EVALUATION AND CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY OF PLANTS USED FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSE

Abstract

India is a very rich hub of plant biodiversity, many of those are therapeutically and medicinally useful. The rich resources are disappearing at an alarming state because of over-exploitation. Some of the endangered medicinal plants are Saussaurea lappa, Picrorrhiza kurroa, Swertia chirata, Holostemma annnularis, Rauwolfia serpenti-na. Normally there are two methods of conservation: in situ and ex situ conservation. Many techniques were also followed in ancient times to conserve or cultivate plants. There is a need to conserve the medicinal plants to prevent their total extinction from the natural flora. The expanding trade in medicinal plants has implications for the survival of several plant species. Growing demand for therapeutic products from indigenous medicinal plants, itself has positive effect of increased interest in cultivation, which seems a perfect option for improving smallholder farmers’ livelihoods, as well as sustaining the availability of these resources for future generations. Cultivation of medicinal plants provides feasible solutions to pharmaceutical organization, while effectively con-serving threatened indigenous biodiversity. The purpose of this paper is to justify and emphasize the need for the evaluation and cultivation of medicinal plants.