Sustainability Issues in Conservation of Traditional Medicinal Herbs and Their Associated Knowledge: A Case Study of District Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

Due to modernization and urbanization, traditional medicinal herbs and their associated knoweldge are under peril of being lost. The current study not only aimed to document the trend of herbal medicinal plant uitlization in District Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, but also raised alarming concerns about the conservation of these medicinal herbs and traditional knowledge linked to them. The data were collected from local people, herbalists, and gardeners by using standard ethnobotanical methods, i.e., questionnaires and interviews. Results reported that a lower number of informants possessed medicinal herb knowledge and reported only 50 medicinal herbs from the study area. This is probably due to the impact of speedy industrilaization and alterations in human life patterns in the study area. Not only the traditional knowledge is under threat but also the medicinal herbs themselves. Most of the reported medicinal herbs were rare (45.10%), while only few (9.80%) were ranked as abundant in the study area. The herbs with more medicinal importance are mostly rare. This is because of their over usage by the local people. Both conservation approaches (in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation practices) and resource management (good agricultural practices and sustainable use solutions) should be adequately taken into account for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources.

Automated summary

Due to modernization and urbanization, traditional medicinal herbs and their associated knowledge are at risk of being lost. This study aimed to document the utilization trends of herbal medicinal plants in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, and raised concerns about their conservation. Data were collected from local people, herbalists, and gardeners using ethnobotanical methods. The results showed a decline in knowledge and a limited number of medicinal herbs reported in the study area, possibly due to industrialization and changes in lifestyle. Conservation approaches and resource management strategies should be implemented for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources.