Management, use and ecology of medicinal plants in the degraded dry lands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

An ethnomedicinal study was conducted to document the indigenous medicinal plant knowledge on the management, use, and ecology of locally important medicinal plants in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Ethnobotanical data were collected from 250 people using semi-structured questionnaires, field observation and informal discussion. The ethnomedicinal use of 259 plant species mainly herbs (31-51%), shrubs (31-46%) and trees (13-39%) used to treat 147 human and livestock ailments were documented in the study area. The most frequently used plant part were roots (49%), followed by leaves (37%) and bark (14%). Crushing (59%), homogenizing with ingredients (17%) and chewing (14%) were the commonly used forms of herbal preparation. Drinking (45%), smoke inhalation (12%) and tie and hold on (10%) were the most frequently used methods of application. Most of the medicinal plants are collected from the wild. The use of more than one species was reported for remedy preparations and some health problems were treated by more than one medicinal plant. Our result showed that the local communities give less attention for the management of medicinal plants as local communities consider medicinal plants as wild, have unattractive market value and lack of knowledge. The mismanagement together with loss of habitat showed that ethnomedicinal plant species used by healers are under serious threat which indicates the need for urgent attention towards their documentation, conservation and sustainable utilization.

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