An ethnobotanical study on the medicinal plants was conducted in Mecha Wereda which is found in West Gojjam Zone of Amhara National Regional State. It is located about 535 km northwest of Addis Ababa. The objective of the study was to conduct an ethnobotanical investigation in order to compile and document the use and conservation status of traditional medicinal plants in the area. The study was carried out from November 23, 2010 to May 1, 2011 to obtain valuable information from 16 selected kebeles of the study area. In each sample kebele five informants that made up of a total of 80 informants were selected and interviewed. Key informants were selected by purposive random sampling whereas the other informants were selected randomly from the local people of the study area. The ethnobotanical data were gathered through interviewing local communities including local ‘Merigeta’, ‘Debtera’ religious leaders, ‘Balezar’, students and kebele administrators. Primary data were collected using guided field walk, group discussion, semi-structured interview and participatory observation in the field. The inhabitants of the study area used medicinal plants not only for medicinal purpose but also food, shelter, forage, construction and other cultural uses. In the study, a total of 107 medicinal plants belonging to 96 genera and 52 families were recorded and used to treat both human and livestock ailments. The largest diversity of species recorded belonged to four families including the Asteraceae (11.2%), Solanaceae (7.47%), Lamiaceae and Fabaceae (4.67%). Shrubby habits were the major growth form (41.1%) while herbaceous, tree and climbing habits accounted for 36.5%, 15.9% and 6.5% respectively. The study showed that the most frequently used plant parts for the preparation of traditional medicine were leaves (29.8%) followed by roots (22.4%) and fruits (11.2%). These medicinal plant parts were processed in various ways of which the major ones included squeezing (24.9%), powdering (16.6%) and crushing and soaking (infusion) (14.5%). The most common route of administration was oral (55.4%) followed by dermal (26.9%). The status of traditional medicinal plants encountered rarely (12.1%), occasionally (38.4%) and common (49.5%). Among these, 6 (5.7%) of medicinal plant species out of 16 species collected in the homegardens were wild cultivated primarily for the purpose of medicinal uses. The main threats to medicinal plants in the study area were agricultural expansion, firewood, construction, grazing and drought. Therefore, it is recommended that cultivation of medicinal plants should be motivated in homegardens. Keywords: conservation, ethnobotany, IK, Mecha Wereda, medicinal plants