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Conservation of
medicinal plants in the Himalayas if greatly challenged
by their over- and premature harvesting for trade,
habitat destruction, reduction of forest cover, and
fire.
The cultivation of medicinal plants is till at a trial
stage. Only a few indigenous medicinal plant species
have been brought under cultivation in the Himalaya. |
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We believe amchi medicine emphasises disorders as they
manifest in the relationship between body, mind and
soul, especially on the mind aspect of disorders. For
Sowa Rigpa practicers and followers of Buddhism,
ignorance is the root cause of all deseases. |
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Introduction
The Himalayas, the youngest
mountain range in the world, are renowded for their
biological and sociocultural diversity as well as their
unique ecosystems. The cold desert mountains, such as
those of Upper Mustang District and Upper Dolpo mau look
barren, windswept and lifesless to visitors. But upon
looking closely, one will come across a number of plant
species with high sociocultural and economic values.
These areas are particulary important for high value
medicinal plants (with high proportion of endemic
species), and for unique habitats with global
significance. Like in other Himalayan regions, may
traditional doctors (amchi) reside in these areas. They
have been practicing indigenous healing tradition
(referred here as 'Amchi Healing System' or simply as
'Amchi Medicine' based on scholarly knowledge of
'Tibetan Medicine' (Sowa Rigpa) as well as their
emperical knowledge. Like traditional Chinese medicine
and Ayurveda, Sowa Rigpa is scholarly tradition, in
which complex, sophisticated scientific understandings
of health and illness as described in texts which date
to the 8th century combine with local wisdom, passed
through generations of practitioners.
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In places like highland Nepal,
amchi provide front line health care for many of
approximately seven million people living in these
remore regions. This health care not only relies on the
use of local plants and other medicinal ingredients. It
is also grounded in
 Buddhist
ideals and local culture. In Upper Mustang, where this
medicinal plant cultivation projects is being carried
uout, amchi provide health care services and strive to
meet the needs of their community. The Lo Kunphen
Mentsikhang maintains a branch in Lo Manthang, and four
branch clinics opened in 2004. These clinics receive
approximately 1,000 patients each year. They not only
provide services to the local residents of Upper
Mustang, but are also used by traders, pilgrims, and
tourists coming to Upper Mustang from lowland Nepal,
China (Tibet) and abroad. Amchi medicine makes up a
crucial component of locals 'strategies of resort' for
meeting their health care needs. Amchi medicine is
provided care free of charge or for very minimal fee to
most individuals. The new generation of amchi, like
those being trained at Lo Kunphen school, also hope to
learn biomedicine, including first aid and maternal and
child health skills as well as acupuncture techniques.
Although the villages in which amchi work often suffer
lack of high quality biomedical health services, they
strive to work together with government health care
workers to better serve their communities.
The amchi healing system is
highly dependent on plants and other natural resources
for preparing medicines. According to
scholars and practitioners approximately 1,000 species
of plants are used in amchi medicine, with the greatest
share being high altitude Himalayan species. Despite the
great benefit that comes from amchi medicine, this
system is under threat in Nepal and other parts in the
Himalaya. A critical obstacle to the use of amchi
medicine is the limited supply of many plants and
ingredients, some of which are already threatened by
excessive commercial harvesting. In-depth research and
development studies are therefore needed, in
collaboration with indiginous amchis and by integrating
their knowledge and practices, for designing sustainable
management system of Himalayan medicinal plants.
Similary, appropriate methods of value addition and
improvement of market linkages are crucial to improve
rural livelihood by generating income from such plants
in the extreme Himalayan ecological system.
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In situ and ex situ
conservation of medical plants |
Conservation of medicinal plants in the Himalayas is
greatly challenged by their over- and premature
harvesting for trade, habitat distruction, reduction of
forest cover, and fire. However, the major threat to the
medicinal plant populations in the Himalaya is from
commercial harvesting pressure. In Nepal, almost all of
the medicinal plants involved in trade are harvested
from the wild. The traded species even include those
which are banned by the government for collection, and
these species contibute a high proportion of total value
to the commercial collectors.
In amchi medicine, the most frquently used medicinal
plants are slow-growing forest trees, as well as
bulbous, tuberous and thizomatous perennial herbs, with
bark and underground roots/rhizomes being parts most
frquently utilized. Recovery after harvesting of such
medicinal plant species is very slow, that may take many
years even when they are harvested at very low rates.
Indiscriminate harvesting of such slow growing species
for trade by commercial collectors may affect
sustainable regeneration, impede long-term viability of
their populations and finally lead to their rapid
extinction. Application of sustainable hasvesting
practices ensuring continuous growth and evolution of
medicinal plant populations in their natural habitat and
ex situ management through cultivation are the best
approaches to enhance the medicinal plant resource base
in the Himalaya.
In Nepal, in situ conservation of medicinal plants has
been maintained mainly within the protected area
systems.The network of protected areas covering over 18
percent of the total area of the country provide best
habitats for a number of rare, threatened and endagered
medicinal plant species. |
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