People around the world use between 50,000 to 80,000 flowering plants for medicinal purposes, according to the 2008 report “Medicinal Plants at Risk,” published by the Center for Biological Diversity. Emily Robertson, the report’s author, states that in the United States alone, at least 118 of the top 150 prescription drugs are based on natural sources, including plants (74%), fungi (18%), bacteria (5%), and vertebrate species such as snakes and frogs (3%).
Not surprisingly, wild plant species used for medicinal purposes are receiving ever increasing attention from the scientific community and commercial enterprises. At the same time, these species continue to support indigenous and local communities that have relied on them for centuries in their traditional medicines. But a number of factors now threaten medicinal plants, including habitat destruction, overharvesting, and big business.
Habitat Destruction
Robertson reports that as of 1995, less than 1% of all tropical plants had been screened for possible pharmaceutical use and that habitats are being destroyed faster than scientists can research the plants. The author also states that, based on current extinction rates, the planet may be losing at least one potential major drug every two years.
According to the BBC News article “Medicinal Plants Facing Threat,” published January 19, 2008, five billion people rely on traditional plant-based medicines as their primary form of health care, and such factors as deforestation are putting those plants at risk. “Cures for things such as cancer and HIV may become ‘extinct before they are ever found.’”
Overharvesting
The BBC News article also reports that over-collection contributes to the threat to medicinal plants. Robertson concurs. Not only does overharvesting affect people’s access to traditional medicines, but also threatens commercially valuable wild species. Indeed, overharvesting is threatening the extinction of about 15,000 medicinal plants worldwide.
Wild plant species are used for a number of important drugs. For example, the bark from yew trees forms the basis for paclitaxel, one of the world’s most widely used cancer drugs, according to the BBC News article. However, as Robertson points out, several yew species are now in need of protection from overharvesting as a result of international trade.
Big Business
The risks from habitat destruction and overharvesting have not prevented businesses from seeking out their share. Undoubtedly, medicinal plants are very profitable. Even back in 1995, according to Robertson, a new plant-derived drug was worth an average of $94 million to drug companies. In addition, U.S. sales range from $1.5 to $5.7 billion annually for nonprescription medicinal plants and $24.4 billion worldwide.
“This profitability,” states Robertson, “can make traditionally used, accessible, and affordable medicinal plant resources less available to populations that have relied on them for centuries.” In fact, many private companies have patented traditional remedies - a practice referred to as biopiracy - and sold these remedies at vast profits, with little of that money being returned to the communities of origin.
Future Generations
A number of national and international organizations are now working to protect wild plant species in order to ensure the survival of traditional medicines. Yet these organizations - such as the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Global Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and National Center for the Preservation of Medicinal Herbs - are doing more than protecting centuries of traditional practices. They’re also helping to ensure that the resources for future cures are not destroyed before those cures can be discovered.
As these organizations realize, once the plants are lost, they’re lost forever.
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