Traditional uses of wild medicinal plants and their management practices in Nepal-A study in Makawanpur district

Nepal is an important source of wild medicinal plants in the world. Nepalese especially rural people have a long tradition of folk practices for utilization of medicinal plants for various purposes. This paper examines the traditional uses and management practices of such plants in the locality. Therefore, a case study was conducted during March-April 2012 in Daman Village Development Committee (VDC) of Makawanpur district in Nepal. Both social science and natural science methods such as questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, participatory rural appraisal, focus group discussion and plants specimens’ collection and identification were applied to collect data from the field. The results of study shows that total 76 species of medicinal plants were mentioned which used local people for treatments of various physical ailments in the study area. Among the listed plants Swertia chirayita, Astilbe rivularis, Bergenia ciliata, Acorus calamus, Nardostachys grandiflora, Valeriana jatamansii were respectively the most preferred and frequently used medicinal species in the locality. Results also shows that the management practices of medicinal plants are being effectively applied in the study area even though there are some problems like illegal collection and overharvesting. The rules are effective because the users’ community takes part in defining the rules and the users have the full authority to manage and collect the forest products from the respective community forest. Therefore, it indicates that the local people have a vast knowledge on wild medicinal plants including their traditional uses and management which helps to preserves the indigenous knowledge as well as conserves the biodiversity.