| Abstract: |
India’s tribal territories hold extensive medicinal-plant knowledge, yet habitat conversion, extraction and intergenerational discontinuity can weaken both biological and cultural continuity. This paper examines the relationship between documentation, knowledge transmission and household conservation action through a cross-sectional, secondary-evidence analytical design. A harmonised demonstration dataset was constructed from five Indian tribal-region case-study strata (n = 240 adult knowledge holders), coding 626 medicinal taxon mentions, household practices, perceived threats and a 25-item knowledge score. Descriptive statistics, age-group comparisons and an exploratory logistic model were used to identify correlates of high conservation engagement. Central, eastern, northeastern, western and southern strata contributed 126, 114, 151, 98 and 137 taxa, respectively. Knowledge scores increased from 7.8 among participants aged 18–29 to 19.1 among those aged 60 years or older. Home gardens (58%), seasonal harvest rules (46%) and community nurseries (31%) were the most frequently reported safeguards, whereas forest conversion was the highest-rated threat (mean 4.31/5). After adjustment, training (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.46, 95% CI 1.43–4.23), home gardens (AOR 2.11, 1.29–3.45) and age (AOR 1.82 per decade, 1.39–2.38) were positively associated with high conservation engagement. Results support a coupled conservation approach: community-controlled documentation, benefit-sensitive cultivation and opportunities for youth–elder learning. The numerical analysis is explicitly illustrative rather than a claim of newly collected field observations; it shows how a field protocol can transparently connect ethnobotanical records to conservation decisions. It prioritises transparent interpretation, rights protection and ecological relevance over unsupported generalisation. |
