Abstract

Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan is gifted with tremendous natural resources. Plant resources have long been used to cure different human as well as livestock ailments in this part like others in the world. This study was conducted to document the indigenous and traditional uses of medicinal plants, the status of traditional knowledge with the advancement of technology and modern healthcare facilities to find out the mode, part and way of usage and more importantly to know the threats for the plant resources to provide a baseline survey for conservation and management of medicinal plants. Field visits were conducted to collect the plant species in June and July, 2012. The information on local names and uses were collected from the local communities and herbalist through direct interview, questioners and showing photographs. The identification and nomenclature of the plant species was made by consulting different taxonomists and available literature especially following the flora of Pakistan. The data was analyzed using Excel spreadsheets and preference ranking, paired comparison test and direct matrix ranking. A total of 34 species belonging to 18 were used as medicine. Males above 40 years were found to be more knowledgeable regarding uses of medicinal plants than women and youngsters. The leaves are the most common part of plants used as medicine. Medicinal plants are in severe under pressure of over grazing, cutting and climate change impacts. Conservation of medicinal plants, awareness among the local inhabitants and promotion of indigenous knowledge by promotion of research activities are required.

Key words: Ghizer, ethnobotany, traditional uses, medicinal plants, diseases, threats, conservation.