Ecological footprint and sustainability aspects of commercially harvested non-timber forest products (medicinal and aromatic plants) in Hindu Kush Himalayan region of Swat Pakistan

Environmental and ecological stability has been compromised globally as a result of increasing demand and commercial abuse of natural resources. Un-sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has substantially challenged the survival of many wild plants, especially medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), resulting in the extinction of many important species either at local or global levels. To study the ecological aspects and consequences of commercial harvest of medicinal and aromatic plants in Hindu Kush Himalayan region District Swat, a study was designed to carry out extensive market surveys, and observe commercial harvesters in wild to nd the symptoms of over or destructive harvesting. We examined three perspectives: herbal market, collectors and post-harvest survival of these species. Results


Introduction
The use of medicinal plants is ancient and vital to health care of millions of individuals, the primary health care of almost 80% population of the world is based on traditional herbal medicines, and medicinal plants have a signi cant role for the rest of 20% as well, Medicinal and aromatic plants also play a vibrant role in modern economies in the form of rural livelihood and traditional healthcare (Darper et al. 2016;Sher et al. 2016;Tareen et al. 2016). The global herbal remedies are estimated to be approximately US$ 23 billion annually, which play a substantial role in the economies of herbs producers (Schippmann et al. 2002).
Almost two-thirds of the reported 50,000 medicinal and aromatic plant species come from the wild (Edwards 2004). Previously collection of medicinal plants was mostly done by traditional healers. But due to the increased demand, collection of these medicinal plants has become the eld of inexperienced and apathetic commercial collectors (Williams et al. 2000). Over the last decade, a signi cant commercial and scienti c trend of herbal based products has been observed due to its economic potential and widespread cultural suitability (Sher et al. 2014(Sher et al. , 2015a. One of the most devastating problems occurring throughout the world is the extinction of species, and the situation is worsening in the developing countries (Rahbek & Colwell, 2011;Tedesco et al. 2014;Tahir et al. 2016). The common interest concerning biologists and conservationists over the past decade is conservation and preservation of the endangered species. Many people are attached to the trade of medicinal herbs which have been commonly used by the locals to cure various ailments since pre-historical times, and that is the reason why medicinal plants are overexploited and are becoming extinct (Qureshi et al. 2009). However, the un-sustainable collection threatens not only the survival of these medicinal herbs but also the livings of people dependent on them. So these species should be given conservation priorities to protect them from extinction as a result of overexploitation (Hamilton, 2006).

Study Area
Swat valley is among the signi cant valleys of Hindu Kush mountains system and an administrated district of KPK province of Pakistan, situated between 341340o-351550o north latitude and 711100o-721500o east longitude having an altitude of about 733 m in the south to 6261 m in the north (Rahman and Khan, 2011;Qasim et al. 2011;Bilal et al. 2016). With the highest peak of Falaksair (6261 m) (Ali et al. 2012;Shah et al. 2016). The uneven topography of Swat valley, and its range of Altitudes and exposures signi cantly modify the climate with in the area. Therefore seven climatic and vegetation zones can be found in the area, i.e. alpine forest, dry temperate forest, subalpine forest, Subtropical chirr pine forest, dry subtropical broad-leaved forest, moist temperate forest, and tropical dry deciduous forest each with its unique climate (Champion et al. 1965).

Methods
Fieldwork and market surveys were carried out in 2018-20, In April-July 2018, we carried out systematic quantitative surveys on several herbal markets in District Swat and species, price, uses and volumes of Medicinal and aromatic plants sold were recorded from about 220 collectors, traders, and practitioners. We enquired about the quantity of Medicinal and aromatic plants they collect, buy, sell, and discard per week. They were also asked for the abundance and popularity of these species in the area. The data collected helped us calculate the bulk and economic value of plant material available in the market. Afterwards, we estimated total yearly sales of these species (van Andel et al. 2008). Particular picking techniques, the part collected, the observed collection sites and the vegetation type where it was extracted are some of the vital information which was recorded for each species. During eld surveys, we also tried to record indigenous management systems prevailing in the area and searched for potential signs of destructive collection, i.e. killing of individual plants due to destructive and unsustainable harvest. We watched collectors during medicinal plant collection in forest elds and house yards, and identi ed wild-harvested, cultivated wild plants and domesticated exotics. We also tried to nd out the factors behind high economic value and demand in the market. We also compared the prices, current conservation status, post-harvest survival, market supply and availability to identify species with conservation priorities. The data collected was authenticated by the help of different experts, practitioners, Sellers, Users and the available literature.

Identifying Species with conservation priorities
For classi cation of species on the bases of conservation priorities, a protocol modi ed by Albuquerque et al. (2011b), was followed. This takes into account data on the availability of medicinal plants species in the wild in addition to the data on the local uses of each specie. Current study considered this a starting point for the analysis of conservation priorities from a temporal perspective (Souza et al. 2017).

Potential collection sites and Markets in the Area
Given the lack of inventory data and economic analysis at the local level, there exist a minimal data for international trade, domestic production, trade and consumption of Medicinal and aromatic plants in Pakistan as a whole and District Swat in particular. In this study, we tried to collect the grass-root level data and authenticate it from different experts, practitioners, traders, users and available literature.
The study found that District Swat has been contributing a fair amount of medicinal plants to the national and international markets. Mingora is the largest Medicinal and aromatic plants market of the area. As the centre for trade of medicinal plants, it offers inimitable prospects to obtain facts and gures from both collectors and traders about the volumes, diversity and sources of medicinal plants supply. It also give information regarding urban users and their medicinal plant preferences. The study area has a vibrant potential of Medicinal and aromatic plants. After analyzing all the data it is evident that most of the medicinal plants about 63% are being collected from Kalam, Malamjaba, sakhra, Lalku, Elum, Kala kaly and Spin sar areas, the total amount of these leading medicinal and aromatic plants produced is about 210 tons. The survey also shows that about 71% of families living in these areas are solely dependent upon the collection of these medicinal and aromatic plants, while some are found to be part-time collectors. According to the survey conducted average per day collection of these medicinal and aromatic plants from wild sources ranges from 0.5 to 5 kg per day per family. 3.2 Collector's knowledge about sustainable collection, handling and processing of medicinal and aromatic plants After collection, these medicinal plants go through many processes, i.e. drying, smashing, boiling and grinding to get ready to be applied for different ailments by the local community or become a part of many complex Compounds and products to be marketed locally, nationally and internationally. These activities are found to have impacts on the survival and sustainability of these medicinal plants (Fig. 6). Although many projects have been executed since 2009 in the area by some local, national and international nongovernment organizations i.e. National rural support program NRSP, Human development organization doaba HDOD, The United Nations Development Program UNDP and LASUNA etc. to promote and train the collectors for proper and sustainable collection and handling, most of the collectors and handlers 74% still are having no technical knowledge for sustainable harvest, handling and processing of medicinal and aromatic plants as shown in (Fig. 2).
Which is why only about 45% of the collected plant material was found good enough to be sold in international (18%) and national markets (27%), 24% of the collected plants were good enough to be used locally while 31% get wasted. After a detailed investigation of the wasted material, we found 56% of the material get wasted due to improper handling during collection, processing, storage and transportation. While the remaining 44% was due to non-selective collection, i.e. either the wrong part of the potential plants collected or whole plant collected instead of potential part. Hence lake of knowledge about how to collect, what to collect and how to handle, process and store material after collection not only make the collectors unable to get excellent material and maximum nancial bene ts but leads to unsustainable harvest and pose threats to post-harvest survival of this ecological resource (Fig. 6).
3.3 Role of medicinal and aromatic plants in poverty alleviation and local economy and health care system.
People in the rural areas of district swat were found dependent on these ecological resources for their livelihood. Poverty in the area seems to contribute to biodiversity loss, but it is only one of the multiple factors we found. Whether they conserve or overexploit, this resource is dependent upon speci c conditions and circumstances and particularly on the in uence of external governing in uences. The respondents representing all stakeholders were interviewed regarding the bene ts and impacts of collection and trade of medicinal and aromatic plants. After analyzing, the data revealed a vital role of medicinal and aromatic plants to the health care system and economy of the area. Many economic, medicinal, and religious uses and bene ts of these plants were reported by the respondents. The survey also shows that about 71% of families living in these areas are solely dependent upon the collection of these medicinal and aromatic plants, while some are found to be part-time collectors. While some of the collections were solely for personal medicinal use which would indirectly help minimizing health care costs for these families Fig. 3.
Most of the collectors were collecting Medicinal and aromatic plants to earn their livelihoods. The range of earnings from medicinal and aromatic plants collection reported was about PKR 300-2500 per day/family. aromatic plants but among all the stakeholders wholesale traders 57% were found to be the top bene ciaries because they make considerable pro ts from the trade activities by selling these medicinal and aromatic plants in different national and international markets. Overall reported medicinal and aromatic plants were found to contribute about 2.3 million USD to the local economy based on local market survey. And hence play a vital role in poverty alleviation. The study also found that if the collectors are adequately trained for sustainable and selective harvesting, the economic bene ts of Medicinal and aromatic plants will increase by about 30% in the area.

Ecological impacts of the trade in medicinal and aromatic plants: Threat factors
The commercial exploitation of medicinal and aromatic plants raises serious concerns about the environmental consequences of the practice on wild medicinal plants species and the ecosystems from which they are obtained. However, the use of wild plant resources are not detrimental in itself, but the commercialization of these Medicinal and aromatic plants are considerable in the area. We found a direct relationship between the economic importance (Price) of a medicinal plant and its survival challenge Fig. 8.
The impacts of commercialization of these species was evident in the case of Trillium govanianum, which was nearly vanished from the wild at once when a local NGO made the people aware of the economic importance of the specie. Same is the case Morchella esculenta in the area. Besides, increasing pressure on plants populations in the wild can be witnessed as a result of over and unsustainable exploitation of medicinal and aromatic plants from wild resources, lack of knowledge about the potential part of the plant to be collected, destructive collection, improper handling and processing, craze of money-making and habitat loss as a result of deforestation and agricultural encroachments.  Along with other factors, i.e. destructive harvesting, miss handling and habitat loss, the overharvesting as a result of the commercialization of these species was found to challenge the survival of these important species.

Commercial exploitation and species with conservation priorities
We found a direct relationship between the economic importance (Price) of a medicinal plant and its survival. The impacts of commercialization of these species was evident in the case of Trillium govanianum which was nearly vanished from the wild at once when a local NGO made the people aware of about the economic importance of the specie. Same is the case Morchella esculenta in the area these days. If solid steps for training and educating the collectors for sustainable collection of Medicinal and aromatic plants are not taken in time, the area may lose its treasure of this precious natural resource.

Discussion
On the bases of above results it is evident that the livelihood of most of the people living in the investigated sites depend upon the collection and sale of NTFPs especially medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). Also reported by Sher et al. (2005Sher et al. ( , 2010b and Lange (1998) that about 5000 poor families in the area are involved in the collection and marketing of medicinal and aromatic plants. The geo-climatic condition of the study area offers an ideal environment for many high value medicinal and aromatic plants. Hence contributing to economic development of the local people, in particular, and the country in general. But recently it is observed that the natural regeneration ability of these important plants is badly affected by over exploitation for commercial use, deforestation, urbanization, over grazing and by their unauthorized harvesting in the area.
The study on the trade pattern revealed that various MAPs are traded in large amounts both in local, national and international markets. However, unfortunately, due to commercialization and unsustainable harvest, both the population and diversity of these medicinal and aromatic plants is declining at alarming rate. The natural resources are not managed scienti cally, and therefore, these resources are rapidly declining in the study area. Analysis of market, harvesters, and plants indicate that except few species, i.e., cultivated or domesticated, all the other wild plants species i.e. Acorus calamus, Morchella esculenta, Podophyllum hexandrum, Bergenia ciliate, Trillium govanianum, Paeonia emodi, Viola bi ora, Aconitum violaceum and Valeriana jatamansi, were found at the verge of locally endangered as a result of the commercialization and over harvest to the limits, since there is no cultivation for thse species, many of them are struggling for survival in the area. It was witnessed that until the decline of wild resources, the local people seem to have no intentions to cultivate these plants species. For some of them cultivated plants are qualitatively substandard to wild-gathered plants.
Moreover, most of the collectors in the area are seasonal Collectors who collect and sell plants in their free time, also called occasional collectors and do not care about post-harvest survival and sustainability of the wild natural resource but their income. They come and sweep the area in days while the local people who are solely dependent upon these wild resources are more concerned about the sustainability of these resources for their survival. Other factors like con icting land use, cattle ranging, large-scale logging, agriculture, tourism, and deforestation are also responsible for these resources to become scarce. Moreover sustainable harvesting of these plants depends on knowledge of the proper methods of harvesting, time of harvesting and parts used, we have found 74% of the collectors in this area do not have appropriate knowledge for sustainable harvesting of these valuable resources in the wild while Some times daily wage laborers working for PKR. 200-300 per day are hired by the local agents to collect and handle these plants. As a result, the considerable amount of plant material is lost during collection, drying, cleaning, grading, processing and packing at each level of value addition process.
The present study also evaluated price trends and patterns of these marketed plants from collectors to the international markets and their impacts on the survival of the species having high market values. Most of the plant species having high market and medicinal value are vulnerable as there exist no management structure for to the exploitation of these resources. Hence, the rate of harvest is much more and beyond their regeneration ability. Destructive harvesting techniques, Over-extraction and habitat loss are some of the severe threats to MAPs in the area. It was also revealed that harvesters now need to put more energies and walk longer distances for collection of the same materials of plants as compared to past twenty years. The price MAPs was found lowest at the collector's level and increasing much folds from collectors to the national and international markets. Among many, one of the causes for the lower price at collector's level was lack of awareness, as the plant material is mostly handled by untrained people. And results in loss of valuable plant materials due to lake of sustainable scienti c methods and knowledge for collection of medicinal and aromatic plants. It was also observed that MAPs are collected without any proper check, hence results in loss of biodiversity and depletion of wild natural resources.

Conclusion
The current study demonstrates that the ampli ed commercialization, along with other numerous factors is playing a vital role in the decline of Medicinal and aromatic plants resources and species loss in Hindu Kush Himalayan region of Swat Pakistan. More than half of commercial species are found to be harvested exclusively from the wild and hence results in a considerable decline of resources in the wild. And hence species like Acorus calamus, Podophyllum hexandrum, Trillium govanianum, Morchella esculenta, Paeonia emodi, Aconitum violaceum, Bergenia ciliata, Valeriana jatamansi, Viola bi ora are struggling for survival. The study also found that the market value of these resources has a considerable impact on the survival of plant species (i.e. in case of Trillium govanianum). So keeping the increasing market demand and role of commercialization of these herbal species to the welfare and economy of the local people, District Swat should be considered priority zone to promote sustainable medicinal plant conservation, cultivation and extraction. Therefore there is a need to discover and promote ways to harvest medicinal plants sustainably from the wild. Trainings for local collectors to promote sustainable harvest, educating and motivating local farmers to grow these medicinal plants in their elds, and to properly process, and handle the harvested plants in order to prevent wastage of these resources and make maximum economic returns. District Swat location in Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Note: The designations employed and the presentation of the material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Research Square concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This map has been provided by the authors.

Figure 1
District Swat location in Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Note: The designations employed and the presentation of the material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Research Square concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This map has been provided by the authors.

Figure 1
District Swat location in Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Note: The designations employed and the presentation of the material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Research Square concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This map has been provided by the authors.

Figure 7
Source of commercially harvested medicinal and aromatic plants in District Swat n=220.

Figure 7
Source of commercially harvested medicinal and aromatic plants in District Swat n=220.

Figure 7
Page 32/33 Source of commercially harvested medicinal and aromatic plants in District Swat n=220.

Figure 8
Resource exhaustion with increasing commercial value and unsustainable harvest of wild MAPs Figure 8