INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IN EXPLOITING AND USING MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE H’MONG PEOPLE IN HANG KIA COMMUNE, MAI CHAU DISTRICT, HOA BINH PROVINCE IN THE DIRECTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The article examines the indigenous knowledge of the H’Mong people in the exploitation and use of medicinal plants in Hang Kia commune, Phu Tho province, from a sustainable development perspective. In the context of declining medicinal plant resources due to overexploitation and the erosion of traditional knowledge, the study highlights the distinctive role of medicinal plants in the livelihoods, health care practices, and spiritual life of the H’Mong community. Through secondary document analysis, field observation, in-depth interviews, and group discussions with traditional healers, village elders, and elderly women, the research demonstrates that H’Mong folk medical knowledge is deeply localized, orally transmitted across generations, and closely intertwined with beliefs in the deity of medicine. Diagnosis, harvesting, and treatment are consistently accompanied by spiritual rituals, which function as a self-regulating mechanism in the use of natural resources. The findings document a list of 20 commonly used medicinal plant species, conserved primarily through two approaches: cultivation in home gardens and selective harvesting in forests. Practices such as avoiding large-scale extraction, refraining from commercial trade in medicinal materials, and differences in medicinal knowledge among ethnic groups help reduce pressure on plant resources. The article concludes that conserving medicinal plants must be inseparable from safeguarding indigenous knowledge and the communities that hold it, viewing this integration as a foundation for sustainable development and the preservation of cultural identity.