Biodiversity, management and sustainable use of medicinal and aromatic plant resources

Abstract

Medicinal plants are globally treasured sources of herbal and bioactive products, and they are threatened due to overexploitation, inappropriate harvesting and utilization. Population explosion and climate changes are additional factors which have further endangered these precious botanical gems. Further, the emerging field of herbal products industry holds great potential for economic development. Thus, there is an immediate need to devise and encourage multiplication and cultivation strategies. Conservation is the process of management of biosphere to obtain the greatest benefit for the present generation and maintaining the potential for the future. Many types of action can be taken in favour of the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. This chapter will focus on global trends, developments and prospects for the strategies and methodologies concerning the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plant resources to provide a reliable reference for the conservation and sustainable use. We highlighted that both conservation strategies (legislation, in situ conservations and ex situ conservations), resource management (e.g. good agricultural practices and sustainable use solutions) and the associated laws prevailing should be adequately taken into account for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources. We have also enlisted different biotechnological approaches (micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, molecular marker-based approaches, etc.), that should be applied to improve yield and modify the effectiveness of medicinal herbs.