An Ethnobotanical Survey of Foot Hill Village Shah Allah Ditta of Margalla Hills
Keywords:
Ethnobotany, Ethnomedicine, Margalla Hills, Shah Allah Ditta, Medicinal PlantsAbstract
With the advancement of modern communication technologies and formal education systems, indigenous communities in Pakistan are increasingly being integrated into contemporary services. This development has resulted in improved access to health, education, and information; however, it is simultaneously leading to rapid disintegration of traditional knowledge systems. Traditional practices, specifically those connected with ethnobotany, are slowly being replaced by contemporary practices, which leaves an important vacuum in terms of conserving traditional wisdom. In light of this, this study has been conducted to record the ethnobotanical knowledge of the village of Shah Allah Ditta of Islamabad district, Pakistan. Fieldwork was carried out between October 2022 and January 2023. Data were systematically collected through semi‑structured interviews with 100 informants, ensuring representativeness across gender and age groups. Plant specimens were collected, identified, and preserved following standard ethnobotanical protocols, and Use Value Indices (UVI) were calculated as the number of citations per species divided by the total number of informants to quantify their relative importance. The study showed that a total of 104 different plant species from 44 plant families have been used traditionally by the local community to cure a variety of diseases and health disorders in humans. Out of these, three plant families, which include Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae, were found to be very important because of their high frequency of use. Olea ferruginea Royle turned out to be the most important plant, having the maximum percent of use value (2.64%). Herbs constituted the largest proportion of species (46%) likely due to their proximity and accessibility within household surroundings. These results clearly establish Shah Allah Ditta as a source of indigenous knowledge. Conservation of this indigenous resource is vital for intergenerational knowledge transfer and its potential role in drug discovery.
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