(Second of 3 parts)
What’s a medicinal plant?
There is no single definition of a medicinal plant, yet communities around the world have used various species in traditional medicine since the dawn of time.
However, their use is not limited to ancient practices, but also a source of modern pharmaceuticals, food, perfumes, cosmetics and household cleaners.
With the growing interest in natural products in many countries, conversations among proper use and conservation have become even more important.
Conservation conversation
For decades, wildlife conservation efforts focused primarily on animals, but that perspective has gradually expanded, Ms. Leaman explained.
“It is quite remarkable to consider how many communities–and not only rural harvesters or traditional users, but also the pharmaceutical industry–depend on medicines that have been derived in some way from plants,” she said.
The World Wildlife Day theme also highlights an important shift in global conservation priorities under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the international agreement regulating wildlife trade.
“In many ways, this is a declaration that we’re not just about animals,” Ms. Leaman said. “CITES itself is recognizing that many of the species involved in international trade are plants.”
30,000 plants: Uses and risks
Experts from the Medicinal Plant Specialist Group and the Royal Botanic Gardens in London have compiled global databases documenting species and their uses.
Around 30,000 plant species are widely recognized as medicinal or aromatic plants based on published evidence and trade data.
Like biodiversity more broadly, medicinal and aromatic plants face growing pressure, Ms. Leaman said. Recent assessments of European medicinal plants show threats from agricultural expansion, land-use change and unsustainable harvesting of wild plant populations.
Climate change is also becoming an increasingly serious risk, particularly for species growing in vulnerable habitats such as wetlands and mountain ecosystems. (To be continued)
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