Results
Title

Decimation of Nepal's medicinal plants.

Authors

Mainali, Kumar P.

Abstract

This article reports that according to a new research from the Himalayas, two highly threatened medicinal plants, Nardostachys grandiflora and Neopicrorhiza scrophulariflora, are being endangered by traders. Both of these plants grow only at elevations of 3500-5000 m. The research was conducted by Suresh K. Ghimire and his colleagues. They compared the effects of two harvesting patterns on the ecology of the plants. The results show that survival rates of these plants are decreasing due to commercial activities. Conservation of any natural resource requires the perfect balance of ecological, social and economic interests. Mature rhizomes from mature plants are harvested by the practitioners of traditional Tibetan medicine at specific seasons for local use. In contrast to this sustainable approach, commercial collectors do not wait for the suitable season or they also do not try to find mature plants. They harvest any rhizomes they find and in quantities suitable for export. These activities hamper the regeneration of the plants.

Subjects

HIMALAYA Mountains; MEDICINAL plants; USEFUL plants; ENDANGERED plants; REGENERATION (Biology); CONSERVATION of natural resources; TRADITIONAL medicine; ECOLOGY; ENVIRONMENTAL sciences

Publication

Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment, 2005, Vol 3, Issue 6, p300

ISSN

1540-9295

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.2307/3868558