Plant diversity and associated traditional ecological knowledge of Soliga tribal community of Biligiriranga Swamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRTTR):A biogeographic bridge for Western and Eastern Ghats, India

Abstract

The Biligiriranga Swamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRTTR) is a chain of hills and important ecosystems, which forms the biogeographic ridge between two biodiversity rich areas namely the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats of India. The hills are being resided by the Soliga tribal community for the centuries and accorded with a status of Tiger reserve in December 2010 under Project Tiger administered by National Tiger Conservation Authority. The study was done on the traditional ecological knowledge of the people in healthcare system. A total of 108 plants belonging to 51 families have been identified, which the Soliga tribal community uses for curing various ailments. The local name, part used, disease cured and prescribed dosage are properly documented while developing detailed inventory on the plant biodiversity of the region. The ecological status of the plant species is also reported to understand their conservation status at global level. The ailments listed are categorized in major and minor ailments. The results indicate that 76% people still depend on traditional health care systems to cure minor ailments. However, 04% people depend on the traditional health care system to cure major diseases. And 33% people were found to be followed traditional and allopathic treatment for curing the major ailments like arthritis, asthma, diabetes, kidney stones, tuberculosis etc. Among the recorded species 09 are found under vulnerable category, followed by endangered (07), endemic (03), low risk-least concerned (02) and data deficient (01). Keeping change in policy scenario in view there would be possibility to relocate tribal community from some of the areas in core of BRTTR to other places. This shift coupled with various other factors for example restrictions on the collection of forest resources, change in socioeconomic setup, and acculturation which is taking place in the society, the ecological and indigenous knowledge of the region would face danger of vanishing. This study support India's initiatives of protecting TEK from patent issues where non-codified information was codified for the future use. And argues that the biodiversity conservation in protected areas requires regular monitoring of various species within the purview of human interactions on ecosystems for various needs.