Abstract
BACKGROUND: The decline of medicinal plants poses a significant threat to traditional healthcare systems in Uganda. This decline is driven by excessive global consumption estimated at 85%, and upsurge of herbal medicine trade amidst conservation challenges. This study documented indigenous knowledge on the commonly used medicinal plants in Namutumba district, Eastern Uganda. The study also documented demographic characteristics of informants, and assessed local conservation practices in order to inform more effective conservation strategies. METHODS: An ethnobotanical survey involving 300 respondents was conducted using pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaires in 17 sub-counties of Namutumba District. Data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics using STATA version-15.0, and Graphs plotted using GraphPad Prism® version 9.0.0. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy-four medicinal plant species belonging to 63 families and 160 genera were documented. Plants were mostly obtained from bushlands (Frequency of citation = 276, 92.0%), markets (247, 82.3%), and wetlands (224, 74.7%). Plants belonged mainly to families Fabaceae (24, 13.7%), Asteraceae (15, 8.6%), and Euphorbiaceae (10, 5.7%). Leaves were the commonly used plant parts (532, 45.7%). The plants were cited for treating infectious diseases like malaria, and non-infectious chronic ailments such as diabetes (42, 24.0%) and cancer (17, 9.7%). Kigelia africana was the most cited species with Relative Frequency of Citation of 0.22. Almost all respondents (289, 96.3%) acknowledged a considerable decline in the availability of 13 medicinal plants including Aloe wollastoni and Commiphora Africana, significantly attributed more to climate change (296, 95.5%), than other factors like overharvesting, agriculture, and habitat destruction (χ2, p < 0.05). Conservation strategies were scarce. Four of the medicinal plants documented in this survey were found to be Red listed among the plants whose population has greatly declined and is vulnerable to extinction in Uganda and globally. CONCLUSION: Despite the rich diversity of medicinal plants in Namutumba, conservation strategies are scarce, and some plants are globally red listed among the species whose population has greatly declined and are vulnerable to extinction. Therefore, in Uganda, conservation strategies that are tailored to vulnerable, rural areas such as Namutumba district, are warranted to improve intervention outcomes in such settings.
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Claims 18
Claim · model-written summary
One hundred and seventy-four medicinal plant species were documented.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“One hundred and seventy-four medicinal plant species belonging to 63 families and 160 genera were documented”
Claim · model-written summary
The medicinal plants belong to 63 families.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“One hundred and seventy-four medicinal plant species belonging to 63 families and 160 genera were documented”
Claim · model-written summary
The medicinal plants belong to 160 genera.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“One hundred and seventy-four medicinal plant species belonging to 63 families and 160 genera were documented”
Claim · model-written summary
Medicinal plants were mostly obtained from bushlands (92.0%).
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Plants were mostly obtained from bushlands (Frequency of citation = 276, 92.0%), markets (247, 82.3%), and wetlands (224, 74.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Medicinal plants were obtained from markets (82.3%).
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Plants were mostly obtained from bushlands (Frequency of citation = 276, 92.0%), markets (247, 82.3%), and wetlands (224, 74.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Medicinal plants were obtained from wetlands (74.7%).
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Plants were mostly obtained from bushlands (Frequency of citation = 276, 92.0%), markets (247, 82.3%), and wetlands (224, 74.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Fabaceae was the most represented family among the medicinal plants (13.7%).
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Plants belonged mainly to families Fabaceae (24, 13.7%), Asteraceae (15, 8.6%), and Euphorbiaceae (10, 5.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Asteraceae represented 8.6% of the medicinal plants.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Plants belonged mainly to families Fabaceae (24, 13.7%), Asteraceae (15, 8.6%), and Euphorbiaceae (10, 5.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Euphorbiaceae represented 5.7% of the medicinal plants.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Plants belonged mainly to families Fabaceae (24, 13.7%), Asteraceae (15, 8.6%), and Euphorbiaceae (10, 5.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaves were the most commonly used plant part (45.7%).
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Leaves were the commonly used plant parts (532, 45.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
The plants were cited for treating infectious diseases such as malaria.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“The plants were cited for treating infectious diseases like malaria”
Claim · model-written summary
Diabetes was cited as a non-infectious chronic ailment treated with the plants (24.0%).
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“non-infectious chronic ailments such as diabetes (42, 24.0%) and cancer (17, 9.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Cancer was cited as a non-infectious chronic ailment treated with the plants (9.7%).
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“non-infectious chronic ailments such as diabetes (42, 24.0%) and cancer (17, 9.7%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Kigelia africana was the most cited species, with a Relative Frequency of Citation of 0.22.
- Taxon
- Kigelia africana
Kigelia africanae1 - Outcome
- Relative Frequency of Citatione1
- Value
- 0.22e1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Kigelia africana was the most cited species with Relative Frequency of Citation of 0.22”
Claim · model-written summary
Almost all respondents (96.3%) acknowledged a considerable decline in the availability of medicinal plants.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Almost all respondents (289, 96.3%) acknowledged a considerable decline in the availability of 13 medicinal plants”
Claim · model-written summary
The decline in availability was attributed more to climate change (95.5%) than to other factors.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“significantly attributed more to climate change (296, 95.5%), than other factors like overharvesting, agriculture, and habitat destruction”
Claim · model-written summary
Four of the documented medicinal plants were found to be Red listed.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Four of the medicinal plants documented in this survey were found to be Red listed”
Claim · model-written summary
Conservation strategies for the medicinal plants were scarce.
Verbatim
t0“medicinal plants”
e1“Conservation strategies were scarce.”