Medicinal plant inventory using GIS and GPS in Garunggang Village, Kuala Sub-District, Langkat District, North Sumatra

Abstract

One of the villages around Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser which has long used the plant for medicine is Garunggang Village. This village is located in Kuala Sub-District, Langkat District, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. This study aimed to identify the medicinal plants (herbs) in the agroforestry which stands in Garunggang Village. This research was conducted from February to May 2018. The survey method was used by making fourteen plots in the field. A global positioning system (GPS) was used to record the coordinate points of medicinal plants, and a geographic information system (GIS) was used to analyze the distribution of the medicinal plants. The results showed that there were thirty-seven species with the total of 268 individuals plant found. Senduduk Bulu (Clidemia hirta) was the dominant plant found (sixty-one individual plants) followed by Lengkuas (Alpinia galangal) (twenty-seven individual plants) and Kuning Gajah (Maranta arundinacea) (sixteen individual plants). The information about medicinal plant species is essential. Therefore, it is necessary to develop information of medicinal plant so as to preserve the existing species of plants and to enrich the species of medicinal plants which are not found especially in Garunggang Village.