The medicinal plants are facing troubles due to anthropological activities, so medicinal plant surveys are helpful to know about the status of particular plants in a particular areas.
Respected Sir,
Yes of course, surveys are most essential. Tribals are closely associated with plants and they possess good knowledge about plant resources in their vicinity. With the reach of civilization to the ethnic societies the traditional knowledge on the use of these plants is fast vanishing. There is an urgent need to document this knowledge, as other wise it will be lost forever. The traditional systems of medicine are being practiced to achieve the elixir of youth and good health along with many indigenous methods. Ethnomedicine or the folk medicine is one of the ways, which is widely practiced among the tribals and aboriginal population of our country for treating ailments. Primitive societies have depended on herbal remedies for the treatment of diseases and disorders since time immemorial. All traditional systems of medicine had their root and origin in folklore medicine and even today large number of rural and tribal populations adopts herbal remedies for primary health care.
Moreover, a large number of endemic plants are at the brink of extinction. And hence the conservation of the threatened endemic species deserves top priority. Several medicinal plants become threatened because of increasing biotic pressure on natural habitats and unscientific over exploitation. So, their conservation is of paramount importance and that can be made in situ and ex situ. Medicinal plants represent an important health and economic component of biodiversity. It is essential to make the complete inventory of the medicinal component of the flora of any country for conservation and sustainable use. Hence, conservation can be done only if there is a proper survey, documentation and enumeration in any geographical area with rich biodiversity.
Yes, plant surveys are essential and must be followed by several actions and step such as in-situ conservation, ex-situ conservation and records of ethnobotanical uses too.
Depends on the flora of a particular area. You can find out the endangered species, if any and try for their conservation.
Medicinal plants survey along with which part of plant used are essential to identify the extent of exploitation and for conservation purpose of particular species.
Yes...certainly as this is the survey that tells us about geographical health of plant and this will guide us for better and focussed conservation.
Ya, survey is per-requisite for developing a proper action plan of work for that particular area and species. High diversity of RET (Rare Endangered and Threatened) species signifies conservation value of any habitat. Survey is important to generate primary data as well as to validate and update the secondary data. In-situ conservation of the plant is not possible without a proper survey of the selected area.
Yes surveys are important. But the survey of plants, NOT only of the MEDICINAL PLANTS. Because we want to conserve the plants, then survey of all the plants are important. To my mind, it is difficult to conserve plants by surveying the medicinal plants only.
I agree with M. Sidhu. How do you know a plant is medicinal ? So there are types of surveys. The first step however is the survey for plant biodiversity in an area, then you can survey literature or by questionnaire to know if any plant has medicinal properties
Survey of medicinal plant in their natural habitat or field is very much necessary to have definite information about their occurrence, population density, status (abundant/ threatened/rare or endangered/extinct) and their regeneration/cultivation pattern. A quantified information on all these aspects of MPs hold utmost significance in formulating appropriate conservation strategies. The survey, however should also include socioeconomic, cultural and commercial aspects as well as utilization pattern of MPs among neighboring communities and their attitude towards conservation.
Yes. I agree. It is prerequisite for the exact distribution of native medicinal plants in a particular area and find the RET plants in the surveyed plants in a particular area.
Respected Sir,
Yes of course, surveys are most essential. Tribals are closely associated with plants and they possess good knowledge about plant resources in their vicinity. With the reach of civilization to the ethnic societies the traditional knowledge on the use of these plants is fast vanishing. There is an urgent need to document this knowledge, as other wise it will be lost forever. The traditional systems of medicine are being practiced to achieve the elixir of youth and good health along with many indigenous methods. Ethnomedicine or the folk medicine is one of the ways, which is widely practiced among the tribals and aboriginal population of our country for treating ailments. Primitive societies have depended on herbal remedies for the treatment of diseases and disorders since time immemorial. All traditional systems of medicine had their root and origin in folklore medicine and even today large number of rural and tribal populations adopts herbal remedies for primary health care.
Moreover, a large number of endemic plants are at the brink of extinction. And hence the conservation of the threatened endemic species deserves top priority. Several medicinal plants become threatened because of increasing biotic pressure on natural habitats and unscientific over exploitation. So, their conservation is of paramount importance and that can be made in situ and ex situ. Medicinal plants represent an important health and economic component of biodiversity. It is essential to make the complete inventory of the medicinal component of the flora of any country for conservation and sustainable use. Hence, conservation can be done only if there is a proper survey, documentation and enumeration in any geographical area with rich biodiversity.
Most certainly! How else will you conserve or design a conservation plan for what you do not know. Plant surveys are the first and most important step in conservation of Medicinal plants. From them, you will know what plant species you have in a given area, their uses, distribution, habitats etc. This gives baseline data which has multiple uses, for example one may discover from a survey that plant x which used to be abundant in a particular area is now very rare etc
Plants have been used as traditional medicine for several thousand years in India, traditional healers are reported to use 2500 plant species, whereas 100 species of plants are found to serve as regular source of medicines. According to World Health Organisation, all over the world 80% of the people depend on traditional medicines for their primary health care needs. Not only in underdeveloped and developing countries, but also in developed countries 25% of the medicinal drugs are based on plants and their derivatives. The traditional medicinal knowledge of plant and their used by indigenous cultures are not only useful for conservation of cultural traditions, but also for community health care and drug development in the present and future. In India ethnobotany is an age-old treasure with rich ethnic diversity. There are over 400 different tribes and other ethnic groups and their combined population comprise more than 75% of total population of the country. Predominant tribal or human community are fluent with ethnomedicinal knowledge of wild plant species and widening of trade related activities are seriously threatening the natural habitats. So, Survey, collection, documentation and conservation is essential for the medicinal plants.
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