An Assessment of Ethno-Medicinal Plants used by Sardar and Malaha Communities of KoshiTappu Wildlife Reserve, Province No. 1, Nepal

Medicinal plants play an important role in the healthcare practices amongst the rural population of Nepal. This knowledge has been passed from generation to generation in verbal form only, and is not documented in any form. The objective of this study was to assess ethno-medicinal plants used by Malaha and Sardar communities of Sunsari district of Province No.1. A total of 40 plant species belonging to 35 genera and 24 family have been recorded as medicinal plants traditionally used by these communities for treatment of various ailments. Different parts of medicinal plants in different forms were reported to be used for the treatment of 27 types of various health system disorders. Traditional healers and elderly people were well experienced in traditional method of using medicinal plants but they were worried about negligence of people towards such traditional use of valuable medicinal plants. It can be concluded from this study that the Malaha and Sardar communities of Sunsari district inherit a rich traditional knowledge and documentation of this knowledge has provided novel information of that area.