Local traditional healers
Local traditional healers having practical knowledge of plants in medicine were interviewed in 12 villages of the district during October 2003 – April 2004. During the course of the study, four field trips were carried out in the study area totaling 40 days. Methods of selecting informants depended upon the distribution of local people having folk knowledge. They were requested to collect specimens of the plants they knew or to show the plant species on site. These informants were traditional healers themselves or had tradition of healing in their families and had knowledge of the medicinal use of the plants. Fuel wood from the surroundings was the main energy source for cooking and eating. The wealth of medicinal plant knowledge among the people of this district is based on hundreds of years of beliefs and observations. This knowledge has been transmitted orally from generation to generation; however it seems that it is vanishing from the modern society since younger people are not interested to carry on this tradition.