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Plants for Life: Medicinal Plants Under Threat

BGCI has published the findings of a year-long investigation into the state of medicinal plants around the world.

• Download the report: "Plants for Life:Medicinal plant conservation and botanic gardens.(PDF 2.6MB)"
• Request a print copy (£5.00 plus post and packaging)
• Purchase a copy from Amazon.co.uk
  
• View media kit

BGCI would like to thank everyone who gave us their valuable input.

This information will help to define priorities for both in situ and ex situ conservation programmes and to facilitate best practice and priority activities for implementation.

We are already using the findings to put together some exciting plans to conserve the most threatened medicinal plants around the world.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation for this project.

Report Summary

Multiple Factors Contribute to Threats

As well as outlining the key trade, livelihood and conservation issues surrounding medicinal plants, the report illustrates the many ways in which botanic gardens can and do contribute to protecting the plants that heal us.

Botanic Gardens' Expanding Role

What came across very clearly was the expansion of the role of botanic gardens; from traditional ex situ conservation to more and more involvement with community work and partnering with other bodies to contribute towards really successful in situ medicinal plant conservation work.

Today, the relevance of botanic gardens to medicinal plant conservation is as strong as it was hundreds of years ago, when the very first botanic gardens were developed specifically for medicinal plant cultivation and research. From visionary education initiatives to cutting-edge genetic technology research; the report draws together the inspirational myriad involvement of botanic gardens in medicinal plant conservation and recommends focus areas for future work.

Call for All to Save these Plants

The report highlights the species considered to be most at risk and BGCI is developing new programmes to address the concerns. Partners are invited from all sectors to collaborate in this crucial work. Contact us for more information - and send us updates and proposals whether you are working in this field or want to support it.

In the News

• Medicinal Plants Under Threat: BBC
• BBC News 24 Interview with BGCI Media Officer James Wong
  
• Radio New Zealand
• Daily Telegraph UK
• Financial Times
• Treehugger

Safety Nets for Medicinal Plants

The Safety Nets project is about the protection of medicinal plants around the world. Huge pressure on medicinal plant resources, largely from habitat destruction and over-harvesting, is straining nature's ability to cope and we are putting human health at risk as a result.

Read more...