A CASE STUDY OF ETHNOBOTANY AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION FROM TEHSIL BARAWAL, UPPER DIR, KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

This study signifies indigenous knowledge for biodiversity conservation: A case study of Tehsil Barawal District Dir (Upper), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan and is an attempt to collect ethnobotanical information. The area lies in Hindukush Mountains and exhibit the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants among local inhabitants. The visits were arranged in order to collect information about the ethnobotanical uses of plants by the local peoples in various parts of Barawal valley during summer season, July 2011-November 2011. Questionnaires method was adopted for documentation of indigenous knowledge. The interview was carried out in local community, to investigate local people and knowledgeable persons. Data were systematically arranged in alphabetic order of botanical name, family name followed by Common name, local name, part used and ethnobotanical uses. Total ethnobotanical plants that are collected from the study area including 43 species belonging to 25 families. These plants are collected by the local residents from wild and sold in the market for their livelyhood. The local populace has always used the medicinal plants for various diseases and are dependent on the plants for their food, shelter, health, fodder, fuel, medicine, and various cultural purposes. The local residents of the area were using 43 plants of 25 families for numerous purposes. The chief usage by local populace is from 38 plants for the treatment of diseases, five species are used as fuel, nine fodder species, three veterinary species, 9 out of 43 are edible species, 6 as vegetable, 3 as timber rations and construction and 3 species are used as fencing and hedges. Some of the reported species like Olea ferruginea, Berberis lyceum, Rheum emodi and Myrtis communis remain rare species that need protection and conservation to avoid their extinction.