Conservation status assessment of native vascular flora of Kalam Valley, Swat District, Northern Pakistan

Abstract

In the present study, conservation status of important vascular flora found in Kalam valley was assessed. Kalam Valley represents the extreme northern part of Swat District in KPK Province of Pakistan. The valley contains some of the precious medicinal plants. 245 plant species which were assessed for conservation studies revealed that 10.20% (25 species) were found to be endangered, 28.16% (69 species) appeared to be vulnerable. Similarly, 50.6% (124 species) were rare, 8.16% (20 species) were infrequent and 2.9% (7 species) were recognized as dominant. It was concluded that Kalam Valley inhabits most important plants majority of which are used in medicines; but due to anthropogenic activities including unplanned tourism, deforestation, uprooting of medicinal plants and over grazing, majority of these plant species are rapidly heading towards regional extinction in the near future. To maintain the biodiversity of the study area, some in-situ and ex-situ conservation measures in the form of protected areas, sustainable grazing, supplying alternative energy sources to the native population, seeds preservation and growing precious medicinal plant species in nurseries established under the supervision of forest department are urgently needed.

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“…They stressed that the basic reason is over grazing, uses as a source of medicine, timber wood, fuel wood and other anthropogenic activities. Bano et al (2013); Khan et al (2014); Ullah and Rashid (2014); Bakht et al (2018) documented the conservation status of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Himalayan, Region Poonch valley, Azad Kashmir, Mankial valley Hindukush Range, and Kalam valley. It was observed that majority of plants became extinct because of their high medicinal potential, over grazing, unwanted deforestation and other anthropogenic activities.…”

“…The loss of biodiversity characterizes one of the most persistent environmental challenges (Ali et al 2018). In the preceding eight years, 49 countries round the world have devoted to reinstating 150 million ha of ruined and deforested land by 2020 and 350 million ha by 2030 to protect the valuable biodiversity (Bakht et al 2018).…”