Medical Bioprospecting and Ethnobotanical Research

Abstract

The economic value of traditional knowledge is often identified as a reason for conserving and documenting cultural practices. Medicinal plant knowledge is of special value. Conservation of ecosystems such as forests is linked to their potential as sources of medicines. Many research and conservation grants have been awarded on the basis of the perceived economic value of medicinal plants. Research on traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is considered to be a primary means to advance the search for drugs to cure modern plagues.