Abstract

BAZAI, ZA; TAREEN, RB; ACHAKZAI, AKK  and  BATOOL, H. Application of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to assess the ethnobotany and forest conservation status of the Zarghoon Juniper Ecosystem, Balochistan, Pakistan. Phyton (B. Aires) [online]. 2013, vol.82, n.1, pp.69-74. ISSN 1851-5657.

The data collection approach called Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used in five villages: Killi Tor Shore; Medadzai; Ghunda; Kala Ragha, and Killi Shaban. Up to five groups were sampled in each village, comprising a total of 17 villages within the Zarghoon Juniper ecosystem. This area is rich both historically and culturally for using medicinal plants, mostly by women (60%). In this study, 26 species of medicinal plants fit in 20 genera and 13 families. They are used by aboriginal people via the indigenous knowledge they have for the treatment of many diseases. About 60, 35, and 5% of the medicines are prepared to be used orally, topically and boiled to inhale, respectively. Percentage distribution of plant parts used with purpose is 57, 26, 10 and 7% for leaves, seeds, flowers and roots, respectively. It is important to preserve the indigenous knowledge that people have for using vegetation as medicines for a sustainable utilization of the renewable natural resources. The PRA tools used consisted of social maps, transit walks, structured and semi-structured interviews, and pie diagrams. The socio-economic conditions revealed around 20000 people living in 400 households distributed in 17 villages, and livelihood depended on the forest. The community lacks basic amenities of life. The major sources of income (90%) are agriculture and livestock raising, and only 10% comes from trade, services and labor. The current high anthropogenic pressure on the ecosystem can be reduced by regulation, service implementations and financial assistance. This should contribute to sustainable resource utilization in the unique juniper ecosystem of Zarghoon.

Keywords : Juniper ecosystem; Zarghoon; PRA; Ethnobotany; Medicinal plants; Biodiversity.

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