2017, Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part B

author(s)
El Houssine Bouiamrine, Lamiae Bachiri, Jamal Ibijbijen and Laila Nassiri

abstract
Traditional medicine plays an important role in the primary health care of many people living in rural areas of the developing world. In Morocco traditional medicine is very popular. It is an important form of health care for many rural people especially in Atlas mountainous regions. The present research work was carried out during 2015-2016 in Middle Atlas of Morocco to study the uses and methods of harvesting medicinal plants. The results show that 65 medicinal species were inventoried in the study area. The majority of plants identified in this survey were herbs (63, 07%), although shrubs, trees and various life forms of plant species also play an important role in traditional medicine in the Middle Atlas area. The majority of the medicinal plants traded are harvested from the wild, most of them in an unsustainable manner. Many herbaceous plants traded are uprooted to use only the aerial part. The majority of street vendors are rural women who know well traditional medicine and the identification of medicinal plants. But they know nothing about biodiversity conservation and sustainable harvesting of plants. Today many medicinal plants face extinction but detailed information is lacking. The aim of this study is to examine the practices of harvesting medicinal plants through street vendors in middle Atlas of morocco in order to propose strategies for preserving biodiversity and for sustainable harvesting of plants.