Responses to Malaria Incidence in the Sango Bay Forest Reserve, Uganda

Globally up to two billion people live without or with limited access to effective malaria treatment. We studied a malaria-vulnerable forest community in Uganda to assess the harvesting protocols of plants used to treat malaria in order to determine their utilization thresholds. Up to 232 people were involved in interviews, focus group discussions, and forest transects walks during data collection. Data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using SPSS 10.0 and MINITAB 12.0. Out of the 52 anti-malarial plants recorded, a total of 29 species were new to treating malaria in this region. Herbalists living furthest from the forest were of particular concern because they collected higher quantities than those closer. Men and women collected different plant species (Z = 5.36, P < 0.001) and the distances travelled by collectors (Z = 4.542, P < 0.001) affected the amounts gathered per visit. In the event of scarcity of plants for treatment, forest communities explore new alternatives. Retraining herbalists in less destructive harvesting procedures could reduce pressure on target species without restricting utilization.