INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE & BIOLOGY ISSN Print: 1560–8530; ISSN Online: 1814–9596 13D–008/2014/16–5–1006–1010 http://www.fspublishers.org Full Length Article To cite this paper: Adnan, M., A. Tariq and S. Begum, A. Ullah and S. Mussarat, 2014. Medicinal plants after forest disturbance, restoration and cultivation in Pakistani Himalaya. Int. J. Agric. Biol., 16: 1006‒1010 Medicinal Plants after Forest Disturbance, Restoration and Cultivation in Pakistani Himalaya Muhammad Adnan 1* , Akash Tariq 1 and Shaheen Begum 2 , Ahsan Ullah 1 and Sakina Mussarat 1 1 Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science and Technology, 26000 Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 2 Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, 46000 The Mall Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan *For correspondence: ghurzang@hotmail.com Abstract Himalayan forests of Pakistan are subjected to various anthropogenic pressures, which have resulted in the extinction of several medicinal plants important for rural livelihood as food, healthcare and income. The study was carried out at Ayubia National Park with the objectives (i) to assess the abundance of selected medicinal plant species in disturbed, undisturbed and restored forests, and (ii) to evaluate the cultivation potential of highly valuable medicinal plant species. In the first step, 15 plots were randomly assigned each to three forest types, in which the abundance of five medicinal herbs was assessed. Secondly, five locally valuable species were cultivated each in three replications of 1 m 2 area in agroforest. Density of medicinal plants such as Bergenia ciliata was the highest in undisturbed forest (4.3 m -2 ), intermediate under restored forest (1.8 m -2 ) and the lowest under disturbed forest (01 m -2 ). Podophyllum emodi and Paeonia emodi were found absent from the disturbed forest, while encountered in restored forest. Species such as B. ciliata showed higher production and economic gains (18 US$) on agroforest plot (1 m 2 ). In conclusion, forest restoration has the potential to recover extinct medicinal plant species and can provide local support for forest expansion in the region. In addition, introduction of medicinal plants cultivation into the agricultural system may represent an opportunity for the conservation of such species in the wild and improving rural livelihood. Above all, the application of present study on a wider scale may help in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on food security and may also ensure their sustained supply. © 2014 Friends Science Publishers Keywords: Herbs; Forest types; Density; Agricultural production; Livelihood Introduction Himalayan forests have played a key role in the rural livelihood of both mountains and lowland communities by supplying diversity of valuable forest products for food and medicine (Kala, 2004). The age-old traditional values attached with non timber forest products (NTFPs) such as medicinal plants have gained a tremendous importance in this century (Jabbar et al., 2006). Medicinal plants are an important source of income for the underprivileged communities apart from their contribution in food and health care system (Bussmann and Sharon, 2006). The forest area of Pakistan is comprised of 4.8% of the total geographical area having a deforestation rate of 1.5% per year (FAO, 2005). Forest degradation and deforestation during the recent decades has changed the structure of undisturbed old growth forests to various kinds of degraded forests particularly in the country’s northwest region. Lack of alternatives for resources such as fodder, fuel-wood, timber and medicinal plants are the possible factors of forests degradation (WWF-P, 2004). Humans are the agent behind such factors that affecting water supply, food supply, pollution, extinction of species and climate change (Pokhriyal et al., 2012); while their negative impact on medicinal flora has already been identified (Mishra et al., 2004). Hence, conserving the remaining forests and their biodiversity is the demand of today. Forest restoration is probably be the only solution that will be effective in order to meet the increasing demands for ecosystem services such as particular medicinal plants (Lamb et al., 2005). Ecological restoration could therefore be an important practice to increase the levels of biodiversity in human- altered ecosystems (Brudvig, 2011) and may mitigate the impact of climate change (Harris, 2009). However, to ensure forest restoration, the community may be mobilized towards other alternatives such as cultivation of wild medicinal plant species. Cultivation of medicinal plants is an effective measure of sustainable use of valuable species (Hamilton, 2004) that will not only expand the trade of such resources and high returns to the farmers but will also contribute in the continuous supply as industrial raw material. However, in many countries medicinal plants cultivation did not get much attention (Rao et al., 2004). The present study was carried out in the Ayubia National Park, where large numbers of people is dependent on medicinal plant resources. This study will identify the