Medicinal plants and conservation efforts in the buffer zone of Kure Mountains National Park (Bartin – Turkey), particularly in Ulus region

The Kure Mountains National Park lies between Kastamonu and Bartin, in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is a place of beauty and magnificent wildlife and has a particular importance related to the age and size of its forests, biodiversity, and variety of its endemic wildlife. Hence, The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has listed the area as one of a hundred forest hot spots in Europe deserving priority conservation. It was declared a National Park in 2000 due to its natural and cultural richness. The core area which covers an area of over 50 000 hectares is surrounded with a buffer zone, in which local inhabitants, mostly living with low income will be able to play an active role in the conservation of the area.

The aim of the present study is to understand the overall picture of medicinal plant knowledge, use and commercialization in the Ulus region of the buffer zone. Additionally, to develop a public education program to encourage the preservation of local knowledge of medicinal plants, forest viability, plant survival and healthy communities. The main results demonstrate that; medicinal plants play a major role in local people's health care; certain species of medicinal plants are commercialized at a large scale and become locally rare and sustainable, controlled harvesting may be beneficial both for the local economy and the habitat conservation. The results also reveal that; a successful approach recognizes the power of local communities and conservation of medicinal plants cannot be effective without the support and involvement of local people.