Uses of Local Plant Biodiversity among the Tribal Communities of Pangi Valley of District Chamba in Cold Desert Himalaya, India

Rana, Pawan Kumar; Kumar, Puneet; Singhal, Vijay Kumar; Rana, Jai Chand

doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/753289

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Research Article | Open Access

Volume 2014 | Article ID 753289 | https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/753289

Uses of Local Plant Biodiversity among the Tribal Communities of Pangi Valley of District Chamba in Cold Desert Himalaya, India

Pawan Kumar Rana,^1,2Puneet Kumar,¹Vijay Kumar Singhal,¹and Jai Chand Rana²

Academic Editor: Y. Shoyama, K. Mikami

Received14 Aug 2013

Accepted23 Dec 2013

Published17 Feb 2014

Abstract

Pangi Valley is the interior most tribal area in Himachal Pradesh of Northwest Himalaya. An ethnobotanical investigation is attempted to highlight the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants being used by the tribes of Pangi Valley. Various localities visited in the valley 2-3 times in a year and ethnobotanical information was collected through interviews with elderly people, women, shepherds, and local vaids during May 2009 to September 2013. This paper documented 67 plant species from 59 genera and 36 families along with their botanical name, local name, family name, habit, medicinal parts used, and traditional usage, including the use of 35 plants with new ethnomedicinal and other use from the study area for the first time. Wild plants represent an important part of their medicinal, dietary, handicraft, fuel wood, veterinary, and fodder components. These tribal inhabitants and migrants depend on the wild plant resources for food, medicines, fuel, fibre, timber, and household articles for their livelihood security. The present study documents and contributes significant ethnobotanical information from the remote high altitude and difficult region of the world, which remains cut off from rest of the world for 6-7 months due to heavy snowfall.

1. Introduction

The cold arid region of India also called “Trans Himalayan region” lies in the western edge of the Himalayas. It comprises Ladakh in J&K, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Pangi Valley of district Chamba in Himachal Pradesh, and Niti and Nelong Valley of Uttarakhand. The vegetation here is subjected to extreme climatic conditions such as temperature variation (low temperature), scanty rainfall, speedy winds, exposure to ultraviolet radiations, reduced oxygen levels, low humidity, and many small glaciers. Pangi Valley, a subdivision of Chamba district is the remote high-altitudinal area and one of the most beautiful valley in the Northwest Himalaya. The river Chandrabhaga flows through deep narrow gorges in the Pangi Valley. It originates from Baralacha glacier in Lahaul-Spiti and enters in Pangi Valley near Karhu Nala. It becomes the Chenab when it joins the Marau River at Bhandera Kot, 12 km from Kishtwar town in Jammu and Kashmir. The Valley has recently been connected by road via Sach Pass at a height of 4,350 m, the highest road in Himachal Pradesh. It is also the shortest route from Chamba to Killar (170 km) and is open for vehicular traffic between mid June and September, but it remained closed due to heavy snowfall at other times of the year. One can approach the Valley via Chamba-Manali-Killar (680 km) and Chamba-Jammu-Doda-Gulabgarh-Killar (570 km), but these are very long routes compared to the Chamba-Sach Pass-Killar route. The old trade routes still exist which connect Pangi Valley to Ladakh of Zanskar range in the adjoining state of Jammu and Kashmir. Practically all the people live in small and fairly isolated villages. The languages spoken by the people are Pangwali and Bhoti. Both Hinduism and Budhism are practised in the valley. The tribal people of Pangi are called the “Pangwal.” The high altitudinal villages of Pangi Valley are called Bhatories and their residents are referred to as “bhots.” These people are mostly Buddhists and have Tibet-Mongolian features. Adjoining hills of Pangi Valley towards the southern side are visited frequently by migratory pastoralist tribal Gaddis and nomadic Gujjars with their herds. These migrants go to higher altitudes in summer along with their herds in search of grazing ground and meadows. They also collect different parts of various medicinal and aromatic plants for their earnings. Local songs, dance (Nati by gents and Ghurei by ladies), and locally brewed liquor “paatar,” play a significant role on the life style of the people of Pangi Valley. One of the major festivals celebrated in the mid of February is “Jukaru,” praying to local god or deities with words of celebration and thanks for helping the people to survive the harsh winter. One is compelled to think of how and why people thought of settling down in this most inaccessible part of the state. The vegetation of Pangi can be broadly categorized into three types:- Himalayan Temperate Forests—At low altitude between 1,900–2,800 m; the vegetation is typically of Himalayan temperate type. Pinus gerardiana, Cedrus deodara, Pinus wallichiana, Picea smithiana, Abies spectabilis, Taxus baccata ssp. wallichiana, Juniperus macropoda, Populus ciliata, Salix viminalis, Crataegus songarica, and Acer pentapomicum forming the top canopy. The second storey is constituted by Fraxinus xanthoxyloides, Rhus succedana, Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana, and Olea ferruginea. Shrubby and scrub elements include species of Berberis lycium, Ribes orientale, R. nigrum, Rosa webbiana, Viburnum cotonifolium, Lonicera quinquelocularis, Hippophae rhamnoides, Myricaria squamosa, Daphne oleoides, Rubus saxatilis, and Sorbus foliosa. Rabdosia rugosa, Ephedra gerardiana, Artemisia brevifolia, A. maritima, and A. parviflora form dense scrubs covering vast tracts of slopes in the region. At altitude between 2,800–3,800 m, the vegetation is subalpine type represented by Allium humile, Bunium persicum, Carum carvi, Geranium wallichianum, Angelica glauca, Bupleurum falcatum, Elsholtzia ciliata, Heracleum lanatum, Arisaema flavum, Primula denticulata, P. macrophylla, Saussurea costus, S. auriculata, Tanacetum gracile, T. tomentosum, T. tenuifolium, Impatiens glandulifera, Arnebia benthamii, Eritrichium canum, Ranunculus laetus, R. hirtellus, Rhododendron campanulatum, Ribes orientale, R. alpestre, Polygonatum multiflorum, P. verticillatum, Plantago depressa, Lepidium latifolium, Polygonum sibiricum, Potentilla atrosanguinea, Anemone obtusifolia, Aconitum ferox, A. falconeri, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Picrorhiza kurroa, Pedicularis pectinata, Elymus dahuricus, Aesculus indica, Corylus jacquemontii, and Juglans regia. Alpine zone ranging from 3,800 m onwards, the vegetation is mainly dominated by species of Betula utilis, Rhododendron campanulatum, Myricaria squamosa, Capparis himalayensis, Cassiope fastigiata, Cortia depressa, Selinium tenuifolium, Heracleum wallichii, Inula royleana, Saussurea graminifolia, S. obvallata, S. gossypiphora, Arnebia euchroma, Corydalis meifolia, Iris kumaonensis, Fritillaria roylei, Polygonum affine, Rhododendron anthopogon, Rheum spiciforme, R. moorcroftianum, Rhodiola imbricata, Rheum australe, Picrorhiza kurroa, Aconitum heterophyllum, A. rotundifolium, A. violaceum, A. spicatum, Elymus nutans, E. dahuricus, Delphinium cashmerianum, D. vestitum, and Nardostachys grandiflora. Other herbaceous vegetation consists of Saussurea jacea, Triglochin maritima, Aquilegia fragrans, Potentilla spp., Onosma hispidum, Spinosa stracheyi, Geranium wallichianum, Jurinea macrocephela, Picrorhiza kurroa, Dracocephalum heterophyllum, Impatiens brachycentra, and Primula macrophylla. Covering an area of 103 sq km, Saichu Tuan Nala Wild Life Sanctuary has been established in the valley for the protection and conservation of wildlife. The wild animals found in the valley are ibex, himalayan tahr, brown bear, black bear, musk deer, snow leopard, and bharal. The birds include the monal and koklas pheasants, himalayan western tragopan, snow peacock, snow pigeon, and chukor. This area was difficult to explore due to its remoteness, difficult geographic condition, and poor connectivity via roads due to heavy snow fall during winter season which keeps the area cut off from rest of the world for nearly six to seven months. These tribal inhabitants and migrants are dependent on the wild plant resources for medicines, food, fuel, fibre, timber, and household articles to a great extent for their livelihood security. The area due to its remoteness and difficult geographic conditions has not been included in the earlier floristic surveys of Chamba district by Singh and Sharma [1]. So far very few workers have visited the area for taxonomical studies [2] and for some cytological studies of dicot plants [3–9]. No information on traditional use of plant resources of Pangi Valley and its adjoining areas is available so far. Keeping in view the nonavailability of ethnobotanical information, strong belief of local people in traditional therapy, and scope for inventorization of new medicinal and common use, the present study was designed to provide comprehensive information on traditional phytotherapy and ethnobotanical information in cold desert region of Pangi Valley in Northwest Himalaya.

2. Materials and Methods

Ethnobotanical surveys were carried out from May 2009 to September 2012, when the area is snow-free. Different localities visited in the Pangi valley 2-3 times a year to document the utilization of medicinal plants (Figure 1) including Tarela (1,850 m), Bairagarh (1,900 m), Salooni (1,950 m), Dind (2,100 m), Bhandal (2,200 m), Devi Kothi (2,400 m), Shour (2,400 m), Hillour (2,450 m), Mindhal (2,500 m), Muhani (2,600 m), Sahali (2,600 m), Saichu-Nala (2,650 m), Killar (2,650 m), Chask (3,150 m), Twan (3,300 m), Satrundi (3,300 m), Kala Ban (3,350 m), Hillour Dhar (3,350 m), Udeen (3,400 m), Sural-Bhatori (3,400 m), Kumar-Bhatori (3,400 m), Chask-Bhatori (3,600 m), Bagotu (4,100 m), Singh-Marh Dhar (4,300 m) and Sach Pass (4,350 m), and Shakoli (3,200 m), Shitikar (3,650 m), and Urgos (3,800 m) in Miyar Valley. First-hand information on traditional knowledge related to plant resource utilization by the inhabitants of the valley is gathered through interviews with elderly people, women, shepherds, and local vaids. Information about the local names of the plants, parts used, ailments treated, mode of administration, and curative properties was recorded. The plants were identified by Flora of Lahaul-Spiti [10] and Flora of Chamba District [1]. Besides, the plants were also compared to the samples preserved in the Herbarium (PUN) (PUN is the Herbarium Code of Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala as per “Index Herbariorum” by Holmgren and Holmgren, (1998), maintained by the Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala and also the Herbaria of Botanical Survey of India and Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand. Voucher specimens of the ethnobotanically studied species were deposited in the Herbarium, Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala (PUN). Plants are enumerated in alphabetical order followed by accession number, habit, family, local names, parts used, and mode of preparation.

3. Results

This paper documented for the first time traditional uses of 67 plant species from 59 genera and 36 families along with their botanical name, local name, family, habit, plant part used, and local usage of application, from the remote, interior, and tribal area of Pangi Valley and its adjoining areas of district Chamba from cold desert region of Northwest Himalaya. All the plants are studied ethnobotanically for the first time from the tribal area. Plants belong to 36 families, of which the Asteraceae are represented by seven species. Papilionaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, and Polygonaceae are represented by five species each. Caprifoliaceae and Lamiaceae are represented by three species and Apiaceae, Berberidaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Morinaceae, and Scrophulariaceae by two species each. Araliaceae, Balsaminaceae, Boraginaceae, Buxaceae, Cuscutaceae, Datiscaceae, Elaeagnaceae, Gentianaceae, Loranthaceae, Malvaceae, Moraceae, Oleaceae, Phytolaccaceae, Rubiaceae, Salicaceae, Saxifragaceae, Smilacaceae, Solanaceae, Ulmaceae, Urticaceae, Valerianaceae, and Violaceae are represented by one species. It is very important to underline that great majority of the plants grow wild. Only two wild plants Inula racemosa and Saussurea costus are domesticated and cultivated for medicinal or commercial purposes. However, people also trying to grow some medicinal plants such as Aconitum heterophyllum, Podophyllum hexandrum, Angelica glauca, Valeriana jatamansi, and Picrorhiza kurroa as kitchen garden plants at high altitudinal villages of Sural-Bhatroi, Hudan-Bhatorri, and Devi Kothi for their use and marketing purpose at local level. Different parts of the plants in powdered form/plant extracts/decoctions/concoction or paste are administered in various human ailments and other uses in their daily life. In most of the cases leaves are used followed by stems, fruits, roots, and flowers. Wood, seeds, and bark are the least used plant parts (Figure 2). The information on scientific name, local name of the plant, plant part used, and mode of preparation has been provided in alphabetical order in Table 1. The plant uses can be divided into four main categories, medicinal use (36 species), human food and food aromatizer (22 species), agricultural and veterinary use including plants as fodder (17 species), and domestic and handicrafts uses (16 species) (Figure 3). The plants are used medicinally for curing fever, cough, arthritis, joint pain, abdominal parasites, jaundice, snake bite, and a number of other diseases. Aerial parts (82.09%) are the most frequently used than the underground parts (17.91%). Despite the ban from the government, roots of Aconitum violaceum, Angelica glauca, Berberis lycium, Inula racemosa, Picrorhiza kurroa, Podophyllum hexandrum, Saussurea costus, Fritillaria cirrhosa and Valeriana jatamansi are exploited heavily and sold to the middlemen or local contractors to fulfill the other household needs. Formulations of these plants are prescribed in paste form, powder form, juice form, decoction form, bandages, and smoke form. Paste form is the most common type of formulation given while smoke is least used (Figure 4). Herbs are most frequently used followed by shrubs, trees, and climbers (Figure 5). Angelica glauca, Artemisia maritima, Heracleum candicans, Origanum vulgare, Podophyllum hexandrum, Rheum australe, Thymus linearis, and Taraxacum officinale are used for treating more than one ailment. Eight plant species are used along with others or with more than one ingredient. Leaves of Stellaria media and Malva neglecta are cooked as mixed vegetable and eaten two or three times to cure constipation. Aerial parts of Thymus linearis in combination with Origanum vulgare are crushed with water and juice is extracted and given 4-5 teaspoons orally three times a day for high fever in children. Rubia cordifolia with Cynodon dactylon (Doob grass) is used against snake bite while a decoction of Viola canescens with Cinnamon, Fennel, and Clove is recommended for cough, asthma, and other respiratory tract problems. Flowers of Morina coulteriana and M. longifolia are mixed with guggal (roots of Jurinea macrocephala) are used as incense for ritual performances and for pleasant aroma during meditation and prayer. By comparing the earlier reported ethnobotanical/ethnopharmacological uses/biological activities/chemical constituents (Table 1), we found that there are 35 plants with new medicinal and other important ethnobotanical use from the study area. Plants with additional new uses are Aconitum violaceum, Angelica glauca, Artemisia maritima, Berberis lycium, Bergenia ligulata, Cicer microphyllum, Clematis grata, Crataegus songarica, C. oxycantha, Cuscuta reflexa, Datisca cannabina, Datura stramonium, Hedera nepalensis, Jasminum officinale, Lactuca dissecta, Lonicera quinquelocularis, Malva neglecta, Mentha longifolia, Morina longifolia, Onosma hispida, Origanum vulgare, Oxyria digyna, Polygonum alpinum, Prunus cornuta, Ranunculus laetus, Rubia cordifolia, Rumex acetosa, R. nepalensis, Sarcococca saligna, Stellaria media, Thymus linearis, Ulmus wallichiana, Valeriana jatamansi, Viburnum grandiflorum, Viola canescens, and Viscum album reported here for the first time from the study area (new medical remedies or ethnobotanical uses were given with asterisk mark in Table 1). Survey from the Pangi Valley reveals that paste was prepared by grinding the fresh or dried plant parts with oil, churning curd water or cow urine. The powder was prepared by the grinding of shade dried plant parts. The decoction was obtained by boiling the plant parts in water until the volume of the water is reduced to the minimum or required amount. The plants used against snakebite are applied externally. Some plants like Astragalus rhizanthus, Cicer microphyllum, Desmodium elegans, Hedera nepalensis, Impatiens sulcata, Lonicera quinquelocularis, and Morus serrata were documented as fodder plants in this study.

4. Discussion and Conclusions

The widespread use of herbal materials for the maintenance of health and treatment of diseases can be traced back to prehistoric times throughout many cultures and regions. The history of herbal medicine in India is very old. The oldest use of plants has been documented in ancient Hindu scriptures like Rigveda (4500–1600 BC), Charaka Samhita (1000–800 BC), Sushruta Samhita (800–700 BC), and others. In India, the art of herbal healing has very deep roots in tribal culture and folklore. Even today, most of the tribal communities are dependent upon local traditional healing systems for their primary health care. Tribes of Pangi Valley depend highly on the wild plants for their livelihood security and medicines for various ailments. The ethnobotanical information discussed here is the first ever comprehensive ethnobotanical information gathered from the “Pangwal” tribe. The herbal medicines are considered to be of great importance among different rural or indigenous communities in many developing countries [56]. During the last few years, the use of herbal supplements increased from 2.5% to 12%. Today approximately 80% of the world’s population uses traditional medicine for healthcare and therapeutic purposes [57]. The Himalayas, one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots, have an approximately 10,000 species of plants, of which about 3,160 belonging to 71 genera are endemic. About 1,195 species of flowering plants are endemic to the Western Himalayas [58, 59]. Cultural diversity in such remote mountain regions is closely linked to biodiversity, as there is a symbiotic relationship between habitats and cultures and between ecosystems and cultural identity; indeed, religious rules and rituals often strengthen this relationship and are characterized by a conservation ethic [60]. Present study also reveals that there is a strong relationship between tribes of Pangi Valley and plants of their surroundings. From the time immemorial, these people were highly dependent upon plant resources of their surroundings to fulfil their day-to-day requirements. As these people are very close to nature due to their inhabitation in isolated and remote tribal area, they have been able to gain a very vast and authentic experience of plant resources of their surroundings, which further need detailed investigation of ethnopharmacological studies from this tribal area. Screening and comparing the literature regarding ethnobotanical studies from other parts of Himachal Pradesh [10, 14, 22, 27, 34, 36, 45, 47, 61, 62] and outside of Himachal Pradesh [19–21, 41, 44, 49] show a high number of species with unreported uses or new use with different part used and also new mode of use from the study area (Table 1). Pangi Valley is the semi-arid transition zone between the Northwest Himalaya and trans-Himalaya and thus has elements of both regions making the assemblage among the most diverse for any other region in the Northwest Himalaya. Because of its unique geographical situations, it harbours distinct ethnic and endemic biological diversity. This is one region in the country, where people still depend largely on plants for traditional healing system. A large number of plants/plant extracts/decoctions or pastes are equally used by tribes and folklore traditions in India for treatment of cuts, wounds, and burns [63–67]. Some of the plants such as Onosma hispida and Ranunculus laetus were reported for cuts and wounds from the research area are new to use. Smoke of flowers of Morina coulteriana and M. longifolia mixed with guggal (roots of Jurinea macrocephala) is used as incense during meditation and prayer. Use of pleasant aroma of smoke during meditation is also performed in Chinese culture [68]. Livestock is also considered one of the main sources of livelihood and important part of livelihood security, which rely mostly on fodder extracted from forests, grasslands, agriculture, and agroforestry in this interior remote tribal area. Some plants species such as Cicer microphyllum, Desmodium elegans, Hedera nepalensis, Impatiens sulcata, Lonicera quinquelocularis, Morus serrata, Origanum vulgare, Rumex acetosa, Silene vulgaris, Smilax aspera, and Ulmus wallichiana have also been documented as fodder plants in this study. Preparation of paste for the treatment of ailments is a common practice among the other tribal communities in India [69, 70]. Plant parts are used commonly for snake bite and such plants used against snake bite are also needed to be explored for more detailed studies [71, 72]. Present study explores information for the first time from the Pangi Valley on traditional therapeutic for joint pains, abdominal disorders, snake bites, skin disorders, cuts and wound, burns, high fever, cough, and many other diseases. This study contributes significant ethnobotanical information from the remote high altitude and difficult region of the world, which remained cut off from rest of the world for 6-7 months. Further investigations of those plants which are not explored earlier may lead to the exploration of several novel bioactive molecules and many new drugs to various diseases from such geographically isolated and unexplored area. The unsustainable harvesting of medicinal plants from the wild may cause a serious decline in plant population. It is thus recommended that cultivation techniques be designed, especially the important medicinal plant species that are used widely, to fulfil the need of the growing international herbal market and strategies to conserve the threatened biodiversity.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi for providing financial assistance under the DRS SAP I, II & III, ASIST programme and Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship to Dr. Puneet Kumar. Pawan Kumar Rana is grateful to National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi for providing Senior Research Fellowship. The authors are also highly thankful to Professor N. S. Atri, Head, Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala for necessary laboratory and library facilities.

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Copyright © 2014 Pawan Kumar Rana et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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