MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN THE ISOLATED REGION OF BUMBURET, KALASH VALLEY, DISTRICT CHITRAL, PAKISTAN

This study was designed to record the endemic knowledge and practices regarding the medicinal plants used in Bumburet Kalash Valley of district Chitral, Pakistan. Sixty-two taxa were found medicinal belonging to 37 families and 57 genera, among them 32 species were angiosperms, in which 31 were dicots, one was monocot, while two were pteridophytes and one was gymnosperm. Our results showed that these species were used for 116 different kinds of diseases and ailments by the local inhabitants. In majority of the cases of herbaceous plants, the decoction was used by the local community, while recipes were prepared from different parts of various plants including root, rhizome, bark, leaves, fronds, flowers, fruits and seeds. All these plants are collected from the wild and only 8 species were found scarcely distributed in the area. Anthropogenic activities, unscientific collection, over harvesting, over exploitation, grazing, terracing, agricultural practices, soil erosion and deforestation were the main causes of depletion of the local flora. As the Kalash people are living in the isolated region of the country and they use plants for various medicinal purposes in curing different diseases, therefore, loss of these plants will result in the loss of the existing health care system in the area. It is important to carry out measures for the conservation of natural plants resources especially medicinal plants of Bumburet, Kalash Valley of Chitral.