Folk use of medicinal herbs of Margalla Hills National Park, Islamabad

This paper is based on the results of an ethnobotanical research project conducted in Margalla Kills National Park. The inhabitants of the park have always used medicinal herbs for various ailments and have for a long time been dependent on surrounding plant resources for their food, shelter, fodder, health care, and other cultural purposes. However, encroaching industrialisation and the accompanying changes in their life styles are responsible for the decrease of practice in the local use of herbs for medicine. It is, therefore, felt worthwhile to record the native uses of these herbs before the information is lost. About 100 informants were interviewed in this regard. In total 50 species of herbs belonging to 27 families were recorded as used medicinally by inhabitants of the park, among which ten species are being sold in the local market. Asparagus adescendens Roxb., and Viola canesence Wall. ex Roxb. are found vulnerable to harvesting. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.