Nivo H. Rakotoarivelo Medicinal plants used to treat the most frequent diseases encountered in Ambalabe rural community, Eastern Madagascar // Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine n° 11

 

 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/11/1/68

Conclusions

Traditional medicine remains the primary healthcare system in Ambalabe community. Many plant species are used as remedies for multiple ailments. Unfortunately, the use of medicinal plants in Ambalabe community is still not well documented. Based on literature, no previous in depth studies were conducted in this area. This present study was undertaken with the hope of obtaining more detailed information on how medicinal plants in Ambalabe are used, which largely contributed to prevent the loss of knowledge due to ongoing forest destruction.

Our research indicates that the local population retains an important knowledge about medicinal plants used to treat the most frequent diseases. Our first hypothesis was therefore supported. The results also support our second hypothesis, i.e. that many species used for medicinal purposes might be threatened, especially because we could verify that most were not growing in established protected areas.

To conclude, this paper provides new information on medicinal plants used by the local population in Ambalabe community to fight against frequent diseases. Some species seemed new to sciences or sometimes have new uses never recorded. Further pharmacological studies will be needed to better understand the importance of traditional medicine. Besides, because 83 species were used to treat six most frequent diseases, their conservation should be considered as important to ensure sustainable future use, especially due to the fact that most of them were collected in the surroundings of the villages and in non-protected areas. Sustainable management techniques should be considered, especially for Malagasy endangered species.

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