Regional trade of medicinal plants has facilitated the retention of traditional knowledge: case study in Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan

Muhammad Asad Salim,Jianchu Xu,Asma Parveen,Robbie Hart,Zahra Batool,Sajid Ali,Sailesh Ranjitkar,Shanila Bano,Chandni Kiran,Tika Khan

doi:10.1186/s13002-018-0281-0

Abstract

BackgroundThe ethnic groups in Gilgit-Baltistan have been utilizing local resources in their centuries-old traditional healing system. Most tribes within these ethnic groups still rely on traditional healing systems. We aim to understand the current status, uses, and abundance of medicinal plants, associated traditional knowledge, and trade.Materials and methodsThe study incorporated over 300 local community members (70% men and 30% women) in focused group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and homework assignments for 8th to 12th grade students to document traditional knowledge (TK) in six districts in Northeast Pakistan. We calculated various indices such as informant consensus factor, use value, relative frequency of citation, and CoKriging. These indices, along with repetitively used medicinal plants, were used to analyze differences in studied locations.ResultsMost of the community members still rely on traditional medication in the study areas. However, we found the highest number of medicinal plants used in Skardu and Gilgit compared to other districts and these two districts also represent trade centers and a highly populated area regarding medicinal plants. Results indicate connection amongst the surveyed villages signifying mixing of knowledge from different sources, with certain areas more influenced by traditional Chinese medicine and others more by Ayurveda and Unani.ConclusionTK is mostly retained with elder community members; however, those directly linked with market value chain retain rich knowledge on traditional use of the medicinal plants from the region. Major trade centers in the region also coincide with a high density of medicinal plant occurrence, knowledge, and higher utilization. Therefore, with the increasing trade in medicinal plant in the region, there is potential for rejuvenation of this knowledge and of plant use in the region.

Highlights

Gilgit-Baltistan, the northeast mountainous region of Pakistan, is outstanding for its rich ethnic diversity [1,2,3]
The results from Focused group discussion (FGD), HH, and market surveys revealed that regardless of ethnicity, Traditional health practitioner (THP) and retailers retain a significant level of information on the medicinal plants of the region, the locations from where the plants can be acquired and the ailments they can be utilized for
The participants from the community and THPs provided more extensive information than the retailers, when it came to the question of how to use a certain plant as medicine, the retailers had ample information to share on a higher number of medicinal plants and their general uses (Fig. 3 Fig. 4a)

Summary

Introduction

Gilgit-Baltistan, the northeast mountainous region of Pakistan, is outstanding for its rich ethnic diversity [1,2,3]. This region is situated in a strategic geographical location that is important as a part of the ancient silk route and its position along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor [3,4,5]. The ethnic groups in Gilgit-Baltistan have been utilizing local resources in their centuries-old traditional healing system. Most tribes within these ethnic groups still rely on traditional healing systems. We aim to understand the current status, uses, and abundance of medicinal plants, associated traditional knowledge, and trade

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion