Abstract:
Ethnobotany is the study of the relationships between plants and people with particular emphasis
on traditional cultures. An Ethnobotanical study on the medicinal plant was carried out in
Debark District which is found in North Gondar Zone of the Amhara National Regional State
which is about 860Km away from north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The objective of the study was
to compile and document medicinally important plants in the District. The study was conducted
from October to May 2017. A total of 62 informants (45 males and 17 females) between the ages
of 22 and 70 were selected from ten sampled kebeles with purposive (key informants) and
random sampling (general informants) techniques. Data were collected using semi-structured
interviews, field observations, group discussions and market surveys. Data were analyzed with
descriptive statistics and detailed ethnobotanical analytical tools including preference ranking,
paired comparison,direct matrix ranking, informant consensus factor (ICF) Fidelity level and
Jaccard’s Coefficient of Similarity (JCS). A total of 93 plant species, wich 60 species from the
wild vegetation, 27 species from home gardens and 6 from both habitat that distributed in 86
genera and 51 families were collected and identified from the study area. From these, 50 species
were recorded for the treatment of human health problems, 3 species for livestock and 40 species
for the treatment of both human and livestock diseases. Herbs were found the highest plant life
forms. The most frequently used plant parts were leaves (33.33%) followed by roots (15.48%).
The most widely used method of preparation was crushing (20%) followed by pounding and
mixing (18.4 %). Oral use was the commonest (56.67. %) administration route followed by
dermal use (29.63%).The most commonly used application of medicinal plant was drinking
(37.57%) followed by creaming (16.76 %).Agricultural expansion, firewood collection,
construction, timber, forage and charcoal were reported as major threats to plants of the study
area. In order to protect medicinal plants destruction and loss of indigenous knowledge, local
communities could be involved in conservation and management of plant resources and their
indigenous knowledge.
Keywords/phrases:Conservation,fidelity level, Indigenous knowledge,Informant consensus,
traditional healers
