Abstract
The present study was conducted in Delanta (Ethiopia) to examine the use of medicinal plants and investigate the impacts of the 1984/85 resettlement program on the local people's knowledge on herbal medicine and its uses. The research was conducted with 72 informants in six study sites through semistructured interviews, group discussion, and market survey. In this study, 133 species belonging to 116 genera and 57 families were documented. These plants were mentioned for uses in the treatment of about 76 human and livestock ailments. The family Asteraceae was represented by the highest number with 14 species. Herbs accounted for 52.6% of the total species and leaves (32.6%) were the most frequently used parts. The analysis showed that the resettlement program has both positive and negative impacts on nature rehabilitation and local knowledge along with many human induced threats. Most of the plant knowledge is held by traditional healers and permanent residents. The people's preference for some medicinal plants gave indications of continuity of the ethnomedicinal information among the inhabitants. The findings inform that efforts need to be directed to in situ conservation in two of the plant community types which could protect a good proportion (about 50%) of the medicinal plant species.
Highlights
The concept of ethnobotanical knowledge has originated from local people, which has the potential to redress some of the shortcomings of contemporary Western knowledge [1, 2]
The results showed that key informants are more knowledgeable about traditional medicinal plants (TMPs) species (92.6%), followed by permanent residents (81.5%)
The present study indicated that the local people of Delanta are custodians of large number of TMP species (133) that they named and explained for the treatment of various human and livestock ailments (76)
Summary
The concept of ethnobotanical knowledge has originated from local people, which has the potential to redress some of the shortcomings of contemporary Western knowledge [1, 2]. Traditional medicinal plants (TMPs) have been used in virtually all cultures for treatment of most human and livestock ailments [3, 10]. The uses of plant species as TMPs represent by far the biggest human use in terms of number of species of the natural world [11]. The natural plant world is full of potential for new drug discovery. There are undoubtedly many more secrets still hidden in the world of plants [16]. These resources are found in locally available plants and they benefit from local knowledge (LK) that is simple to use and affordable. Reasonable support for TMPs will help bridge some of the gaps between the demand for and supply of modern pharmaceuticals, and widen healthcare alternatives for posterity [4, 15]
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