Ethnobotanical and Economic Importance of Wild Plant Species of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve, Lebanon

Abstract

Wild plants are among the important service forests provide to man. In this study, an ethnobotanical survey of the wild plants of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve of Lebanon has been conducted through personal interviews with key community members of the bioreserve villages. The economic importance of cited ethnobotanical species was then assessed based on the commercial value of species and their relationship to economic crops. The findings revealed that 130 plant species provide the local community with a breadth of wood and non-wood products. Medicinal species ranked highest contributing to 33% of reported use followed by food and beverage (15%), fuel (12%), environmental uses (10%) and materials (8%), while the remaining 22% was shared between other uses (bee plants, poisons, cosmetics, and social uses). Based on their use-values, Ceratonia siliqua, Laurus nobilis, Prunus sp.and Rhus coriaria were among the highest-ranking tree species. Whereas, Cichorium intybus, Eryngium creticum, Gundelia tournefortii, Matricaria chamomilla, Melissa officinalis, Origanum sp., Salvia fruticosa and Viola odorata were at the forefront of herbaceous species. Considering the commercial value and relationship to economic crops, the results demonstrated a list of 21 species of actual and potential high economic importance. Findings of this study clearly indicate that numerous wild plants of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve are still in use and hold high potentiality for economic development. Further studies to map and quantify the availability of these species and develop suitable methods for their propagation and production are necessary.

Plants used by the rural community of Bananal, Mato Grosso, Brazil: Aspects of popular knowledge

“…Many people in rural communities have ample knowledge about these plants, as well as usage methods, practices, and beliefs [18, 22]. Thus, ethnobotanical studies are urgently needed to document current knowledge and provide a baseline for future analysis regarding knowledge and use of native plants [12, 23]. Thus, observing such line of thought, we raise the following hypotheses: rural communities use a wide variety of plant species; there is a consensus among community informants regarding the use fidelity and main use of plant species; there is a proportional relationship between older informants, residence time in the community, and education with more knowledge of the species used.…”

The impacts of altitude and seed pretreatments on seedling emergence of Syrian juniper (Juniperus drupacea (Labill.) Ant. et Kotschy)

“…The Syrian juniper can be used to enhance the biodiversity in oak and cedar forest restoration (Douaihy et al 2017). Furthermore, it plays a crucial role in the medicinal (Akbulut et al 2008;Miceli et al 2011;Akbulut 2015), cosmetic, social and environmental fields (Sa et al 2017), in human nutrition (Akbulut et al 2008), for foods and beverages as a natural antioxidant supplement (El-Ghorab et al 2008), and as an ornamental tree (Farjon 2010;Yavuz and Yılmaz 2017). On the other hand, Juniperus is one of the trees that are resistant to extreme climatic and soil conditions and have a deep taproot.…”

Ethnobotany of the Himalayas: Safeguarding Medical Practices and Traditional Uses of Kashmir Regions

“…In the last few decades, TK has become fast endangered, and several ethnobiologists are of the opinion that such custodian knowledge may get wiped out forever [11]. The loss of this knowledge can only be stopped with reasoned ethnopharmacological studies that give added value to local popular knowledge to be transferred to the rest of the population, given its clear economic advantages, and manifesting that ethnobotanical knowledge is important throughout the world [12]. Therefore, the dissemination of ethnobotanical knowledge favors the exchange of knowledge between communities and forms a network of culture [1].…”

“…The people of the rural communities have a relatively rich knowledge of the indigenous uses of medicinal plants; however, this knowledge, as well as its associated cultural practices, is gradually decreasing in the new generation [18][19][20]. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the existing practices of indigenous communities, which in the future will provide baseline data for research and can add value to the cultural practices of nomads and other communities, who wholly depend on plants for their livelihoods [12,21]. Ethnopharmacological sciences are related to the detection, assessment, monitoring, and treatment of adverse effects with pharmaceutical products, and are thus important for management programs of genetic resources conservation and land use management plans that might play a crucial role in development [22][23][24].…”