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. 2022 Apr 18;18(1):34.
doi: 10.1186/s13002-022-00531-x.

Ethnomedicinal landscape: distribution of used medicinal plant species in Nepal

Ripu M Kunwar  1 , Bikash Baral  2 , Sanjeev Luintel  3 , Yadav Uprety  4 , Ram C Poudel  5 , Binaya Adhikari  6 , Yagya P Adhikari  7 , Suresh C Subedi  8 , Chandra K Subedi  4 , Prakash Poudel  9 , Hem R Paudel  10 , Basanta Paudel  11 , Laxmi Mahat Kunwar  12 , Kul S Upadhayaya  4 , Shandesh Bhattarai  5 , Dipesh Pyakurel  13 , Durga H Kutal  14 , Pramod Pandey  15 , Ananta Bhandari  16 , Gokarna J Thapa  16   17 , Narel Y Paniagua Zambrana  18 , Rainer W Bussmann  18
Affiliations

Ethnomedicinal landscape: distribution of used medicinal plant species in Nepal

Ripu M Kunwar et al. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. .

Abstract

Background: The risk of losing traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and their use and conservation is very high. Documenting knowledge on distribution and use of medicinal plants by different ethnic groups and at spatial scale on a single platform is important from a conservation planning and management perspective. The sustainable use, continuous practice, and safeguarding of traditional knowledge are essential. Communication of such knowledge among scientists and policy makers at local and global level is equally important, as the available information at present is limited and scattered in Nepal.

Methods: In this paper, we aimed to address these shortcomings by cataloguing medicinal plants used by indigenous ethnic groups in Nepal through a systematic review of over 275 pertinent publications published between 1975 and July 2021. The review was complemented by field visits made in 21 districts. We determined the ethnomedicinal plants hotspots across the country and depicted them in heatmaps.

Results: The heatmaps show spatial hotspots and sites of poor ethnomedicinal plant use documentation, which is useful for evaluating the interaction of geographical and ethnobotanical variables. Mid-hills and mountainous areas of Nepal hold the highest number of medicinal plant species in use, which could be possibly associated with the presence of higher human population and diverse ethnic groups in these areas.

Conclusion: Given the increasing concern about losing medicinal plants due to changing ecological, social, and climatic conditions, the results of this paper may be important for better understanding of how medicinal plants in use are distributed across the country and often linked to specific ethnic groups.

Keywords: Culture; Distribution; Heatmaps; Medicinal plants; Mountains; Traditional medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study area map showing protected areas and physiography of the country and field verification points
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Heatmap depicting the distribution of ethnomedicinal plants. The abundance of medicinal plants used as hotspots is represented in blue color, whereas the lowest abundance is represented by orange
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Heatmap depicting the distribution of traded medicinal plants in use
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Heatmap depicting distribution of aromatic medicinal plants in use
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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