ETHNOMEDICINAL USES OF PLANTS IN WESTERN TERAI OF NEPAL: A CASE STUDY OF DEKHATBHULI VDC OF KANCHANPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

The traditional healers of Dekhatbhuli Village Development Committee (VDC) are rich in ethnomedicinal knowledge about the plants available in their locality. A total of thirteen traditional herbal practitioners (baidhyas) were consulted during the study to collect the ethnomedicinal information about the local medicinal plants. Altogether 105 medicinal plants belonging to 45 families and 92 genera have been recorded from Dekhatbhuli VDC of Kanchanpur district, Nepal that were commonly used by traditional healers for different medicinal purposes. Although there is mixed community of indigenous Tharu and hilly migrants, traditional healers from Tharu society are rich in ethnomedicinal knowledge. The secrecy of healers about the traditional knowledge along with decreasing biodiversity and negligence of youngsters toward the continuation of traditional knowledge are the main challenges for the conservation of ethnomedicinal folklore and medicinal plants.