Diversity, Medicinal Uses and Conservation Status of Medicinal Plants at Mandaragiri, Angul Forest Division, Odisha, India

The present paper provides the status of medicinal plant species growing in and around the tribal settlements of Mandaragiri region and emphasizes on their medicinal uses. A total number of eighty two species belonging to seventy four genera and forty families are represented as medicinal value. Species such as Acacia catechu, Acacia nilotica, Buchanania lanzan, Emblica officinalis, Gardenia sp., Indigofera cassioides, Shorea robusta and Woodfordia fruticosa are rare at Mandaragiri forest. Whereas, plants like Rauvolfia serpentina, Santalum album, Streblus asper and Spondias pinnata are endangered species at Mandaragiri forest.


Introduction
Plants are the basis of life on earth, supplying fresh oxygen and play an important role to people's livelihood. Worldwide, 422,000 seed plants are reported and more than 50,000 of them are used for medicinal purposes [1]. Besides, 85% of traditional medicine practices used in primary healthcare is derived from plants. India and China, two of the largest Asian countries, have the richest arrays of registered and relatively well known medicinal plants [2]. India is one of the twelve mega biodiversity countries of the world having rich vegetation with a various medicinal value. About 43% of plants from Indian subcontinent (approximately 7,500 species) are reported to have medicinal value [3]. Indian subcontinent is being inhabited by over 53. 8  The dialectical relationship between indigenous knowledge and practices shapes the ecosystem and affects the constituent plant populations [4]. By incorporating indigenous knowledge and use in the process of scientific research, new hypotheses for the sustainable conservation of the resources can be developed [5]. Indigenous knowledge and use have to be analyzed to develop appropriate management measures that build on both scientific and local knowledge [6]. Due to the changing perception of the local people, and the ever increasing influence of global commercialization and socio-economic transformation, indigenous knowledge on plant resource use is constantly diminishing [7,8]. In addition to this lack of organized sustainable and scientifically monitored cultivation and harvesting management techniques, lack of awareness of social factors, the number of usefulness of plant resources is decreasing at an alarming rate [8]. The continuous exploitation of several wild medicinal plant species have resulted in population decline of many high value medicinal plants. Furthermore, the indigenous knowledge on the use of lesser known plants declines rapidly [9].
Until today, there are not any studies about the medicinal plants and their uses from the Mandaragiri region inhabitants. The present paper aims to record in detail the status of medicinal plant species growing in and around the tribal settlements of Mandaragiri region and to emphasize on their medicinal uses. The Mandaragiri forest lies between 20 0 47' 15'' and 20 0 49' 00'' north latitude and 85 0 1' 30'' and 85 0 3' 30'' east longitude in the district of Angul, Odisha, India. The Mandaragiri forest is a unique fragile ecosystem covering 586 hectares of forest land (Figures 1 & 2). The whole mountain was covered with dense forest but due to lack of protection, a rapid, large scale felling of trees occurred since 1970, diminishing the forest cover. In 1995, the people of the surrounding nine villages formed the Mandaragiri Surakshya Manch in order to protect the forest. Now the mountain boasts a thick sprawling green and many useful plants. Inhabitants around Mandaragiri hill are attached to it and have a basic natural feeling for its conservation due to different religious beliefs and mythological reasons. The climate of Mandaragiri is warm and humid. Summer months are very hot with maximum day temperatures 45-47°C in the months of May and June which drops sensibly with the onset of the monsoon. When the monsoon withdraws in October, the daytime temperature remains the same however the nights become cooler. Gradually, both day and night temperatures fall. The coolest month is December when temperature at night varies between 6°C and 11°C. Relative humidity is maximum in October and minimum in April and May.

Materials and Methods
Field study (16 trip) was conducted from time to time during both winter and summer to generate the information's by contacting village medicine men and Kavirajs (Vaidyas). They were interviewed to record different plants used in primary healthcare system for various remedies . The spot identification of medicinal plants was done with the help of local experts and published floras [10]. Fresh samples of species which could not been identified were brought to the institution and identified in the laboratory. The diversity and place of distribution was recorded. Nativity and endemism were identified based on the distribution of the species.
To establish the uses of the medicinal plants literature was composed from the earlier published books by Kirtikar et al. [11][12][13]. In the following tabulation, the plant names have been arranged alphabetically accordingly their botanical names.

Results
A Total number of 82 species belonging to 74 genera and 40 families were recorded. Fabaceae (9 species); Anacardiaceae (5); Mimosaceae (5); Moraceae (5); Apocynaceae (4); Caesalpiniaceae (4); Combretaceae (4) and Verbenaceae (4)     Local users rely on subsistence agriculture; with plants performing vital roles as crops, fodders, fruits and vegetables, fuel wood, building materials and medicines. Moreover, some plant species have religious value; some are used for construction as timber, while many of them are used for edible purpose. Local users use plant parts such as bark, root, leaf, seed, flower, fruit or entire plant for medicinal purpose to cure their different nature of ailments. People rely on plant-based medicines for primary health care against stomachache, diarrhea, bacillary dysentery, colic dysentery, constipation, digestion problem, gastric, stomach pain, rheumatic problems, respiratory problems such as cough, cold, bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, fever, skin diseases and bone fracture.

Discussion
Plants are of utmost interest to the human race and our ancestors lived on nuts, roots, succulent stems, fruits and other parts of plants. Today Today, it is estimated that about 1,000 species of medicinal plants are facing threat to their existence, and some of them have become extinct in the wild. The Mandragiri forest constitutes a vast treasure of diverse medicinal plants. Many of the identified medicinal species and many more are yet to be identified may exist from Mandragiri. Therefore, steps must be taken for their identification and conservation both by ex-situ and in-situ means.In order to protect the biological diversity following measures are advise for conservation purpose viz. (i) In-situ conservation of wild population in forests and other in-situ habitats like sacred grooves and community forests; (ii) Establishment of herbal gardens to conserve representative populations of medicinal plants (iii) Establishment of several home gardens to conserve intra-specific diversity of plants useful for human and livestock health; (iv) Large scale organic cultivation of selected cultivars of medicinal plants. Many authors have advocated the involvement of local people in the protection of natural resources, such as forests and wildlife. So, involvement of local peoples can also play a major role in the conservation with following ways-(i) Generate and share information regarding species of medicinal and economic importance and conservation concern; (ii) Promote awareness of the concerns and policies tribes and other groups that safe guard traditional knowledge of native medicinal plants as these pertain to confidentially of information; (iii) Encourage active participation by tribes and other holders of traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to native medicinal plants; and (iv) Conserve indigenous plants and plant communities used in traditional medicines, ceremony, ethnobotany and the natural products industry.

Conclusion
The present study indicates that Mandaragiri forest harbors a high diversity of useful plants. The inhabitants are dependent on folk medicine due to poverty and the traditional belief of its effectiveness. Documentation of availability of medicinal plants has provided useful information. Further ethno-medicinal studies are required from this area, as tribes have a strong belief in the efficacy and success of herbal medicine and traditional healing practices among them. Therefore, it is essential to conserve such a wealth of information hidden among the local people.