Ethnomedicinal Knowledge of Tamang Communities in Rasuwa District, Nepal

Abstract

Langtang National Park (LNP) is the second nearest park from Kathmandu situated directly to the north of it and lying in the central Himalayan region. LNP encompasses three districts: Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchowk in Central Nepal. Rasuwa covers almost 56 % of the total area of the park. The park offers a rich cultural diversity. The main ethnic group in the LNP is Tamangs. They are thought to have originated from Tibet and they occupy the entire portion of Rasuwa district. Tamangs constitute about 65 percent of the total population of Rasuwa. Flora of LNP represents many species, which are highly valuable to local people for medicine, food, fodder, timber, fuel, condiment, dye, etc. The present study was undertaken in three VDCs of Rasuwa district within LNP to document ethno-botanical information of ethnic Tamang communities. The study was accompanied by three field visits which were made between Jun 2005 and Sep 2006. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect traditional ethnomedicinal information. Preference analysis was carried out to assess the most preferred species of medicinal plants in the area. Rich traditional knowledge of the Tamang community on utilization of plant resources has unraveled medicinal value of many useful plants. The present study has documented 46 species of highly utilized medicinal plants from the area that are used for the treatment of 24 different ailments. The most commonly used part is the root. Root of about 47 % of the plants is used in local therapeutics. Similarly, leaves and stem constitute about 13 % of the total utilized plants, followed by fruit and bark (8 %), whole plant (6 %), flower (3 %) and seed (2 %). Cultivation of medicinal plants is in preliminary phase and is limited to few households and few medicinal herbs only. Out of 120 households in Thulo syaphru village, only 6 households have cultivated medicinal herbs in their farm lands. The species that are in cultivation includes Swertia chirayita, Rheum australe, Paris polyphylla and Valeriana jatamansii. About 10 % of the people in Thulo Syabru village depend upon cultivated products and the remaining 90 % utilizes forest resources. Higher dependency of the local community on wild resources and less availability of these resources in nature has put them under high threat risk. Promotion of cultivation practices and sustainable utilization of the resources seems to be the most viable option for their effective management.