Conservation Assessment of Plants Used for Respiratory Diseases by Using Ethnobotanical Criteria: Case of Lake Victoria Region, Tanzania | Chapter 02 | Recent Advances in Biological Research Vol. 6
Lake Victoria region has the highest
HIV prevalence in East Africa due to concentration of commercial farms, fishing
and mining that escalate social dynamic interactions. High rates of HIV
transmission and poor working conditions further amplify the risk of TB in the
region. Local populations in the area have opted different alternatives among
which medicinal plants are popular for managing health conditions related to
the respiratory diseases. Consequently, selective consumerism of plants for
managing respiratory diseases profoundly affects diversity of priority
medicinal plants. Detection of the effect of selective consumerism to the
preferred plants in-situ is not instantaneous unless much focused approach is
employed. In this study, an ethnobotanical assessment criterion was used to
assess and identify conservation status for most useful plants. To achieve
this, open ended questionnaires and focus group discussions were used for
collecting ethnobotanical information from 37 traditional health practitioners
on the use of herbal remedies against various respiratory diseases. Guideline
by the international union for conservation of nature (IUCN) medicinal plant
specialist group was used to assess qualitative distribution of indicator
species through ethnographic methods. A protocol for conservation assessment
management plan was used to prioritize limited number of species for ex-situ
conservation. Ethnobotanical parameters, value–index and legislation-index were
used for scoring in two-dimensional manner. Scoring analysis highly prioritized
non-timber plants including Rubia cordifolia, Crassocephalum manii and Pavetta
crassipes for conservation over timber species. From the findings, an
ethnobotanical assessment criterion is recommended for total conservation of
all plant categories in the wild including the often neglected non timber plant
species.
Author(s) Details
J. N. Otieno
Institute of Traditional
Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O.Box 65001 Dar
es salaam, Tanzania.
View Book: http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/119
Comments
Post a Comment