Conservation of medicinal plants in the tropics

Abstract

The dawn of twentieth century has witnessed increasing realization about the importance of medicinal plants at the global level. Tropical countries, which are a treasure house of these valuable plant species, are under constant pressure and progressively losing these resources due to several man-made as well as climatic factors. Additionally, rural communities in most of these tropical developing economies are greatly dependent on locally-produced plant-based remedies which are majorly harvested from wild sources. Consequently, the loss is insurmountable and necessitates action for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. The herbal and pharmaceutical industry is largely dependent on the regular supply of medicinal and aromatic materials. Efforts to domesticate/propagate these valuable medicinal plants face many challenges. Conventional vegetative propagation is not applicable to all medicinal species and is often very laborious. Seed genebank conservation, though feasible, has limited application. Biotechnology has ushered in a new era in the domain of medicinal plant conservation techniques. The rapid strides made in the past few years with regard to development of in vitro techniques for conservation techniques have enhanced the value to gene banks and clonal repositories. Cryopreservation holds great potential for long-term conservation of germplasm. It is still at an experimental stage in case of medicinal plants and needs detailed experimentation. The essential components of long-term conservation strategy require sustainable production options which include managed harvest and cultivation coupled with viable in situ and ex situ conservation strategies. The need of the hour is to have a strategic, scientific approach for sustainable production through cultivation, reintroduction and improved harvest methods. Keeping in view the looming danger pertaining to loss of medicinal plant diversity, it is of utmost urgency to identify gaps and constraints and outline areas of activity relevant to conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants.