Abstract

In order to document the medicinal plants of the Amurum Forest Reserve, Laminga, Plateau State, Nigeria, a Key Informant Interview was used to collect ethnobotanical data from 13 informants from the four communities (Laminga, Rizek, Sabongari and Fobur) living around the reserve. A total of 20 species of plants, belonging to 14 families and used in treating 20 conditions, were cited by the informants, the most popular being Boswellia dalzielii and Prosopis africana with a frequency of citation of 0.46 and 0.38, respectively. The family Fabaceae, with five species, was the dominant family. The voucher specimens of the plants were preserved at the herbarium of the Department of Biological Sciences of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria. The present study has been able to document a rich cultural heritage of the communities surrounding the forest reserve and to highlight the contribution of the reserve to the welfare of the communities. It is hoped that the communities will reciprocate by supporting the conservation efforts of the management of the reserve. Further scientific studies are required to test the claimed medicinal properties of these plants.

Key words: Ethnomedicinal study, Biodiversity, Conservation, Herbal medicine, Traditional medicine