Evaluation of Medicinal Plant Trade Contribution, And Challenges Affecting Its Conservation in the Urban Livelihood of Ibadan and Ogbomoso Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The extent of the medicinal plant trade is largely unaccounted for as records of sales transactions are seldom kept and the trade is often illicit in nature. The effect of this is usually on its conservation status due to several human activities such as overharvesting and deforestation. This study shows that 1. The income from the trade of medicinal plants contributed to their income level in both metropolises. 2. The people mostly obtained their medicinal plants from the forest which came first in position, and grazing lands as second. 3) Plant collection for them is easy (because they do have information on where to get it) and difficult which is because of changes in land use and overexploitation (as the distance get farer). According to the data gathered from the key-informant discussion, conservation of medicinal plants in the area faces many challenges such as lack of access to land, fund, government policies and lack of conservation awareness.