Ethnoecological knowledge and conservation status of plant resources in the Himalayan Dry Temperate Forests of Kashmir, India

Background: Indigenous population has a great deal to offer in the analysis and mitigation of current environmental challenges with their ethnoecological knowledge and experience. Himalayan forests are especially vulnerable to these impacts; hence it is critical that indigenous knowledge be documented at the regional level in order to contribute to forest conservation and restoration. Methods: The aim of the research was to investigate the ethnoecological knowledge on the wild plant species utilized by the forest fringe populations in the Himalayan dry temperate forest of the Kashmir Himalayas. Ethnobotanical data were collected through semi-structured questionnaire was used to conduct one-on-one interviews and group discussions with selected informants. To measure the significance of species Use value (UV) was used. Results: A total of 87 plant species from 52 families belonging to different families were reported. Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae and Polygonaceae were the dominant families. The most often utilized plant portion was the roots were the most commonly plant preparation was powder. Gastrointestinal and dermatological disease categories, followed by respiratory and musculoskeletal disease categories were treated by highest number of plant species. The highest UV was reported for Artemisia absinthium (0.73), Aconitum heterophyllum (0.71), Arnebia benthamii (0.69), Rheum webbianum (0.70), while as the lowest UV was reported for Cannabis sativa (0.17). A total number 17% of species were reported to be exotic while as the remaining 83% of species are native to Asia or the Himalayas. Conclusions: According to our findings, indigenous ethnoecological knowledge is of emblematic importance in understanding the links between culture and forest diversity, and it has the potential to considerably contribute to forest conservation. This could happen if biocultural conservation efforts to preserve natural ecosystems are integrated with traditional management of local natural resources. Keywords: Ethno-medicine, Traditional health care, Medicinal plants, Indigenous communities.