Prioritizing Conservation of Medicinal Flora in the Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot: An Integrated Ecological and Socioeconomic Approach

To achieve the challenging goals of minimizing loss of species and achieving sustainable use of biodiversity, conservation prioritization merits urgent research attention. The present study identifies the priority of conservation for the medicinal flora of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) region, a H...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental conservation 2019-06, Vol.46 (2), p.147-154
Main Authors: Tali, Bilal A, Khuroo, Anzar A, Nawchoo, Irshad A, Ganie, Aijaz H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biodiversity hot spots
Conservation
Ecological monitoring
Ecosystems
Endangered & extinct species
Endemism
Environmental impact
Environmental policy
Flora
Flowers & plants
Harvesting
Herbal medicine
Medicinal plants
Methods
Natural resources
Nature conservation
Non-Thematic Papers
Plant sciences
Plant species
Socioeconomics
Species
Sustainable use
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:To achieve the challenging goals of minimizing loss of species and achieving sustainable use of biodiversity, conservation prioritization merits urgent research attention. The present study identifies the priority of conservation for the medicinal flora of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) region, a Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. A total of 881 medicinal plant species were scored based on key ecological (endemism, threat status) and socioeconomic (use value, mode of harvesting) criteria, and 50 of these are prioritized for conservation; most of these are narrow endemics. Worryingly, all of the 50 prioritized species are currently recognized under different International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources threat categories, are highly prized for their use in traditional medicine in the region and are precious sustainable bioresources for the herbal industry. Most of these prioritized species are being harvested illegally. This integrated ecological and socioeconomic study has immediate implications for evidence-based and target-orientated conservation policy and practice in this Himalayan region.
ISSN:0376-8929
1469-4387
DOI:10.1017/S0376892918000425