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The Use of Medicinal Plants in Healthcare Practices by Rohingya Refugees in a Degraded Forest and Conservation Area of Bangladesh

Mohammed Abu Sayed Arfin Khan
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh

Sharif Ahmed Mukul*
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh

Mohammed Salim Uddin
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh Natural Resource Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Mohammad Golam Kibria
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh

Fahmida Sultan
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

People in developing countries traditionally rely on plants for their primary healthcare. This dependence is relatively higher in forests in remote areas due to the lack of access to modern health facilities and easy availability of the plant products. We carried out an ethno-medicinal survey in Teknaf Game Reserve (TGR), a heavily degraded forest and conservation area in southern Bangladesh, to explore the diversity of plants used by Rohingya refugees for treating various ailments. The study also documented the traditional utilization, collection and perceptions of medicinal plants by the Rohingyas residing on the edges of this conservation area. We collected primary information through direct observation and by interviewing older respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 34 plant species in 28 families were frequently used by the Rohingyas to treat 45 ailments, ranging from simple headaches to highly complex eye and heart diseases. For medicinal preparations and treating various ailments, aboveground plant parts were used more than belowground parts. The collection of medicinal plants was mostly from the TGR.

Keywords: Medicinal plants; Diversity; Healthcare; Rohingyas; Teknaf Game Reserve

Location: In Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

Our study aimed to elucidate the diversity of medicinal plant use, and utilization patterns among the Rohingyas living in and around the Teknaf Game Reserve in southern Bangladesh. This is the first attempt to gather in-depth information on the plant species used by the Rohingyas, as well as associated IK concerning plant collection and preparation, which is now under threat due to rapid deforestation.

Methodology:

The Rohingyas Rohingyas are the people mainly migrated from the Rakhine State in Myanmar to Bangladesh in the early 1960s (Mollah et al. 2004). By 1993, about 233,000 Rohingyas had been resettled in Myanmar and some 30,000 remained in the Cox’s Bazar district, mostly in Teknaf (Bari and Dutta 2004). At present, about 22,000 refugees are reported to be waiting for repatriation from the Kutupalong and Nayapara camps in Cox’s Bazar district. There are two camps (Nayapara Refugee Camps 1 and 2) inside the Teknaf Game Reserve, with a total population of 12,617 Rohingyas (Ashad personal communication 2006). Large populations of Rohingyas also live outside the camps in the south and southeastern parts of Bangladesh. Representatives of non-governmental organizations place the figure at anywhere between 100,000 and 350,000 people (Sajjad 2003). Experts believe that many of those who do not live in the camps returned to Bangladesh after being repatriated to Myanmar. In fact, the Rohingyas who came to Bangladesh again after the large evacuation in the early 1990s have been denied entry to the camps and are not recognized as refugees by the government, which, like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), considers them to be illegal immigrants (Sajjad 2003). These Rohingyas have settled in various villages and have encroached into the adjacent forests.

Study area Teknaf Game Reserve (TGR) comprises an area of 11,615 ha within the larger Teknaf Reserve Forest and has been designated as a protected area since 1983 (Mukul 2007). This is the sixth largest protected area in the country and a natural migration area for the Asian elephant (Elephas maxima). The area lies between 2052¢–2109¢ N and 9208¢–9218¢ E (Rosario 1997) and includes a 23-km long hilly ridge between the Teknaf peninsula sea beach and the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf road. The northern end of TGR begins 48 km south of Cox’s Bazar in Teknaf thana, a sub-district of Cox’s Bazar, just west of Whykeong Bazar. The southern end is just north of Teknaf town (NSP 2006). The coastal and hill areas of TGR offer a variety of habitats, including evergreen and semi-evergreen hill forests, tidal mudflats and mangrove vegetation. The forest has been heavily degraded by local people and migrants, and this accelerated after the occurrence of several cyclones in the early 1990s. There are 115 settlements (locally called paras) in the area, including 14 settlements predominantly inhabited by the Rohingyas (Mollah et al. 2004).

Methods We conducted the survey during several field visits in 2006, and used a semi-structured questionnaire. Two villages, Ledha and Kerontoly, were selected randomly for the study. Ledha is located in Mosuni Forest Beat, and Kerontoly is in Teknaf Sadar Beat of TGR. Of the 188 Rohingya households within the two study villages, we selected 38 households, representing 20% of the total population, for the semi-structured interviews. We interviewed mainly older men and women from these households using a local guide in each site.

Source of Information: International Journal of Biodiversity Science & Management Vol. 5, No. 2, June 2009, 76–82

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: 10.1080/17451590902978855 http://www.informaworld.com

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The study showed that the Rohingyas collect medicinal plants from wild sources, and that this may threaten the diversity of these plants in their natural habitats. The Rohingyas were concerned about the drawbacks of wild harvesting because they realize that they now have to travel even further to collect these plants. In Bangladesh, because so many species of plants have medicinal uses, medicinal plant conservation is, in some ways, a microcosm of plant conservation as a whole. Creating more awareness and introducing these medicinal plants through annual enrichment of forest plantations could positively affect the country’s declining stock of such plants. Our study also shows that the Rohingyas have inherited a rich traditional knowledge regarding the ethno-medicinal uses of plants. This paper should not only provide recognition of this knowledge but also help in its conservation vis-a`-vis providing pharmacological leads for production of new medicines.

Knowledge Management: Journal