Ethnomedicinal plants and traditional knowledge among three Chin indigenous groups in Natma Taung National Park (Myanmar)

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2018.07.006

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 225, 28 October 2018, Pages 136-158

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2018.07.006 Get rights and content

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance

This research describes the ethnomedicinal plants as used by three Chin indigenous groups inhabiting areas at Natma Taung National Park (NTNP) in bio-culturally diverse Myanmar. The aim of this study was (1) to identify wild medicinal species and evaluate their local importance in local peoples’ healthcare as well as in protected area conservation; and (2) to compare traditional medicinal plant knowledge among the informants.

Materials and methods

A total of 206 Müün, Ng’gah and Daai informants from 20 villages were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Species use-reports were computed to determine plant local importance and the informant consensus factor. Descriptive and the inferential statistics Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests were employed to evaluate and compare the informants' traditional medicinal knowledge.

Results

A total of 75 wild ethnomedicinal taxa in 40 plant families across 16 ICPC-based disease categories were recorded. Species which recorded the highest number of use-reports appeared to play an important role not only in informants’ primary healthcare and in park conservation, but also in local livelihood.

Conclusion

This study presents the diversity of ethnomedicinal plants and their local importance in Chin indigenous peoples’ healthcare. This paper also recognizes the value of these plants and the local traditional knowledge for the conservation and management of NTNP.

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Protected areas (PAs) are the planet's remaining major concentrations of biodiversity. PAs are not only essential repositories of plant diversity but also of human culture (Sobrevila, 2008, Menale et al., 2016). About 15% of the Earth's land area is national parks and wildlife reserves (Juffe-Bignoli et al., 2014), while around 18% is formally recognized as either owned by or designated for indigenous peoples and local communities (Rights and Resources Initiative, 2015). As the rate of degradation of natural biomes and tribal cultures escalates, the greater the need for the integration of indigenous people's traditional knowledge for sustainable management and the conservation of the environment (Posey, 1992, Pimbert and Pretty, 1995; Bussmann, 2002). PAs, therefore, can serve as valuable starting points for studying relationships between traditional uses of plants and their conservation status (Amusa and Jimoh, 2010).

Although globalization and political reforms have been crucial for bringing in external funding for PAs to developing countries, the same reasons have also opened remote areas to logging, mining and oil extraction (Bowles et al., 1998). People from rural communities in poor and developing countries are first to suffer the environmental consequences because of their primary dependence on a wide range of ecosystem services (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The poverty-stricken parts of the population rely to a large extent on medicinal plants for their healthcare as western medicines are usually unaffordable (Bussmann, 2002).

Recent politico-economic reforms in Myanmar, for example, have raised issues for the protection of the country's natural environment and culture of about 150 ethnic groups (Schmidt, 2012, Webb et al., 2012, Woods, 2015). The rapid development in former Burma is seen to have far-reaching negative consequences as more than 70% of its multi-cultural population reside in rural areas where labor-intensive methods of forest and natural resource use are still practiced (Ministry of Forestry, 2005, BEWG, 2011).

Conflicts in natural resource management between ethnic minorities and the government have especially been reported in Myanmar's north-western region of Chin State (CHRO, 2008, Sollom et al., 2011). Aside from ethnic insurgencies and militarization, severe progress barriers in the country's most culturally-diverse state include low population density and the challenging mountainous terrain (UNDP, 2014). This border region is one of the world's poorest in terms of living conditions and health (IHLCA, 2011, Schmitt-Degenhardt, 2013, World Bank Group, 2014). According to the Ministry of Health, it is one of the regions with the highest number of recorded incidences of clinical malaria and cases of infectious digestive diseases such as dysentery, enteric fever and diarrhea (MIID, 2014), indicating the local peoples’ strong reliance on affordable folk and traditional medicine, and ethnomedicinal plants for their basic healthcare needs.

Despite the rich bio-cultural diversity in Myanmar, national herbal pharmacopeias (e.g. Ministry of Health, 2001; Ministry of Health, 2007), including available related medicinal plants publications (e.g. Lwin and Lwin, 2015), provide little empirical information describing local peoples’ herbal therapies, and much less on the links of medicinal plants use to PAs management and conservation. Ethnobotanical inventories, therefore, are important in order to bring areas of high plant use and traditional knowledge to wider public attention (Albuquerque et al., 2009). The proper documentation and application could lead to conservation, more sustainable utilization of plant resources, and even strengthened cultural diversity (Hamilton, 2003).

In the light of the considerations mentioned above, and with the context of weak environmental protection in the Union of Myanmar, this ethnobotanical study was conducted to document the ethnomedicinal plants used by three indigenous groups living within and around Natma Taung National Park in Chin State. Our objective was (1) to identify wild medicinal species and evaluate their local importance in local peoples’ healthcare and in PA's conservation; and (2) to compare traditional medicinal plant knowledge among the informants. Specifically, we would also like to seek answers to the following questions: What are the most medicinally valuable species? Which medicinal species are important for the management and conservation of the park? Are there any significant differences in informants’ medicinal plant knowledge when compared according to ethnicity, gender, and age?

Section snippets

Research area

Natma Taung National Park (NTNP) is one of Myanmar's 43 existing PAs (Beffasti and Galanti, 2011). It covers an area of 722.6 km² of temperate and subtropical forests, and montane meadows at the 3053 m-high summit (Fujikawa et al., 2008). NTNP is named after (Mt.) Natma Taung (Burmese for female spirit and mountain, respectively), which is recognized as the highest peak in the so-called Chin Hills. Bordering India and Bangladesh, this mountainous region is a rugged terrain which rises up in

Diversity of plants and herbal remedies

After taxonomic identification, we were able to document a total of 75 wild ethnomedicinal species administered in about 260 herbal preparations for the treatment of around 90 illnesses across 16 disease categories. Of the total number of medicinal plant taxa recorded in this study, 40 species were shown to have been accounted in the list of Myanmar medicinal plants (i.e. Lwin and Lwin, 2015), while only 14 were found to have been reported in national herbal pharmacopeias (e.g. Ministry of

Conclusions

This study provides a comprehensive documentation of wild medicinal plants as used by three Chin indigenous groups (Müün, Ng’gah and Daai) in NTNP, Myanmar. Our findings showed a diversity of species administered in various herbal therapies which appeared to play an important role in the primary healthcare of the locals in the mountainous region of Chin State. Similarities in terms of species and plant parts used by other hill-tribe communities in regions surrounding Chin State, particularly

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

YDK and HGO conceptualized and designed the research. SML, TTMW and HGO conducted the interviews. SML, TTMW, DHK, JHL and HGO contributed to the collection and identification of plant specimens. HGO analyzed the data and prepared the manuscript.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the informants who shared their time, knowledge and experiences for this project. Our appreciation also extends to MONREC/MoECAF officers, especially to the current and former NTNP park wardens Thein Lwin and Tin Mya Soe, respectively, for facilitating the necessary research permits and documents. Field assistance and additional translation work of Law Shein, Hli Ma Na and Tun Tin are here acknowledged. This research was made possible with the support from the Hallym

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Ethnomedicinal plants and traditional knowledge among three Chin indigenous groups in Natma Taung National Park (Myanmar)

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Materials and methods

Results

Conclusion

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Research area

Diversity of plants and herbal remedies

Conclusions

Conflict of interest

Authors’ contributions

Acknowledgments

J. Ethnopharmacol.

J. Ethnopharmacol.

J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal.

Soc. Sci. Med.

J. Ethnopharmacol.

J. Ethnopharmacol.

J. Tradit. Complement. Med.

Environ. Sci. Policy

J. Ethnopharmacol.

J. Ethnopharmacol.

Phytochemistry

Talanta

J. Ethnopharmacol.

J. Ethnopharmacol.

Int. J. Biol. Macromol.

J. Ethnopharmacol.

Anti-inflammatory activity of flowers of Rhododendron arboreum (SMITH) in rat's hind paw oedema induced by various phlogistic agents

Indian J. Pharmacol.

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Evaluating two quantitative ethnobotanical techniques

Ethnobot. Res. Appl.

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PLoS One

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SIDA Contrib. Bot.

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