Go
To Index
Page
Conservation
of medicinal plants by
Kalpana Palkhiwala New
Delhi: Medicinal plants have always been considered a healthy source of life.
Therapeutical properties of medicinal plants are very useful in healing various
diseases. There are more than 8000 medicinal plants listed in different classical
and modern texts on medicinal plants. Around 960 medicinal plants are in active
use in all India trade and around 2000 species are documented in Indian Systems
of Medicine like Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha. Similarly, around 4000 species are
used by rural communities in local health practices. The All India Ethno-biology
Survey estimated that over 7,500 plant species are used by 4,635 ethnic communities
for human and veterinary health care across the country. In 1993, the Government
estimated that between 60-80% of India’s population rely on medicinal plants for
health care. Medicinal plants are particularly important to the rural poor, who
are able to harvest these from the wild to meet their primary health care needs.
The Botanical Survey states some of the common medicinal herbs as Brahmi, Babul
gum, Bail, Satawar, Neem, Tesu/Gul Palash, Dalchini, Bhringraj, Amla, Jatropha,
Nagkesar, Jaiphal, Ratanjot, Isabgo, Reetha, Kuth (Bitter), Chiraita, Jamun, Arjun,
Behera, Harad (Choti), Harad (Pili) etc Nodal Agency
on Medicinal Plants The
National Medicinal Plants Board is the designated nodal agency on all issues related
to medicinal plants. It works under the Department of AYUSH, the Ministry of Health
and Family welfare. Besides number of organizations and departments, Viz., ICMR,
CIMAP, DBT, DST, NBPGR, and Ministry of Commerce are also engaged in handling
the subject of medicinal plants but each one has a specific mandate. While it
is research for the first three organisations, it is ex-situ conservation for
NBPGR, and marketing for the Ministry of Commerce. Similarly, research on cultivation
of medicinal plants, especially pertaining to standardization of agro-technology
& breeding techniques is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Genetic
Conservation of Medicinal Plants The
Department of Biotechnology has already set up three national gene banks on medicinal
and aromatic plants at the Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP),
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New
Delhi and Tropical Botanic Garden & Research Institute (TBGRI), Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala. They are engaged in collection, conservation and characterization of the
precious wealth of medicinal and aromatic herbs which are rare/threatened/endangered
or are being used in traditional system, or those which are commercially exploited.
The Regional Research Laboratory (RRL), Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir, is the forth gene
bank which covers the North-Western Himalayan region. A germ-plasma repository
for medicinal plants used in Ayurveda has also been established at Arya Vaidya
Sala, Kottakkal, Kerala. More than 9,000 accessions of important medicinal and
aromatic plant species are being maintained as live material in field gene banks,
in the form of seed, in vitro material and DNA. For long-term conservation, the
accessions are stored under cryogenic conditions. Thrust
on National Afforestation Programme The
Ministry of Environment and Forests has taken various measures for conservation
and proliferation of rare medicinal herbs. United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) Project entitled ‘National Programme on Promoting Conservation of Medicinal
Plants & Traditional Knowledge for Enhancing Health & Livelihood Security’ is
in operation. It is being implemented in nine States-Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
The project is being coordinated by Foundation for Revitalizing of Local Health
Traditions (FRLHT) **, Banglore. These states are of two categories – one, with
five States (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu) wherein
medicinal plants conservation activities have been initiated and the second, with
remaining four States in which the conservation activities are to be initiated
under this project for the first time. The
main aims are to establish a system for Rapid threat assessment and trade regulation;
establish a Network of Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas (MPCAs); establish
a state level medicinal plants seed center; establish Home Herbal Gardens (HHGs)
and prepare Community Knowledge Registers (CKKs); capacity building on community
owned medicinal plants enterprises programmes; communication and advocacy programmes
for outreach and a multi-lingual website programme on Home Doctor. Another
UNDP-GEP project, “Mainstreaming Conservation and Sustainable use of Medicinal
Plant Diversity” covers three Indian States - Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh
and Uttarakhand. The National Medicinal Plant Board, Department of Ayurveda, Yoga
and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), State Medicinal Plant
Boards and FRLHT, Banglore are executing partners in this project. The main objective
of the project is to mainstream the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal
plants with particular reference to globally significant medicinal plants. A Centre
of Excellence on ‘Medicinal Plants & Traditional Knowledge’ at FRLHT, Banglore
also supports this activity which is recognized.
Implementation of the National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Scheme include models
such as ‘Mixed Plantation of Trees having Minor Forest Produce and Medicinal Value’
and Regeneration of Perennial Herbs and Shrubs of Medicinal Value’ that relate
to promotion of medicinal plants through afforestation and regeneration. The States
have been advised to give requisite thrust on plantation of medicinal plants and
bamboos on degraded forest lands and contiguous areas in addition to other species
of local ecological and economic importance in the afforestation activities. This
is intended to contribute towards poverty alleviation and also to ensure livelihood
security of forest fringe dwellers besides ameliorating soil conditions and improving/increasing
forest cover. The States have been also advised to consider setting aside 10%
of the project area for plantation of bamboos and medicinal plants under the NAP.
Conserving and protecting medicinal
plants is being carried out through enforcement of the Indian Forests Act, 1927;
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986; Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the rules under these
Acts. Biological Diversity Act, 2002 The
Government has enacted the Biological Diversity Act in 2002 and notified the Biological
Diversity Rules in 2004, with the aim of conserving and sustainably using biological
diversity, and regulating the biological resources (including the medicinal plants)
and associated traditional knowledge of country with the purpose of securing equitable
sharing of benefits arising out of these resources and associated knowledge. Harvest
of Medicinal Plants Over Ninety-five
percent of India’s medicinal plants are harvested from the wild. Over 200 medicinal
plant species in southern and northern India are classified as rare, endangered
or threatened. The true number of threatened species are, including globally significant
species, is likely to be far higher, but the status of many species is insufficiently
unknown. Banned for Export About
29 species of medicinal plants have so far been identified and notified by Director
General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, New Delhi. Export of these 29
plants, plant portions and their derivatives and extracts as such obtained from
the wild except the formulations made there from is prohibited as these species
required protection against over-exploitation. (PIB Features)
-Feb 2, 2009
|