Indigenous knowledge on the uses and conservation of medicinal plants in Namutumba District, Eastern Uganda

BACKGROUND: The decline of medicinal plants poses a significant threat to traditional healthcare systems in Uganda. This decline is driven by excessive global consumption estimated at 85%, and upsurge of herbal medicine trade amidst conservation challenges. This study documented indigenous knowledge on the commonly used medicinal plants in Namutumba district, Eastern Uganda. The study also documented demographic characteristics of informants, and assessed local conservation practices in order to inform more effective conservation strategies. METHODS: An ethnobotanical survey involving 300 respondents was conducted using pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaires in 17 sub-counties of Namutumba District. Data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics using STATA version-15.0, and Graphs plotted using GraphPad Prism® version 9.0.0. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy-four medicinal plant species belonging to 63 families and 160 genera were documented. Plants were mostly obtained from bushlands (Frequency of citation = 276, 92.0%), markets (247, 82.3%), and wetlands (224, 74.7%). Plants belonged mainly to families Fabaceae (24, 13.7%), Asteraceae (15, 8.6%), and Euphorbiaceae (10, 5.7%). Leaves were the commonly used plant parts (532, 45.7%). The plants were cited for treating infectious diseases like malaria, and non-infectious chronic ailments such as diabetes (42, 24.0%) and cancer (17, 9.7%). Kigelia africana was the most cited species with Relative Frequency of Citation of 0.22. Almost all respondents (289, 96.3%) acknowledged a considerable decline in the availability of 13 medicinal plants including Aloe wollastoni and Commiphora Africana, significantly attributed more to climate change (296, 95.5%), than other factors like overharvesting, agriculture, and habitat destruction (χ2, p < 0.05). Conservation strategies were scarce. Four of the medicinal plants documented in this survey were found to be Red listed among the plants whose population has greatly declined and is vulnerable to extinction in Uganda and globally. CONCLUSION: Despite the rich diversity of medicinal plants in Namutumba, conservation strategies are scarce, and some plants are globally red listed among the species whose population has greatly declined and are vulnerable to extinction. Therefore, in Uganda, conservation strategies that are tailored to vulnerable, rural areas such as Namutumba district, are warranted to improve intervention outcomes in such settings.