PRESENTER:

MOHAMED K.
SAID
Assistant lecturer
Department of Geography and
Environmental Studies
The University of Dodoma
Tanzania

TITLE:
Medicinal
Plants
Collection And Its Effects to
Plants Conservation- A Case Of
West Usambara, Tanga-Tanzania

 It

is beyond doubt that medicinal plants

Introduction
had started when the human being started
to exist (Alex et al., 2005, Samuel et al.,
2010, Bizimenyera et al., 2005, Samy and
Gopalakrishnakone, 2007, Yineger, et al.,
2008 and Ene et al., 2010).

Intro cont
There

are no revealed claims of

unsustainable utilization of medicinal
plants in those days.

Intro cont
The

use of traditional complimentary

medicine (TCM) has been increasing
steadily following:
the failure of some modern medicine;
for example, resistance of malaria
parasites against chloroquine.
low purchasing power among rural
communities.
and limited access of modern medicine
in rural areas due to poor infrastructure
and few health care centres (ibid).

Intro cont
Increasing

demand on TCM threats some

of the medicinal plant species following
unsustainable harvesting of plant parts.

Intro cont
In

Tanzania, many rural communities

depend on medicinal plants for health
care.
The Medicinal plants healthcare services
is well supported by the Government
Act;
Traditional
and
Alternative
Healthcare Practice (URT, 2002).

Intro cont
Usambara

Mountains located in Tanga

region are one of the biodiversity hot
spot where several medicinal plants are
found.

The

medicinal plants in this hot spot yet

fragile ecosystem are not only important
for health care to the local inhabitants
but are also supplied to different parts
of the country and the globe at large
(ibid).

Intro cont
The

increasing demand of herbal

medicine from Western Usambara may
result, unless proper measures are
taken, to over collection of medicinal
plants which most of them are
threatened endemic species (Groom et
al., 2009).
There are various existing studies of
medicinal plants (Bhattarai et al., 2010;
Kitula, 2007; Moshi et al., 2009)
globally,
Tanzania
and
Western
Usambara in particular.

Intro cont
Most

of these studies based on

documentation, preparation and use.
However, information on effects of
medicinal plants collection to flora
conservation at hot spot area of Western
Usambara is not yet well documented.

Intro cont
this

study
aimed
to
investigate
medicinal plants collection and its
effects to plants conservation.

Materials and
Study
Methods
area Description
The

study
was
conducted
in
Western Usambara Mountains
in
Lushoto and Korogwe districts in Tanga
region.
The area is a part of the Eastern Arc
Mountains located in north-eastern
Tanzania (4o 24' 5o 00' S and 38o 10'
38o 36' E).
The Mountains cover an area of 4,500
km2, which is 90% of the total area of
Lushoto district (Msuya, 2009).

Study area Description

According to the Tanzania human

population census of 2012, these
mountains has 5, 30,456 inhabitants with
an annual growth rate of 1.8%.

The main ethnic groups are Sambaa,

Pare, and Mbugu.

Other small groups are also found in this

area accounting for 1% of the population.

Study area Description

The

area roughly has an altitude of 500

m from sea level.

The

soil horizons are generally deep

(except on ridges) and well-drained
(except in valley bottoms).

They

are characterized by two types of

latosols: Humic Ferrisols and Humic
Ferralitic
soils(Msuya,
2006
and
Halperin, 2001).

Study area Description

Three

types of natural forests are found

in the Western Usambara Mountains.

These

include lowland, intermediate

(sub-montane) and highland (montane)
evergreen forests (Msuya, 2006).

Of

the approximately 3450 species of

vascular
plants
recorded
in
the
Usambara Mountains.
over one quarter is likely to be endemic
or
near-endemic(Tropical
Biology
Association , 2007).

Ethnobotanical data
collection
Ethnobotanical data was collected based
mainly on field visit, semi-structured
interviews, structured questionnaires
and Focus Group Discussion.

Selected knowledgeable local people and

some key respondents were consulted to
give information regarding the available
medicinal plant species, preparation,
use, effectiveness, collection and its
threats to plant species.

Cont

A total of 150 local people between the

ages of 20 and 60+ were involved from
the six study villages (Bagamoyo,
Maringo, Mgwashi, Irente, Makweli and
Magundi).
Men were 108 and women 42.
The knowledgeable elders were selected
with the help of local administrator
(village chairperson), personnel in the
Cilviculture, Natural resource office and
Rural Development Office of the studied
area.

Plants Identification

Specimens were collected for each plant

species encountered in the study area
with the exception of some very
common plants, which were identified in
the site of the study.
Preliminary identification of the collected
specimens was made in the field.
Then, they were dried, deep-frozen and
identified in the Lushoto Herbarium,
using the published volumes of the Flora
of Sambaa and by comparing with
authentic herbarium specimens.
This job was done with the assistance of
taxonomist of Lushoto Herbarium.

Pair-wise comparison and ranking

technique
It was used to investigate frequently used
and threatened medicinal plant species of
some selected medicinal plants.
In this exercise, ten informants were
selected and each was asked to compare
items based on a given criterion (in this
case degree of threat of medicinal plants
in the area) and their personal preference
or perceived degree of importance.
Then the respondents were asked to rank.
Scores were provided for ranking.

Ethnobotanical data analysis

Data
analysis
The relative importance of different
plants in a given community was
determined based on the consensus of
informants' responses.
It was calculated from the proportion of
informants who independently reported
knowledge of a given medicinal use
against a particular disease or disease
category.

Cont
Expert

was consulted at University of

Dodoma (Udom) health center for
translation of diseases

Individual

expressions on the medicinal

plants collection and its effects on plant
conservation
were
recorded
and
presented.

Cont
In

preference ranking technique each

informant was asked to rank items
based on a given criterion.
Then the results were summed up for all
respondents.

 Particulars

of the Respondents
A total of 150 traditional medical
practitioners were interviewed.
Their ages ranged between 20 to 60
years and above,
Out of the 150 informants, 72% were
males and 28% were females.

Results and discussion

Medicinal Plants of the Study area

A

total of 105 plant species grouped in

96 genera belonging to 57 families were
recorded to treat different human
ailments.

The

most dominant family was found to

be compositae, which consists eleven
(11 species - 10.47%) followed by
Lamiaceae (9 species 8.57%).
the number (105) indicates diversity
and richness of medicinal plants at the
study area

Cont
The

ecological environment of an area

determines the kind of plant species to
grow more than other plant species.

Plant

species grow well in an area

depending on biological, physical and
chemical requirements.

Most ten selected medicinal plants

Species

Local name

Plectranthus barbatus

Mzughwa

Omphalogonus calophyllus

Ubombo

Artemisia afra

Fivi

Myrica salicifolia

Mshegheshe

Bindens pilosa

Bwembwe

Aloe spp

Kovongo

Tetradenia riparia

Aake

Rumex abyssinicus

Mnywaywa

Solanecio angulatus

Eza

Ocinum suave

Mzumbasha

Cont
These

species might contain more

bioactive ingredients that are most
effective in the treatment of commonly
found disease conditions in this
community (Moshi et al., 2010).

The most frequently cited diseases

Human ailments

Frequency

Percentage

Gastrointestinal disorders

116

12.44

Children diseases

112

12.00

Malaria and other fever

101

10.80

Pain/Fatigue

103

11.00

Female
dysfunctional 79
bleeding
Skin diseases
72

8.47

Diarrhea

61

6.54

Toothache

54

5.79

67

7.18

Mens libido

33

3.54

Blood diseases

43

4.61

Urinary tract diseases

27

2.89

13

1.39

17

1.82

34

3.64

Respiratory diseases

Spirit,
witchcraft
magic
Diabetes
others (34)

and

7.72

Cont
Respondents

had good knowledge of

diagnosis and treatment of the disease
and could readily distinguish them on
the basis of accepted signs and
symptoms.

Gastrointestinal disorders, children

diseases and malaria are highly
frequently mentioned as being treated
by medicinal plants.

Cont

Reproductive
related
diseases
particularly the increasingly emerging
problem of mens libido has probably
enhanced
increasing
demand
of
medicinal plants.

However, the problem is not stated in its

reality because it is perceived as a taboo
in the society.

Medicinal plant parts used

Cont
The

most commonly selected plant

parts may be preferential because such
parts contain more active ingradient in
comparison to the least used parts
(Yadav et al., 2010).

Cont
The

practice of exploiting perennial

plant parts, such as roots relatively slow
growing woody species,
can result in a decline in both, the size
and distribution of population of the
exploited species.

much collection of leaves could be a

severe threat to some species and slow
both growing and reproducing of
medicinal plants (Yineger et al., 2008).

Methods of Preparation

Cont

During preparation of herbal medicines,

medicinal plant parts are sometimes
mixed with other things like bird or
animal flesh corresponding to the kind
of diseases to be treated.

Collection Sites
At

least 71.33% of all medicinal plants

recorded were collected from the
forests, while only 20% were collected
from cultivated land (farm) and 8.67%
from home garden

Cont
Very

few people grow medicinal plants,

thus plants are less propagated
(Augustino, and Gillah, 2005).
Such plants with medicinal properties
have a shared characteristic of being
over utilized, since every one aim to
maximize utility.
Over collection of the medicinal plants
from the wild is a major threat to their
existence and raises serious concern for
their conservation (Bekalo et al., 2009).

Cont
Besides,

the study examined peoples

perceptions of the sustainability of
medicinal plants collection and its
effects to plants conservation.
Majority of the interviewees (17 of the
25) claimed that many of the people
who collect medicinal plants particularly
the young lack proper knowledge on
how to sustainably collect medicines.

Threatened Medicinal plants in the

study area
Species

Scores Given by Respondents (R1-R10)

Total

Ran

scor

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

R7

R8

R9

R10

41

1st

Aloe spp

31

3rd

Artemisia afra

38

2nd

Omphalogonus
calophyllus

Cont

Omphalogonus

calophyllus Baill
are
uprooted, and their roots are used by
male to increase and to stimulate virility.
The species is transported and sold
even out of the region.
Aloe is mostly used for gastrointestinal
disorders and diabetes.
The

increasing advertisements of Aloe

ssp commodities such as soap, lotions,
tooth paste and others have resulted to
awaken people to utilise Aloe species at
an alarming rate.

 The

findings of the study have revealed

that there is significant diversity of
medicinal plants
used for treatment of
Conclusion
and
human ailments in Western Usambara.
recomendation
Thus, herbal practitioners and the local
community in the study area should be
educated on sustainable methods of
harvesting medicinal plants without
compromising their availability for
future use.

Cont
Conservation

knowledge should be
provided to enable the community to
conserve and preserve medicinal plants.

This will enhance the preservation of

plant diversity.
In
addition, enforcement of laws,
regulations
and
bylaws
governing
collection of medicinal plants should be
introduced to shape peoples behaviours
in promoting sustainable collection of
medicinal plants.

Cont
future

studies should be directed to

investigate effectiveness of these herbal
medicines, identifying their bioactive
compounds
and
their
biomedical
potential.
The community needs to be educated
on the possible toxin that might be
found to some plants.

Thank you