CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE UTILIZATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS: AN ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE HIMALAYAN REGION OF NORTHERN INDIA

Abstract [English]

The Himalayan area in Northern India is known as one of the places with the most different kinds of plants in the world. Many of these plants have important ethnomedicinal uses. The purpose of this study was to record and examine the knowledge of medicinal plants possessed by local and indigenous groups in certain areas of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Between 2016 and 2018, an extensive ethnobotanical survey was conducted utilising structured and semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations with 186 key informants, including traditional healers (Vaidyas), farmers, and elderly community members across six study sites. We found 20 different types of medicinal plants from 19 different families. For each plant, we wrote down its local and scientific names, the parts of the plant that are utilised, the medical uses, and the ways to prepare them. The Asteraceae and Solanaceae families were the most common. The most frequent plant parts utilised were roots and leaves, and decoction was the most popular way to prepare them. The Informant Consensus Factor (FIC) was high for gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, which means that the informants all agreed on how to treat them. Major threats to the resources of medicinal plants were habitat loss, misuse, climate change, and the deterioration of traditional knowledge passed down through the generations. The findings highlight the urgent need for all-encompassing conservation plans, community-based management programs, and legislative frameworks that integrate traditional ecological knowledge with modern biodiversity conservation techniques.