Floristic inventory and ethnobotanical study of the Naltar valley (Karakoram range),Gilgit,Pakistan

Naltar valley has diverse range of flora inhabiting some natural population of endemic plants listed as endangered category. the present study was carried out to record ethnobotanical uses of plants by local inhabitants of the naltar valley during summer 2009-11. the detailed information was gathered from the native herbal healers (hakeems),shepherds and midwives (daai) by using open ended questionnaire. global positioning system (gps) was used to record coordinates of the 46 localities and their distribution map was designed by using arcgis 9.3. in all,141 plant species belonging to 107 genera and 48 families were found in practice by the natives for fulfilling their daily life requirements. the reported ethnoflora were comprised of 91 herbs and 23 shrubs. the highest numbers of species (133) were used for medicinal purpose,followed by fodder and forage (101 spp.),fuel and timber (37 spp.),ethnoveterinary uses (27 spp.) and miscellaneous (10 spp.). with reference to medicinal plants,133 species were used in treating 48 different diseases/ailments by the local herbalists. family importance value (fiv) indicated that asteraceae was the most dominant (12.06%),followed by fabaceae (7.09%),polygonaceae and rosaceae (7.67% each),while rest of the families had fewer species. the natural ecosystem is declining at rapid pace due to over harvesting coupled with overgrazing and un-sustainable management of flora causing threat to local biodiversity and need a comprehensive plan to protect natural resources.