Indigenous healthcare practice through medicinal plants from forests by the Mro tribe in Bandarban region, Bangladesh

An exploratory study was conducted on the ethno-botanical perception of the Mro tribe of Bandarban, Bangladesh, to focus on the implications of healthcare using medicinal plants collected from forests. A total of 36 households were assessed using different participatory appraisals through semi-structured questionnaire. The Mro were found to be almost completely dependent on the forest for their medicare. The dimension of dependency reflected their ethno-botanical knowledge. A total of 39 medicinal plant species (8 herbs, 12 shrubs, 6 creepers and 13 trees) were recorded as collected from the forests. The findings of the study concludes that the conservation of the indigenous knowledge of the Mro tribe regarding medicinal plants can conserve the forests as well as give the people the Intellectual Property Rights according to the principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992. This may be a forest conservation tool in the tribal area in Bangladesh. (Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems: 2002 2(2): 59-74)