Ethnobotanical Study and Conservation Status of Medicinal Plants Used by Local Community in Desa Namo Bintang, North Sumatra

The indigenous communities in North Sumatra exhibit unique languages, rituals, traditional dwellings, and profound cultural heritages, encompassing indigenous knowledge of medicinal botany. Modernization, apathy and lifestyle changes among younger generations have put this traditional knowledge in risk of extinction due to its oral transmission throughout generations. Therefore, this study aims to capture the traditional knowledge by ethnobotanical surveys in Desa Namo Bintang for the preservation of potentially vital details. Data collection was conducted by interviewing 97 respondents selected using purposive sampling. The ethnobotanical data recorded were the scientific and vernacular names of medicinal plants, growth form, family, plant part used, preparation methods, medicinal benefits/types of diseases that can be treated, number of plant individuals, conservation status and documentation. The conservation status of medicinal plants was obtained from the website of IUCN Red List. This study recorded 85 species of medicinal plants utilized by local community of Desa Namo Bintang. The predominant medicinal herb utilized by responders were Zingiber officinale, Cymbopogon citratus, Curcuma longa, Kaempferia galanga, and Curcuma xanthorrhiza. The family Zingiberaceae represented the greatest number of species. Leaves were the most prominently utilized plant part and decoction was the main preparation method in the study site. The conservation status of the identified medicinal plants in the study site was mainly Least Concern (LC), while one species, Swietenia mahagoni, was classified as Near Threatened (NT). Community conservation approach should be initiated to the more sustainable utilization.