The Decline of Indian Medicinal Plants

Traditional Indian medicine has been dominated by generous use of medicinal plants which are known to the local populations since antiquity. Many of these medicinal plants are wild herbs and seeds of different species that rest at the center of Ayurvedic medicine. Modern healthcare professionals and pharmaceuticals are increasingly getting aware of the importance of wild medicinal plants and the pharmaceutical industry is extending the availability of traditional medicinal herbs of India to foreign countries.

Dozens of different Indian medicinal plants are traditionally used for treating many major health problems. Some of these are: Ratti (used for pain relief, sciatica, dysentery, male infertility, cough etc); Garlic or Lahsun (used for pain relief, fever, diabetes, skin problems, cough and general physical weakness); Harshringar (used for respiratory diseases including asthma, fever, cough, and gastrointestinal trouble, and hair and skin problems); Kantaphala (used for treating hysteria, dyspepsia, chronic fever, pain, and inflammation) and numerous others curative species. There are plants, like the Madagascar periwinkle, for treating cancer, and Neem for hepatitis, malaria, and several skin conditions. Then there are also a number of plants for treating psychological problems like Ashwaganda and Ginkgo biloba (for anxiety disorders), Licorice and Damiana (for depression), and Withania (for stress and anemia that may cause epilepsy).

Medicinal plants are certainly not confined to India’s political boundaries but the neighboring land of Nepal is also home to many plants of medicinal value used in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Jatamansi and Kutki are two famous medicinal plant species that largely grow in Nepal and are used in medications in both Nepal and India. The consumer demand for these medicinal plants, however, is much higher in the populated land of India where the pharmaceutical industry is also more developed and productive.

Not unexpectedly, the growing population of India (over a billion people now) and the excessive collection of medicinal plants from the wild have endangered the availability of herbal medicine in near future. In a recent report by the IUCN and TRAFFIC researchers, seven key species of medicinal value are declining sharply due to over-harvesting. These include: Elephant’s Foot, Jatamansi, Kutki, Desert Cistanche, Red Sanders, Himalayan Yew, and Snakeroot. Some of these naturally grow in countries other than India e.g. Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China. The decline in the presence of these species foretells of the potential crisis that the pharmaceutical industry in India, as well as other countries importing Indian medicinal products, may face soon.

Environmental conservation organizations are certainly not oblivious to the endangered medicinal plants of India. The seven species mentioned above are already being protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Cultivation of these plants is also promoted by environmental conservation bodies and over-harvesting is being discouraged through advocacy. However, the implementation of environmental law in India and other developing countries is far from being satisfactory. For sustainable harvesting of India’s medicinal plants, international efforts are ever more in need along with improvements in government policies and pharmaceutical trade.

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