Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security and Health: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) in the Pamir Region of Tajik and Afghan Badakhshan

Abstract

Situated at the junction of Asia’s largest mountain ranges—the Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Tien Shan—the valleys of the Pamir Mountains share a rich and common flora, fauna, and geography. The residents of the Pamirs, given their remote location and high poverty rates, traditionally relied on local plants for food and treatment of illnesses. This makes evident the strong relation and dependency of Pamir communities on medicinal plants for both food security/livelihoods and health purposes. As traditional medicine continues to provide health care for remote mountain communities in the Pamirs, the rapidly changing climatic conditions impacting medicinal plant populations in their natural habitats make mountain communities more vulnerable to different ailments and food insecurity. Evidence shows that climate change is triggering visible effects on plant populations as well as their distribution in certain geographies. This study documents the impacts of climate change on medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) and food security, lists available MAPs, their uses as medicine and food, and discusses conservation-related issues in the research area. Over a five-year period, local respondents revealed that MAP populations are declining rapidly and shifting from lower to higher elevations. This empirical work confirms that while MAP resources were abundant in the region 15–20 years ago, these resources are rapidly depleting due to anthropogenic and climatic factors. The indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants is rapidly declining as well. Local healers producing herbal remedies tend to share their knowledge through oral communication with family members who, in turn, are less likely to transcribe these remedies or pursue indigenous systems of treating human ailments. These findings on the potential importance of MAPs should be shared with indigenous communities including the effects of their disappearance on both the traditional health and food systems of mountain communities. Such knowledge and technology transfer will help protect medicinal plants from extinction as well as preserve and sustain the practice of herbal medicine. Finally, recording indigenous knowledge, concerning the use and preparation of medicinal plants, ensures the preservation of this endemic culture.