Medicinal plant dynamics in indigenous medicines in farwest Nepal

Indigenous medicinal systems have evolved after the shock of original contact of traditional healers with the indigenous traditions because decreasing availability of indigenous medicinal plants and assimilation of new species are increasingly occurred.

In this study, we appraised the distribution and usage of indigenous and non-indigenous botanicals and their habitats and their uses in indigenous medicines of farwest Nepal following literature and herbarium specimens review, participatory field visits and ethnobotanical surveys.

Because farwest Nepal is least suitable for staple cereal crops, local people have always heavily relied on locally available wild plants. The extensive usage of medicinal plants in farwest Nepal indicates that the plant use is an integral part of culture. Indigenous plants are highly susceptible to overharvesting and their population and distributions have been impacted in response to the introduction of non-indigenous species. Sparse distribution of indigenous species and easy access to non-indigenous species and their habitats, compounded by the need to find for alternatives for species in decline and to treat new diseases, lead to the increment in use of non-indigenous species. Secondary and community forests are gaining importance for the harvest of non-indigenous medicinal plants as they are easily accessible and old-growth forests are overexploited. Besides easy access, ecological versatility and multiple-usefulness of secondary habitats and non-indigenous species also contribute to their increasing use in local pharmacopoeias.

The acceptance of non-indigenous resources is analogous to the cultural evolution and dynamic indigenous knowledge systems, and considered as an adaptive asset.