Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

Research Article

Ethnobotanical and Economic Importance of Wild Plant Species of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve, Lebanon

Baydoun SA^1*, Kanj D², Raafat K², Aboul Ela M², Chalak L³ and Arnold-Apostolides N⁴

¹Research Center for Environment and Development, Beirut Arab University, Taanayel, Lebanon

²Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon

³Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, the Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

⁴Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon\

*Corresponding Author:

Baydoun SA
Research Center for Environment and Development
Beirut Arab University, Taanayel, Lebanon
Tel: +961 8 543051, +961 3 949516
Fax: +961 8544051
E-mail: safaa.baydoun@bau.edu.lb

Received date: January 20, 2017; Accepyed date: Feburary 06, 2017; Published date: Feburary 09, 2017

Citation:Baydoun SA, Kanj D, Raafat K, Aboul Ela M, Chalak L, et al. (2017) Ethnobotanical and Economic Importance of Wild Plant Species of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve, Lebanon. J Ecosys Ecograph 7:245. doi: 10.4172/2157-7625.1000245

Copyright: © 2017 Baydoun SA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Wild plants are among the important service forests provide to man. In this study, an ethnobotanical survey of the wild plants of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve of Lebanon has been conducted through personal interviews with key community members of the bioreserve villages. The economic importance of cited ethnobotanical species was then assessed based on the commercial value of species and their relationship to economic crops. The findings revealed that 130 plant species provide the local community with a breadth of wood and non-wood products. Medicinal species ranked highest contributing to 33% of reported use followed by food and beverage (15%), fuel (12%), environmental uses (10%) and materials (8%), while the remaining 22% was shared between other uses (bee plants, poisons, cosmetics, and social uses). Based on their use-values, Ceratonia siliqua, Laurus nobilis, Prunus sp.and Rhus coriaria were among the highest-ranking tree species. Whereas, Cichorium intybus, Eryngium creticum, Gundelia tournefortii, Matricaria chamomilla, Melissa officinalis, Origanum sp., Salvia fruticosa and Viola odorata were at the forefront of herbaceous species. Considering the commercial value and relationship to economic crops, the results demonstrated a list of 21 species of actual and potential high economic importance. Findings of this study clearly indicate that numerous wild plants of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve are still in use and hold high potentiality for economic development. Further studies to map and quantify the availability of these species and develop suitable methods for their propagation and production are necessary.

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