Ethnomedicinal importance and conservation status of medicinal trees among indigenous communities in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, Philippines

Abstract

This study provides ethnomedicinal information and conservation status of medicinal trees used by the Manobo and Higaonon indigenous communities of Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, Philippines. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews, group discussion, and guided field walks with a total of 145 informants comprising of 95 Manobo and 50 Higaonon people with their traditional medical knowledge. A total of 43 tree species belonging to 36 genera and 22 plant families were recorded as ethnomedicinally important. Family importance value (FIV) was highest in Moraceae (99.33), followed by Lamiaceae (97.33), Rutaceae (96.00), Lauraceae (94.00), and Fabaceae (93.33). Plant parts are used for fracture and dislocation, weakness and fatigue, snakebite, diarrhea, and postpartum care and recovery, respectively. Highest relative frequency of citation (RFC) was cited for both Cinnamomum mercadoi S.Vidal and Ficus concinna (Miq.) Miq. Assessment of conservation status revealed that most of the medicinal trees with 20 species were not assessed (NA), followed by 15 species as least concern (LC), two species as vulnerable (VU), two species as other threatened species (OTS), two species as data deficient (DD), and one species each as endangered and near threatened, namely Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq., and Calamus megaphyllus Becc., respectively. Only seven species (16%) are endemic in the Philippines. These findings provide a rationale for future in-situ conservation strategies of these important medicinal trees in indigenous ancestral lands for sustainable utilization of these genetic resources as part of the traditional heritage of the Manobo and Higaonon.