Abstract:
Medicinal plants in Church Based Forests study was conducted between October 2013
and April 2014, in Tahtary Koraro Wereda, NorthwesternTigray, Ethiopia. The study
employed ethnobotanical methods including semi-structured interviews, field
observations, preference ranking, paired comparisons and informant consensus. A total of
64 informants from 8 Kebeles (8 informants from each Kebele) were selected purposively
and 28 key informants with the help of local administrators, recommendations from
elders, and members of the local community. In this study, 102 medicinal plants were
collected and identified. These species represent 93 genera and 53 families. The family
Fabaceae with 10 species (9.8%), Solanaceae and Euphorbiaceae with 8 species (7.9%)
and 5 speices (4.9) respectively were commonly used medicinal plants in the study area.
From the total of 102 medicinal plants, 79 species (77.5%) were used to treat human
ailments for 44 health problems, 15species (14.7%) were used to 16 livestock health
problems and the remaining 8 species (7.8%) were used to treat both humans and
livestock diseases. Shrubs are the most used plants, accounting for 38 species (37.22%),
herbs 23 species (22.55%) and trees 34 species (33.33%). Leaves, roots, and seeds are the
most used plant parts accounting for 54 species (39.7%), 33 species (24.35%) and 8
species (5.9%) respectively. Fresh plant parts from 83 species (65.4%) are frequently
used in the study area than dried plant materials (32 species, 25.1%) and both dry and
fresh materials (12 species, 9.5 %). From the collected traditional medicinal plants
informants reported that a species used as crushed preparations were 63 (46.3%) followed
by pounded which were 17 (12.5%) and those used as fumigants were 15 (11%). Most
herbal preparations are administered externally compared to internal applications
accounting for 51.6% and 48.4% respectively.
Key words; ethnobotany, local peole, medicinal plant, aliment, indigenous knowledge,
treatment.