Indigenous herbal plants are important for ecology and culture, but their influence on conserving biodiversity and land is not well-explored. The researchers examined the variety of herbal plants, checked soil properties and investigated traditional ecological knowledge in the Himalayan, Tribal Forest and Semi-Arid areas of India. Both the diversity and abundance of species were measured in quadrats and the soil from the same sighting locations was analyzed for its organic matter content. The community’s understanding of certain species was measured using Use Value (UV) and the Cultural Importance Index (CII) to see how much they matter culturally. Findings showed that both the species variety and the quantity of organic matter were greatest in sacred groves and community-managed forests. In addition, the culturally and ecologically meaningful species were found to be Rauvolfia serpentina, Ocimum sanctum and Terminalia chebula. By comparison, there were fewer types of species and poorer soil quality on semi-arid fallow fields. The research suggests that traditional conservation approaches support better conservation of living things and better land quality. Empirically, this study demonstrates that combining indigenous knowledge and ecological data gives a reliable and local approach to using land sustainably. To help the environment and local people such integration should be formally included in conservation and public policy.
Baviskar et al. (Sat,) studied this question.