Published Paper Details:

Himachal Pradesh is the land of rich floral wealth and the lives of folks of Himachal revolve around the diverse forest produce available in their neighborhood that they use for the fulfillment of their day-to- day basic livelihood needs. District Mandi is known for the rich cultural heritage and history represented by its temples. The altitude variation (600 m asl to 4000 m asl) in the district also makes it a floristically very rich district. This floral diversity is the mainstay of the socio-cultural practices in the district with women being the major players who play a very vital role in using and conserving this biodiversity. Most of the fuel wood and fodder is collected from the wild by the women. Women have great faith in the local plants used as for healthcare especially for the newly born children and other primary health care issues. Plants are also used in various rituals, ceremonies, marriages by women as sacred and essential part in the villages of the district. Some plants are even worshipped by women as an ethical practice. Women in the district also take steps to propagate the plant species used in rituals, religious practices and for medicinal purposes. In this paper, total 40 species belonging to 29 families are reported. The most used parts are leaves (29%) and twigs/stem (29%).