Study area identification The study site is situated in the northern part of Bangladesh where grown different medicinal plants species naturally. Itakhola, Kundupukur, Palashbari and Ramnagar were selected purposively from a total of 62 unions for the study purposes. Total 20 villages were selected from the enlisted villages for study. The survey area and different farmers groups were selected purposively with the help of experienced resource persons. Five respondents were taken as sample respondents from each village and then the data on indigenous medicinal plant species, their conservation and other information that is urgently necessary for the study were collected from the respondents through pretested questionnaires.
Primary data collection Primary data were collected through a formal survey from 15 February to 15 June 2006. Before starting actual survey the study area were visited by the researcher himself to select the household by observing the status of medicinal trees, shrubs, herbs, and knowledge of using these species & the questionnaires were pre-tested with 20 households in order to make necessary modification at field level. Open form questionnaires were used to get explanatory answers & to collect the desired information keeping objectives of the study in mind. All households were visited & the selected respondents were personally interviewed by the researchers himself with the assistance of investigators, having long standing working experience with farm communities of the rural poor people. Data were collected on the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents but emphasis on endangered, threatened & extinct indigenous medicinal plant species, their causes of that, the ways and means of their conservation, income from medicinal plants, knowledge on medicinal plants, preference towards medicinal plants etc. After completion the schedule was checked, verified and were recorded properly. If any item was overlooked, the farmers were revisited for obtaining the correct, valid, reliable data and these were verified, corrected and rationalized by repeating questions, asking neighboring farmers, interviewer’s own judgment in evaluating the accuracy of responses before final compilation of the interview schedule.
Randomly selected hundred household members were the sample respondents in my study. The head of the household either male or female were the sample respondents and the information were collected from them through face to face interviewing as well as visual observation of the respondents homestead and their nearby crop field. Among the hundread sample respondents ten traditional village doctors named kabiraj were taken to get necessary information regarding identification and conservation of medicinal plant species, their medicinal uses, benefits from them in terms of use form and applications methods.
Endangered indigenous medicinal plant species identification: Endangered indigenous medicinal plant species identification was done by the help of rural aged people and long experienced local traditional doctors / Kabiraj. Final editing was done by using different reference books closely related with the title of the study.
Informal survey and group discussion Informal and group discussions were held with the respondents & other stakeholders to get realistic information and appropriate knowledge about indigenous medicinal plant species their documentation, uses against various diseases, their causes of destruction/endangered, problems of their conservation and suggestion of the ways and means of their effective conservation as well as recommendation.
Processing and Analysis of Data Collected information was compiled, coded, tabulated for processing & analyzing in the light of the objective of the study. Required tabulation, some statistical & mathematical analyses were done by using SPSS (12.0) program. Data were classified and presented in tabular form to depict the actual status of medicinal plants and to obtain farmers’ opinion on the contribution of medicinal plants to the rural needy people and their conservation steps. Statistical measures like number, percentage, and standard deviation were used in describing the variables of the study. Tables, graphs, charts and photographs were used for clear understanding of the information.