EXPLORATION OF ETHNOBOTANICAL WISDOM FROM THOI VALLEY, YASIN DISTRICT GHIZER GILGIT BALTISTAN, PAKISTAN

Background: Medicinal plants play an important role in primary health care especially in those areas where basic and proper health facilities are unavailable. The indigenous knowledge about the usage of medicinal plants to cure different human diseases is present in every part of the world. Through ages of test and mistake, people have expanded significant knowledge of medicinal plants and their usage which has been spread from generation to generation orally. According to WHO about 80% of people in developing countries are dependent on the traditional medicinal knowledge for their primary health care. According to research this indigenous knowledge is perishing at an alarming rate throughout the world therefore it is important to record this precious knowledge. Materials and Methods: An Ethnobotanical survey was carried out in Thoi Valley Yasin District Ghizer, Gilgit Baltistan, during the months of July and August 2019 to document ethnobotanical usage of plants for curing different human ailments through a questionnaire survey. Total 148 inhabitants of the study area were interviewed out of which 90 were males and 58 were females. The questionnaires were filled through structured interviews, individual interviews and focused group discussions the questions were focused mainly on the medicinal uses of plants, plant parts used, and method of preparation. The field survey for specimen collection was done in Khaimeth pasture Thoi Valley and plant identification was done in KIU Herbarium. Results: Ethnobotanical usage of 40 plants species belonging to 24 families was documented from the study area. The species of Asteraceae were highest as compared to any other family. Among these, 29 were herbs, 6 were shrubs and 5 were trees and 28 were wild and 12 were cultivated plants. ICF values were estimated to find the agreement among the information provided by inhabitants of study area. The ICF values ranges from 0.88 to 0.97 with an average value of 0.86. The highest FL value was calculated for Mentha sylvestris. Digestive diseases were more common than any other diseases. Seed is the most common plant part used for medicinal purposes in the study area. Inhabitants of the study area mostly use medicine in the form of juice. Most of the plants were taken orally. Conclusion: Various plant species were used in the study area for medicinal purposes. Indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants is restricted to elders and youth has little knowledge. It was observed that indigenous knowledge is perishing with older inhabitants due to the prevalence of allopathic drugs