Muhammad Shoaib Amjad, Muhammad Arshad

Department of Botany, PMAS-University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

The authors wish to thank the people of Kotli District, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and traditional pharmacists for their

Ethnobotanical inventory and medicinal uses of some important woody plant species of Kotli, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan

Muhammad Shoaib Amjad*, Muhammad Arshad

Department of Botany, PMAS-University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

ARTICLE INFO

Article history:

Received 9 Sep 2014

Received in revised form 10 Sep 2014

Accepted 27 Sep 2014

Available online 15 Oct 2014

Ethnobotanical uses

Kotli Hills

Plant resources

Human plant interaction

Conservation

Objective:To document ethnobotanical informations of useful woody plant species in the region of Kotli, Azad Kashmir.

1. Introduction

Ethnobotany is the study of relationship between plant, people and environment. In broader aspect, ethnobotany is the cultural study of how the people perceive the plants, give names, use and organize the information about the plants aroud them[1]. Plants are essential for human beings as they provide food, fuel, fodder, timber, fruit and medicines[2-4]. As compared to animals, plants are more important for us due to their diverse collection of biochemicals with a variety of potent biological activities[1-3,5-7]. In traditional healing systems, wild medicinal plants have been used for centuries[8]. Different modes of application has been adopted by local people to exploit the natural flora[9]. In many rural communities, use of wild flora for medicine and food is prevented since times[10]. The drugs which are obtained from plant are effective and have few side effects. This can be best explained by comparison between the synthetic drug aspirin and bark of important medicinal plantSalix alba(white willow). It is clear from different studies that aspirin causes many side effectsthat can be avoided by using the extract ofSalix albabark[11,12]. Thus ethnobotanical knowledge is not only helpful for the conservation of biodiversity and traditional cultures but also useful in drug development and health care. Informations obtained from indigenous people can be used as a guideline for drug development under the assumption that a plant which has been widely used for longer period of time may have an allopathic application[5,13]. Inspite of great importance of plants, very little work has been done on ethnobotanical enumeration of plants and only local health practionaire has knowledge about the medicinal plants[2,14,15]. Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan is one of the biodiversity hotspot because of the diversified habitats, such as lakes, rivers, streams, springs, nullahs, meadows, steep mountain slopes and roads, waste lands, cultivated fields,etc. The current research was conducted to document the ethnobotanical data on 33 useful woody species of Kotli District (Figure 1).

The population of th study area Kotli is 0.558 million according to census 1998. Its area is 1 862 sq.km. The climate of area varies from subtropical to humid type with average monthly rainfall of 92.5 mm. The maximum rainfall occurs during July amounting to 277.2 mm, while the least rainfall occurs during November amounting to 15.1 mm. The hottest months of the year are June and July, with mean daily maximum temperature of 37.3 and34.3 °C respectively, and minimum temperature of 19.7 and 17.9 °C respectively. The average maximum and minimum relative humidity received by the area is 79.8% and 34.3% respectively[16].

Figure 1.The 33 useful woody species of Kotli District.

Figure 1, continued.The 33 useful woody species of Kotli District.Adhatoda zeylanica: A. zeylanica; Acacia modesta: A. modesta; Berberis lycium: B. lycium; Butea monosperma: B. monosperma; Carissa opaca: C. opaca; Colebrookia oppositifolia: C. oppositifolia; Contoneaster acuminatus: C. acuminatus; Debregeasia salicifolia: D. salicifolia; Dodonaea viscosa: D. viscosa; Elaeagnus parvifolia: E. parvifolia; Ficus carica: F. carica; Flacourtia indica: F. indica; Indigofera heterantha: I. heterantha; Loranthus pulverulentus: L. pulverulentus; Mallotus philipinensis: M. philipinensis; Maytenus royleanus: M. royleanus; Myrsine africana: M. africana; Olea ferruginea: O. ferruginea; Otostegia limbata: O. limbata; Pinus roxburghii: P. roxburghii; Plectranthus rugosus: P. rugosus; Prunus persica: P. persica; Punica granatum: P. granatum; Qurecus dlatata: Q. dlatata; Rabdopsia rugosa: R. rugosa; Rubus fruticosus: R. fruticosus; Rubus ellipticus: R. ellipticus; Rhus cotinus: R. cotinus; Rhynchosia hirta: R. hirta; Sarcococca saligna: S. saligna; Viburnum grandiflorum: V. grandiflorum; Woodfordia fruticosa: W. fruticosa; Zanthoxylum alatum: Z. alatum; Ziziphus mauritiana: Z. mauritiana.

The ethnobotany of Hazar Nao forest, Malakand District, was reported by Muradet al.[17], and 90 plant species belonging to 56 families were found useful mostly as medicine, fuel, fodder, fruit, timber, agriculture and fencing. Similarly, in the present research it was observed that the local people of Kotli District is largely dependent for food and health on local flora.

2. Materials and methods

The study area lies in between longitude 73°6′ to 74°7′ E and latitude 33°20′ to 33°40′ N with altitude ranging from 460-1 900 m. It is bounded on the western side by Rawalpindi (Pakistan), eastern side by Occupied Kashmir, northern side by Poonch District and southern side by Mirpur. Kotli District is divided into five tehsilsviz. Kotli, Nikyal, Charhoi, Kohirata and Sehnsa.

Regular surveys were undertaken from September 2013 to August 2014 to document the traditional uses of important woody plant species of Kotli District. The plants, collected from different localities round the year were dried, preserved and identified with the help of Flora of Pakistan[18,19]. The ethnobotanical information was collected from knowledgeable local people and health practionaire by semi structured interview and questionnaire. The plants were classified into various ethnobotanical classes.

3. Results

Ethnobotanical information showed that most of the species were locally used for dual purposes (Table 1). All woody plant species have medicinal value, among which 21 were used as fuel wood species, 16 as fodder species, 4 as timber wood species, 12 as edible fruit species, 6 as fence or hedge plant, 7 as ornamental species, and 12 species had other uses. Four plant species were used for six different purposes, 2 plant species for four different purposes, 5 plant species for four different purposes, 4 plant species for three different uses, and 9 plant species for two different purpose. Only four species were used for one purpose. Ethnobotanical uses of plants along with family, common name and habit are given in Table 2 and Figure 2.

Figure 2.Ethnobotanical uses of different woody species of Kotli District, AJK. ME: Medicinal plants; FO: Fodder species; FU: Fuel wood species; TW: Timber yielding plants; H: Fencing/Hedge plants; OR: Ornamental; O: Other uses.

Table 1 Ethnobotanical classification of woody plant species of Kotli District, AJK.

4. Discussion

Interaction between plant and humans is very strong and can never be separated as the dependence is obligate. The plant resources lead to the economical wealth of an area. The utility and use of plants create the importance of plant in that area[20]. In the same context when the woody plants of Kotli District were analyzed, it was observed that all the woody plant species recorded for their ethnobotanical uses were medicinally important. The promising species includeB. monosperma,B. lycium,F. indica,Nerium oleander,I.heterantha. The the present findings are in accordance with the previous researches on the medicinal plants of Pakistan and Kashmir[5,8,20-22]. The medicinal plants are necessary for drug development and healthcare[5,23]. More than 50 000 registered hakims (herbal healers) are currently working in Pakistan[5]. Exploitation of medicinal plants by local folk, collectors and herbal drug dealers was increasing with increasing demand of pharmaceutical industry and non awareness of local inhabitants. This caused drastic decrease in the occurrences and products of medicinal plants. Grazing, browsing, deforestation and soil erosion were mainly responsible for reduction in the medicinal flora. It is therefore essential to have conservation strategies for these medicinalplants. Therefore, the preferred medicinal plants grow at high elevation where men and grazing animals could not reach easily. The increasing population has pressurized the medicinal plant which has dramatically decreased the species and population[5]. Most species in the present study have also been reported as medicinal by some other workers[5,21-24]. Deforestation, overgrazing and soil erosion were the main factor responsible for the reduction of medicinal plant in this area. The local livestocks grazed or browsed most of the medicinal plant. It is therefore essential to have conservation strategies for these medicinal plants[20,25-27]. It has been found that durgs obtained from plant are more cheaper efficient and safer as compared to synthetic products. With the advancement the peoples are diverted toward the allelopathic medicines so the ethnobotanical knowledge on useful medicinal plants are now restricted to the older people only[5,26].

Table 2 Ethnobotanical uses of woody plant species of District Kotli, AJK.

People living around Kotli hills are poor and lack the basic facilities. They depend upon the forest for fuel wood. More than half of the woody plant species (21 species) are used for fuel wood. These include theQ. dlatata,P. granatum,P. roxburghii,P. rugosusandZ. alatum. The use of plants as fuel wood from adjoining areas has been reported by other workers[[5,20,26,28-31]. Fuel wood is the major energy source for house hold that is used as fodder[32]. They have different palatability value. This indicates that due to poor vegetation and unsuitable agriculture conditions, most of the species reported in the present study have also been reported as fodder species by some other worker[5,20,30,33-35]. Sardar and Khan also conducted a similar work in the Shakargarh Area of Narowal District, Pakistan and the findings are also in accordance with the present results[36]. He reported that most of shrubby species were palatable and were heavily grazed by domestic and wild animals. Forests are badly destroyed by the local people due to overexploitation of important woody plant species for medicinal, fodder, fuel, timber and other uses.

People are not looking carefully to the local flora. The heavy exploitation of natural flora not only destroys the natural beauty but also changes the status of many species from vulnerable to endangered, such asB. monosperma,Rhynchosia,Z. mauritiana, O. limbataandC. opaca. Many other factors such as population explosion, poverty and insecure land tenure sytem are also responsible for species extinction. Therefore there is an urgent need to take steps for the conservation of natural flora.

The Kotli hills in Azad Kashmir are very rich in commercial and ethnomedicinal important plant species. The indigenous people have a lot of knowledge on the use of plants and how different plant species are used locally for curing diseases. Many important woody plant species are going to be critically endangered due to extensive deforestation. The local inhabitants depend on plants for the treatment of diseases but they are not familiar well with proper collection. Part to be used is stored and preserved by hakeems who are well aware of medicinal plant and their proper usage, so they must be engaged in the efforts of conservational and sustainable use of ethnomedicinal plant resources[37]. Deforestation is one of the serious threat to the forests of Kotli, so for proper conservation, it is necessary to increase the income of local people and provide them alternate sources of energy and timber. Woodland plants require specific habitat, therefore agro forestry systems should be perfected onex-situconservation for obtaining better results[38].

Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the people of Kotli District, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and traditional pharmacists for their

participation in this research project.

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10.12980/APJTB.4.201414B381

*Corresponding author: Muhammad Shoaib Amjad, Department of Botany, PMAS-University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Tel: 00923453812987

E-mail: Malikshoaib1165@yahoo.com

Methods:An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in Kotli. Data were collected by interview and semi structured questionnaire from selected local informants and traditional practitioners as well as by field assessment.

Results:The present study documented the etnobotanical uses of 33 woody plant species. Most of the species have been used for dual purpose. Only 5 species are used for one purpose. Study revealed all species have medicinal value, among which 21 were used as fuel wood species, 16 as fodder species, 4 as timber wood species, 12 as edible fruit species, 6 as fence or hedge plant, 7 as ornamental species and 12 species had other uses.

Conclusions:Medicinal plants are still widely used for health care by locals of Kotli. Some species of woodlands seem to be vulnerable to overcollection and deforestation. As the young generation is diverted toward allelopathic medicines, ethnobotanical knowledges of important medicinal plants are restricted to the old people only. It is suggested to close the forest of district Kotli for next two to three decades for the conservation of plant biodiversity.