ABSTRACT
The variety and variation among species along with the number of living organisms and ecosystem confers diverse biotic system. In many ways, since immemorial ages, biodiversity have been benefited mankind by providing array of indirect and direct products and essential services and also modulating functionality of ecosystem. The large geographic area of India includes two out of world’s eight biodiversity hotspots which can be grouped into 10 biogeographic regions. Moreover, the negative impact of chemosynthetic products in one hand and on the other, the potential of plants being the largest source of diverse biogenic products have renewed and emphasized the ethnobotanical studies. The studies on indigenous people’s classification, use and management of indigenous plants lead to identification and evaluation of plant-human relations and their conservation. More than 70% of the population of India is reliant on traditional plant-based medicines and about 7,500 plant species have been reported to have medicinal utility in India. The forests of northern and western region of Odisha, India, more specifically the Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Baragarh districts are the rich sources of large number of diverse plants with medicinal and non-medicinal values. A diverse range of 2,727 indigenous plant species under 228 families was reported in Odisha. The challenges of plant-derived products being effective depend on appropriate approaches and problems in-hand that in-turn need help from indigenous knowledge, faith and traditional practices. 284Therefore, analyzing and reporting the traditional knowledge of interaction between diverse plant species and human communities will improve socioeconomic aspects of society.
