Biodiversityand conservation of Rare, Endangered and threatened medicinal plantsof Western Ghats
Raviraja Shetty G
University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, India
: J Plant Physiol Pathol
Abstract
T he Western Ghats is very rich in its medicinal wealth. The forests and hills of this region is a treasure house of about 700 medicinal plants. Out of which some are used for traditional and folk medicinal practices. Many are exploited commercially for their active enzymes and their commercial value. There is a global need to conserve and cultivate Medicinal plant. It is being observed that many useful medicinal plants like Raulfia serpentina, Celastrus paniculatahave become either endangered or becoming extinct particularly in the tropical eco-system of developing countries. It is apprehended that the modern allopathic system of medicine will suffer a serious setback if certain medicinal plant species go totally extinct. The uncontrolled collection and sale of large quantities of plant material from the forest leads to destruction of many forest plants. Local communities, traditional medicinal herbalists and herbal medicine vendors popularly collect roots, bark and whole shrubs. This is a serious problem. The need for developing countries to acquire technologies and techniques for programmed cultivation of medicinal plants is a current issue. One has to explore wild medicinal plant species and to bring them under cultivation. Hence, there is imminent need to make efforts for collection, conservation and propagation of endangered medicinal plants, restoring their genetic resources for commercial cultivation.
Biography
