An ethnobotanical study of plants used by forest fringe communities of Lwali village ( Pauri Garhwal , Uttarakhand )

pkverma_bryo@yahoo.co.in Abstract The paper provides information on traditional knowledge of plants used by fringe forest communities of village Lwali (District Pauri Garhwal). The paper deals with 35 plant species belonging to 34 genera of 29 families, that find mention in the local folklore. The plants have been provided with botanical names, vernacular names, parts used and ethnobotanical uses.


Introduction
Ethnobotany is a traditional branch of science which deals with the utility of various plants species as food, fodder, fruit, fiber, medicine and other forest based products.World health organization (WHO) estimated that 80 % of the population of developing countries used traditional medicine in the form of various plant parts (1).
Uttarakhand, a part of western Himalaya has a geographical coverage of over 5.37 Lakh km 2 with a diverse assemblage of natural ecosystems ranging from Cold arid ecosystems of Nilang valley to moist lowland forest ecosystems of Tarai region.The state has a vast floristic wealth which consists of a range of plants with medicinal, fodder, fiber, timber values etc.The Indian Himalayan region is the abode of about 18,440 plant species (2) many of which have medicinal properties.Uttarakhand alone contains ca.4700 species, 1503 genera and 213 families of flowering plants, 487 species of ferns and 18 species of gymnosperms (3).
Several forest fringe communities inhabiting in Uttarakhand particularly in the rural areas are dependent on the plant derived medicines which are prepared from locally available plants.In the rest of India as well, traditional medicinal knowledge has been used in curing ailments.Several reports on the Ethnobotany of Uttarakhand have been published in the last two decades .
Garhwal Himalayan region of Uttarakhand has been reservoir of enormous natural wealth and traditional medicinal knowledge.Several fringe forest villages situated in district Pauri Garhwal, harbor rich traditional ethnobotanical knowledge which is yet to be explored and documented.Therefore the present study was conducted to document various plants and their traditional uses so as to preserve the knowledge for future generations.
During this study, information of 35 plant species was collected from fringe forest village of Lwali, which has been presented here.with key informants and knowledgeable society members based on a checklist of questions prepared before hand in English and simultaneously translated into Garhwali.Out of the total population of 105 people inhabiting this small hamlet of 25 houses, thirty informants (12 males and 18 females) aged 14 to 83 were interviewed.Random sampling techniques were employed to choose traditional herbalists and common informants.Old women of the village were more knowledgeable in herbal healing and consequently most of the practitioners were women.The information was further confirmed by cross examination of informants of different age groups.Informant's demographic features including sex, age, occupation and time spent by the informant in the study area were also taken into account.The major part of the interviews focused on the local names of plants used, their habits, plant part/s used, remedy preparation methods and materials used during preparation.

Results and Discussion
A total of 35 plant species belonging to 34 genera and 29 families were recorded including 17 herbs, 8 trees, 7 shrubs, and 3 climbers (Table 1).Most of the species recorded had medicinal properties and were used in traditional healing practices.Many of the species also had other uses and were indispensable in the day to day lives of the people.Thus most of the plant species had multiple uses.Grewia optiva J.R.Drumm.ex Burret locally called Bhimal have many uses; leaves are used as fodder, young stems are used to wash hair by women, fiber is extracted from its wood which is also used as fuel.Ficus palmata Forssk.(Jangali anjir) and Ficus auriculata Lour.(Timla) fruits are relished by villagers; in fact popular folk songs of the village allude to these trees.The herbs and shrubs are easily available and are seen growing in the forest fringe as well as in the fields.Elderly women of the village had greater traditional knowledge than the younger generation.
The use of traditional healing methods was much higher among the upper age group when compared to the lower age group.One of the problems faced during interviews the informants knew the use of a particular plant and its properties but was not aware of the vernacular name and hence referred to the plant simply as vanaspati.However the use of certain medicinal plants is kept secret and disclosing the information is believed to reduce the effectiveness.As a result of modernization efforts, hospitals and clinics have come up in the village.The younger generation favour the fast-acting allopathic medicines that give quick relief.They are either totally unaware of the traditional uses of the plants or have limited information on the most frequently used ones.Thus there is a gradual erosion of traditional knowledge.

Conclusion
The study concludes that forest fringe communities of Lwali village utilized 35 plant species in different forms mainly as medicines for curing different ailments.During the study it has been found that that the decreasing dependence on forests has resulted in the rapid loss of traditional knowledge.Due to urban migration there has been a demographical change, with a predominantly aging population in the villages.Shifting trends in healing methods were also observed.Due to the increasing availability of modern allopathic medicines, the traditional healing methods have unfortunately taken a back seat.

Table 1 :
Enumeration of plants used by Forest Fringe Communities of Lwali village, Pauri Garhwal