Appraches to preservation and revitalization of medicinal plants in natural resources

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of new drugs. Up to ۸۰ % of people in developing countries are totally dependent on herbal drugs for their primary healthcare, and over ۲۵ % of prescribed medicines in developed countries are derived from wild plant species. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund, there are between ۵۰,۰۰۰ and ۸۰,۰۰۰ flowering plant species used for medicinal purposes worldwide. Among these, about ۱۵,۰۰۰ species are threatened with extinction from overharvesting and habitat destruction. The conservation and revitalization of medicinal plants have been studied extensively. we recommended that both conservation, including the establishment of systems for species inventorying and status monitoring, and the need for coordinated conservation practices based on both in situ and ex situ methods and resource management should be adequately taken into account for the revitalization of medicinal plant resources. We e emphasized that biotechnical approaches (e.g. tissue culture, synthetic seed technology, and molecular approaches) should be applied to improve yield and modify the potency of medicinal plants.

Keywords:

Medicinal plants , preservation , in situ and ex situ methods , revitalization , natural resources