COIMBATORE: A comprehensive study on 1106 endemic and threatened medicinal plant species at Kalakkad Mudanthurai Tiger Reserve has won wide appreciation at the just concluded 11th Conference of Parties (CoP) on Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad. A 196-page abridged version of the over 15 years of research work by senior Indian forest service officer Manoj Kumar Sarkar was released on the sidelines of the convention. It puts forth key suggestions for biodiversity governance in general and conservation of endemic and threatened medicinal plants of India in particular.
Releasing the book Biodiversity Governance for Managing Endemic and Threatened Medicinal Plants in India - A Geoinformatic Approach, National Biodiversity Authority chairman Dr Balakrishna Pisupati said this commendable research work lays solid foundation for evolving a national policy and action plan on medicinal plants conservation. Manoj Kumar Sarkar is presently chief conservator of forests in Coimbatore and his original work with 558 pages was brought out by the Department of Environment of Government of Tamil Nadu. Receiving the first copy of the abridged version in Hyderabad, Dr. Kazuaki Takemota, Director of Satoyama Initiative of CoP-10 held at Nagoya, Japan, said the work has been published in a timely manner to boost efforts to preserve medicinal plants. Dr. Kalamani Jamulangay, professor and scientific advisor of biodiversity in CBT at Montreal was also present. He said the work would benefit traditional medical systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Tibetian healing.
Hailing from West Bengal, Sarkar is an eminent forest official in Tamil Nadu who has played a major role in protecting its biodiversity. Indian medicinal plants are facing a series of threats including excessive collection, deforestation, non forestry activities and official apathy. Even in Kalakkad Mudanthurai, 58 high value medicinal plants are facing extinction. It is high time to work out strategies to preserve them for future generations,'' said Sarkar, during a brief interface on his return from Hyderabad.
As per his study, forest fires, timber extraction, tea plantations, private enclosures and reservoirs are posing a threat to forests and biodiversity. Destructive harvest of species and tourists entering eco-sensitive areas are also responsible for the loss of plants with medicinal value. As indiscriminate collection of medicinal plants is no more an offence, medicinal plants are fast disappearing, he says.
According to him, globalization has triggered an increase in demand for plant-based medicines and herbal products across the globe and the market has doubled since the 1990s. With at least 85% of the species coming from forests and wild areas, the sector is completely unorganized. Monitoring them is not an easy task. The government has to work with local people and come up with sustainable means of harvesting," he adds. He hopes that the renewed interest on the book at the convention will encourage focus on the issue.
The objective of this study was the rehabilitation of endemic and threatened plant species that provide life-saving drugs. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has indicated that 12.5 per cent of known flowering plants of the world suffer from different degrees of threats. A similar proportion of threatened medicinal plants are found in India, and 112 of such plants are from the southern part of India,'' he says
Releasing the book Biodiversity Governance for Managing Endemic and Threatened Medicinal Plants in India - A Geoinformatic Approach, National Biodiversity Authority chairman Dr Balakrishna Pisupati said this commendable research work lays solid foundation for evolving a national policy and action plan on medicinal plants conservation. Manoj Kumar Sarkar is presently chief conservator of forests in Coimbatore and his original work with 558 pages was brought out by the Department of Environment of Government of Tamil Nadu. Receiving the first copy of the abridged version in Hyderabad, Dr. Kazuaki Takemota, Director of Satoyama Initiative of CoP-10 held at Nagoya, Japan, said the work has been published in a timely manner to boost efforts to preserve medicinal plants. Dr. Kalamani Jamulangay, professor and scientific advisor of biodiversity in CBT at Montreal was also present. He said the work would benefit traditional medical systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Tibetian healing.
Hailing from West Bengal, Sarkar is an eminent forest official in Tamil Nadu who has played a major role in protecting its biodiversity. Indian medicinal plants are facing a series of threats including excessive collection, deforestation, non forestry activities and official apathy. Even in Kalakkad Mudanthurai, 58 high value medicinal plants are facing extinction. It is high time to work out strategies to preserve them for future generations,'' said Sarkar, during a brief interface on his return from Hyderabad.
As per his study, forest fires, timber extraction, tea plantations, private enclosures and reservoirs are posing a threat to forests and biodiversity. Destructive harvest of species and tourists entering eco-sensitive areas are also responsible for the loss of plants with medicinal value. As indiscriminate collection of medicinal plants is no more an offence, medicinal plants are fast disappearing, he says.
According to him, globalization has triggered an increase in demand for plant-based medicines and herbal products across the globe and the market has doubled since the 1990s. With at least 85% of the species coming from forests and wild areas, the sector is completely unorganized. Monitoring them is not an easy task. The government has to work with local people and come up with sustainable means of harvesting," he adds. He hopes that the renewed interest on the book at the convention will encourage focus on the issue.
The objective of this study was the rehabilitation of endemic and threatened plant species that provide life-saving drugs. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has indicated that 12.5 per cent of known flowering plants of the world suffer from different degrees of threats. A similar proportion of threatened medicinal plants are found in India, and 112 of such plants are from the southern part of India,'' he says
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