leading to human induced intervention efforts in future.