Assessment of Subsistence Plant Resource of the Mangrove Forest in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar

Abstract

An ethnobotanical study on the plant resources of mangrove forests was conducted in the village of Ashe Mayan in the Ayeyarwady Delta, Myanmar. Among 82 species of mangrove flora, 54 species including 19 mangrove plants, 20 mangrove associates and 15 non-mangrove plants were inventoried as useful plants for local subsistence. The cumulative number of plant resources stood at 119 species, consisting of 28 species applied for medical purposes or as poison, 22 species used in crafts, 19 edible species, fourteen species providing construction materials, ten species used for tying, seven species used for fuel, one species used in roofs and walls and 18 species with other purposes. Examining the meteorological and geographical environment, plant features and requisites for life, we assessed that utilization of plant resources of mangrove forests is harmonized with the endemic life culture.