Abstract

Background: The current study is the first quantitative ethnobotanical evaluation of Fateh Pur Thakyala, an unexplored area of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The exploration and quantification of ethnobotanical knowledge among people of the study area mainly focused during field survey. The study likely focuses on documenting and preserving the indigenous knowledge and practices related to medicinal plants in the region. A total 70 informants (45 males and 25 females) selected randomly to collect data were interviewed using semi structured questionnaire. The data like demographic characteristics of informants, methods of preparation, life form, modes of application, parts used, and ethnomedicinal uses was documented. The quantitative indices including relative frequency of citation (RFC), use value (UV), informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL), consensus value for plant part (CPP), rank order priority (ROP), percentage respondent knowledge (PRK), were applied to analyze the collected data. Furthermore, primary data were also compared with fifteen papers published from adjoining areas by Jaccard index (JI). Results: The current study reported 135 medicinally important plants species belonging to 115 genera and 54 families. The dominating family was Asteraceae (14 sp.), followed by Fabaceae (11 sp.), Rosaceae (11 sp.), Lamiaceae (8 sp.), Moraceae (5 sp.), Solanaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae (4 sp.) and Poaceae, Sapindaceae, Rhamnaceae, Mrytaceae, Malvaceae (3 sp.) for each. The study revealed that there were small differences in usage of medicinal plants of different families. The herbaceous life form was dominating the study area with (79 sp.) used as herbal medicines followed by shrubs (23 sp.) and trees (33 sp.). The comparative study of for novelty of species and their uses by JI revealed 13 novel plants species which were not reported earlier from this region. Conclusions: Local inhabitants still prioritize herbal medicines as an effective way to treat a wide variety of ailments. Elders and health practitioners of the study area are well aware of indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants, but young people are not much interested in herbal practices. Thus, valuable knowledge about the use of plants is on the verge of decline. The overexploitation and seasonal fires are major threats for medicinal flora in the area.