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Kunwar RM, Baral B, Luintel S, Uprety Y, Poudel RC, Adhikari B, Adhikari YP, Subedi SC, Subedi CK, Poudel P, Paudel HR, Paudel B, Kunwar LM, Upadhayaya KS, Bhattarai S, Pyakurel D, Kutal DH, Pandey P, Bhandari A, Thapa GJ, Zambrana NYP, Bussmann RW. Ethnomedicinal landscape: distribution of used medicinal plant species in Nepal. JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE 2022; 18:34. [PMID: 35436921 PMCID: PMC9016992 DOI: 10.1186/s13002-022-00531-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The risk of losing traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and their use and conservation is very high. Documenting knowledge on distribution and use of medicinal plants by different ethnic groups and at spatial scale on a single platform is important from a conservation planning and management perspective. The sustainable use, continuous practice, and safeguarding of traditional knowledge are essential. Communication of such knowledge among scientists and policy makers at local and global level is equally important, as the available information at present is limited and scattered in Nepal. METHODS In this paper, we aimed to address these shortcomings by cataloguing medicinal plants used by indigenous ethnic groups in Nepal through a systematic review of over 275 pertinent publications published between 1975 and July 2021. The review was complemented by field visits made in 21 districts. We determined the ethnomedicinal plants hotspots across the country and depicted them in heatmaps. RESULTS The heatmaps show spatial hotspots and sites of poor ethnomedicinal plant use documentation, which is useful for evaluating the interaction of geographical and ethnobotanical variables. Mid-hills and mountainous areas of Nepal hold the highest number of medicinal plant species in use, which could be possibly associated with the presence of higher human population and diverse ethnic groups in these areas. CONCLUSION Given the increasing concern about losing medicinal plants due to changing ecological, social, and climatic conditions, the results of this paper may be important for better understanding of how medicinal plants in use are distributed across the country and often linked to specific ethnic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sanjeev Luintel
- Amrit Science College, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
| | - Yadav Uprety
- Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
| | - Ram C Poudel
- Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Lalitpur, Nepal
| | | | | | - Suresh C Subedi
- Department of Biology, Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, AR, USA
| | - Chandra K Subedi
- Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
| | | | - Hem R Paudel
- National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (KATH), Lalitpur, Nepal
| | - Basanta Paudel
- School of Environmental Science and Management, Kathmandu, Nepal
| | | | - Kul S Upadhayaya
- Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
| | | | | | - Durga H Kutal
- University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI, USA
| | | | | | - Gokarna J Thapa
- WWF Nepal, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Narel Y Paniagua Zambrana
- Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, School of Natural Sciences and Medicine, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
| | - Rainer W Bussmann
- Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, School of Natural Sciences and Medicine, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
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