Use and conservation of traditional medicinal plants by the indigenous People of Lalo Asabi District, Western Wollega zone, South west Ethiopia.

Abstract

The universal use of medicinal plants could be credited to cultural acceptability, cost effectiveness and efficacy against certain type of diseases. Research on medicinal plants is increasing because its role in health care needs especially in developing countries is very crucial. This study was also conducted in Lalo Asabi District, Western Wollega Zone, Ethiopia on use and conservation of medicinal plants used to treat human and livestock ailments. The aim of the study was to identify and documenting medicinal plants used to treat human and livestock ailments, the associated knowledge to it and threats and conservation strategies. Ethnobotanical data were collected from fields and home gardens through semi structured interview, group discussion, guided field walks with respondents in which 60 purposively selected informants (48 males &12 females) from 5 Kebles had participated. The collected data were entered into Microsoft excel spread sheet and analyzed. preference ranking, paired comparison, informant consensus factor and direct matrix ranking by focusing on parts of the medicinal plants used, preparation methods, growth forms of the plants and types of diseases treated were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 74 medicinal plant species distributed over 44 families were collected and identified. These medicinal plants were used for the treatment of 49 different ailments of humans and livestock. The major growth forms of these medicinal plants were shrubs and herbs followed by trees with the percentage of 36.48%, 32.43% and 27% respectively. The most commonly harvested plant parts were leaves and roots followed by bark. Remedies were prepared from single or mixture of plants which mainly involves pounding followed by homogenizing in water and powdering and dissolving in water. The widely used routes of application of the remedies were oral followed by nasal and dermal. Beside their medicinal value, plants in the study area are utilized for food, fire wood, construction, forage fencing. Preference ranking and paired comparison showed the effectiveness and the preference of people for some medicinal plant species over the other in treating ailments. Modern education, impact of religion and unwillingness of young generation had contributed a lot in the declining of medicinal plant knowledge. Agricultural expansion, deforestation, overgrazing and soil erosion are the major threats to the plants. Despite the wide expansion of destruction of plants in the area, the effort made by the people to conserve this natural resource is very less. Encouraging the local community through awareness creation by concerned bodies is recommended.