Ethnobotanical Study of the Traditional Use and maintenance of Medicinal Plants by the People of Aleta-Chuko Woreda, South Ethiopia

Background: Over centuries, indigenous people have developed their own locality specific knowledge on plant use, management and conservation. However, this valuable traditional knowledge on utilization of plants was not much documented and hence, most of the indigenous knowledge acquired by the local people has been passed on from generation to generation by the word of mouth. Ethnobotanical study is of the use and maintenance of traditional medicinal plant species by the people of Aleta Chuko woreda, South Ethiopia. The study made an attempt to assess the indigenous knowledge that equips the community to identify the medicinal plants, formulate the medicines and subsequently administer the curatives used to treat various human and livestock diseases as the threats that could affect their sustainable use. Methods: A total of 100 informants (85 males and 15 females) were selected to collect information on medicinal plant use from five selected kebeles by using non-probability sampling method. Relevant ethnobotanical information was collected through semi-structured interview, field observation and group discussion. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and simple linear correlation coefficient. The study was carried out from September, 2017 to July, 2018. Results: A total of 53 medicinal plant species representing 49 genera and 30 plant families used in the treatment of 92 (81 human and 11 livestock) different ailments. The plant families Lamiaceae, Rutaceae, and Asteraceae were the most dominant groups. Out of the total recorded medicinal plant species, 79%, 11 % and 10%, were used for treating human, livestock and both humans and livestock health problems respectively. Stomachache and cough were the most common health problems of the study area affecting both humans and animals. 60% of the medicinal plant species were collected from the wild/forest and the remaining 40%were collected from the Homegardens. Herbs were the dominant medicinal plant habit, followed by shrubs and trees. Leaves are the dominant plant part used in formulating curative preparations. The most dominant methods of preparation were crushing and pounding and 70.5% is the dominant route of oral administration. Fagaropsis angolensis was the most effective curatives species against stomach ache, the most common human disease in the study area, followed by Leonotis nepetifolia, and Ajuga integrifolia, Ocimum lamiifolium was the most preferred medicinal plant to treat headache followed by Echinops kebericho and Salvia nilotica. Conclusions: The Coffee-Enset based home gardens which characterize the study area make a substantial contribution to the conservation of medicinal plants species. In order to conserve the traditional medicinal plant species of the study area, community-based in-situ and ex-situ conservation actions, awareness creation in the younger members, and strengthening home gardens and other components of the agro-forestry systems to be used as repositories of medicinal plant species and alternative conservation sites are recommended.