Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
of prioritised species. Article 8d of CBD specifically states:
'Promote the protection of ecosystems, natural habitats and the
maintenance of viable populations of species in natural sur-
roundings'. The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF),
however, has to have long-term programme, strategy or dedi-
cated funding for monitoring viable populations and undertak-
ing assessment of medicinal plants. National Medicinal Plants
Board located at New Delhi and Indian Council of Agriculture
Research may have to take the lead in this direction.
On a relatively small scale, some efforts have been under-
taken by NGOs using International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria. According to
such studies, 335 wild medicinal plants of India have been iden-
tified as being under various categories of threat of extinction
ranging from near threatened, vulnerable, endangered to criti-
cally endangered. Eighty-four of these species of conservation
concern have been recorded in high volume trade.
There is a need to put in place a long-term systematic threat
assessment programme for important biota, including medicinal
plants, which can be anchored in a network of institutions that have
the competence to study different groups of plants and animals.
9.3
What are the most significant losses?
For example, there are six plant species of high conservation
concern. These are
Aconitum heterophyllum
,
Coscinium fenes-
tratum
,
Decalepis hamiltonii
,
Picrorhiza kurroa
,
Saraca asoca
and
Taxus wallichiana
.
These six plant species are valuable medicinal plant species
that are currently being used in high quantities by India's herbal
industry. They are of extreme conservation concern because of
the rapid decline of their wild populations. The plant materials of
these species are obtained entirely from the wild. They represent
different life forms ranging from herbs to shrubs, climbers and
trees. Their medicinal uses are described in the codified Indian
systems of medicine, namely Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani.
9.4
What impact will the decline of these
plants have?
These six species are used to treat many disease conditions,
namely as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-diarrhoeal, anti-
pyretic, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, in liver diseases as well as
gynaecological disorders.
