Documentation of Forest Medicinal Plants Used by the Tribal Community of Teshil Thannamandi, District Rajouri (J&K), India

Abstract

The present study aims for identification and documentation of wild traditional medicinal plants of Tehsil Thannamandi of district Rajouri Jammu and Kashmir during the year 2021-22. The study area is located in the north (Longitude: 74.38°E Latitude: 33.55°N) of the district headquarter Rajouri in the temperate zone ranging from 1100m asl to 2200m asl. For the study five different sites were selected and questionnaire was prepared for gathering the information about the uses of medicinal plants. In this study a total 46 plant species were found belonging to 31 families of which 21 are Herbs 17 are trees 7 are Shrubs and 1 climber. It was also observed that the traditional knowledge about medicinal plants of the local inhabitant and the tribal community of the area has been vanishing day by day due to non-transmission of traditional knowledge from generation to generation and modernization. The study also reveals that the tribal community of area is still preserving their knowledge to some extent and the knowledge about the medicinal uses of plants is more in women folk then men. So, it’s necessary to preserve the traditional knowledge and forest wealth as both are vanishing due to lack of awareness and anthropogenic activities.