Objective: As part of the development of natural heritage of Morocco, an ethnobotanical study was conducted in
the region of Agadir Ida Ou Tanane (Southwest Morocco) with the aim to collect detailed information about the
usage of plants in human therapy.
Methodology and results: The survey was carried out over a period of 24 months, by means of semi-structured
and structured interviews. A total of 400 interviews were done with traditional health practitioners and
knowledgeable villagers. Data collected was on, vernacular names of plants, their uses, parts used and mode
of preparation. Other information about users was also collected such as age, sex, level of education. A total of
110 plants species belonging to 53 families and 95 genera were inventoried with 7.27 % of the species endemic
to Morocco. Plants frequently used were: Thymus satureioides (Tazouknnit, Zaitra), Thymus broussonnetii
(Azoukni, Zaater), Argania spinosa (Argan), Tetraclinis articulata (Azouka, Aârar) and Lavandula dentate
(Igerch, Halhal). The elderly (more than 50 years) have more knowledge in medicinal plants with regard to the
other age groups, this indicates that knowledge was acquired by long experience accumulated.
Conclusion and application of results: This survey shows that traditional medicine is still used and constituted a
very rich heritage in Agadir Ida Ou Tanane Region. The collected data may help to avoid the loss of traditional
knowledge on the use of medicinal plants detained in the study area, and represent the preliminary information
required in view of a future phytochemical investigation on the most used plants.