People's Biodiversity Register, a record of village's wealth: A case study of Koti village District Chamba (H.P)

People's Biodiversity Register is expected to serve as a tool to establish claims of individuals and local communities over knowledge of uses of biodiversity resources and to bring to them an equitable share of benefits flowing from the use of such knowledge and such resources. The present study was conducted in Koti village of Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh. On the basis of the survey carried out in the village, different plant species and various uses of plants species were studied. A large number of cereals, pseudocereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, spices, condiments and horticultural crops are grown in the hills. In addition to commonly used vegetables across northern India, there are other lesser known wild plants which are used as vegetables. A total of 12 vegetables including leafy vegetables were documented in the village. Beside this a total of 15 types of Ethnic food and 41 species belonging to 29 families of ethnobotanical important plant species for health care among the people of the area were also documented. Therefore, our continuing work on documentation of plant biodiversity and their multifarious uses will not only provide recognition to this knowledge but will also help in its conservation for the betterment of human society and to the coming generation. (Pawan K. Attri. People's Biodiversity Register, a record of village's wealth: A case study of Koti village District Chamba (H.P). N Y Sci J 2013;6(8):14-25). (ISSN: 1554-0200). http://www.sciencepub.net/newyork . 4