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Full Length Research
Paper
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Plants used in traditional
management of human ailments at Bale Mountains National
Park, Southeastern Ethiopia
Haile Yineger1 *, Ensermu Kelbessa2,
Tamrat Bekele2 and Ermias Lulekal3
1Department
of Biology, Jimma University, P. O. Box 5195, Jimma,
Ethiopia.
2National
Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 3434, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
3Department
of Biology, Debre Berhan University, P. O. Box 445, Debre
Berhan, Ethiopia.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
haile_mulu@yahoo.com.
Tel: +251911389802.
Accepted
13 June 2008 |
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Abstract |
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Though the majority of
people in Ethiopia at large, and at Bale Mountains National Park in
particular, rely on ethnomedicinal plant species to manage human
ailments, the indigenous knowledge largely remains undocumented.
Therefore, an ethnobotanical study was conducted on medicinal plant
species used to manage human ailments at Bale Mountains National Park,
Southeastern Ethiopia. Observations and semi-structured interviews were
used to gather ethnobotanical data. Altogether, 56 ailments were
reported to be managed using 101 different ethnomedicinal plant species.
Consensus of traditional healers was high in managing eczema (ICF =
0.58), tinea versicolor (ICF = 0.50), rheumatism (ICF = 0.43),
haemorrhoids (ICF = 0.33), earache (ICF = 0.33) and gonorrhoea (ICF =
0.27). The mean number of plant species used by each healer showed
significant difference with district. Most medicinal plant species
reported in this study were found to be under threat and this calls for
urgent conservation measures so as to maximize the sustainable use of
these vital resources in the study area.
Key words:
Ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, indigenous knowledge, medicinal plant,
traditional medicine, traditional healer, Bale, Ethiopia. |
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