Plant Resources and Human Ecology of Tarnawai area, District Abbottabad, Pakistan

Main purpose of this study was to investigate the ethno-ecological profile of Tarnawai, Abbottabad District, KP, Pakistan. Tarnawai is located at elevation of 1524 m. It is situated between 34°16′15’ North and 73°17′47’ East. Questionnaires were used during interviews for the documentation of data. Plants were photographed, collected, and pressed in the post interviw field surveys. During field visits GPS, camera, presser, field notebook, polythene bags, twig cutter, pen, trowel, tags, and scissor were also used. Ethno-ecological data were recorded from 89 informants including 45% male, 51% female, and 4% hakims. A total of 71 plant species were documented belonging to 37 plant families and 63 genera with a share of 45% herbs, 24% trees and 13% shrubs. The leading plant family was Rosaceae with eight plant species followed by others. A total of 43 plant species were used for 35 various ailments by the local inhabitants. Almost nine plant species belonging to different families were used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disease. Juglans regia was the most cited medicinal plant species with a use value (UVi = 0.98) and relative frequency citations (RFCs = 0.46). Due to overexploitation and lack of proper training, plants are increasingly threatened. There must be guidelines for work to improve the local management system for all the natural plant resources. There must be resource ownership and decision-making processes within the local communities.