Identification and Conservation of Important Plant Areas - Plantlife

Identification and Conservation of Important Plant Areas for Medicinal Plants in the Himalaya3.3.2. National-level instruments and processesMonitoring. IPAs can be used to monitor progress against Target 5 of the GSPC‘Protection of 50 per cent of the most important areas for plant diversity assured’ (to be metby 2010). It is possible that the larger scales of IPAs could be the most suitable for thispurpose (i.e. for most countries, the scale shown on Figure 1). Choosing a larger scalewould mean a smaller number of sites, each of which could then be monitored morecarefully.The National Report for India makes a significant comment on the question ofthe scale chosen for IPAs, stating that this should be adequate for ‘generating andabsorbing focused attention’. Monitoring will require the selection of indictors to assessconservation progress. It is recommended here that the indicators chosen shouldinclude social processes and instruments (Table 7), as well as measurements of theactual states of sample populations of plants or habitats.Ayubia national park and Kashmir – thelandscape of Nathagali IPA, Pakistan.PHOTO ALAN HAMILTONLandscape planning. This is an obvious use of IPAs at the national level, including forproviding evidence regarding the siting of reserves. Given the likelihood that some IPAsare yet to be recognised, it is probably best at present to place more emphasis on theoverall patterns revealed by the IPAs (as identified so far) than on specific sites.Takingthis approach, the most remarkable feature of the distribution of IPAs (as currentlyidentified) is their evenly spread west-east scatter along the Himalaya.The obviousconclusion from this is that efforts are needed along the whole length of the Himalayato conserve its plants.Rhodiola sp. Ladakh, India.PHOTO TSEWANG GONBO, LADAKHSOCIETY FOR TRADITIONAL MEDICINES(LSTM).Apart from the evidence provided by the distribution of IPAs, a landscape approach toplant conservation in the Himalaya would seem eminently sensible anyway. Conservingplant diversity across the Himalayan landscape will: (1) help to mitigate against plant lossin the face of climatic change; (2) provide the inhabitants of the Himalaya with plantresources, wherever they live; and (3) help to preserve vital ecosystem services, such aswater supplies and soil stability. Plant conservation is such an important matter forhuman survival in the Himalaya that it should be pursued everywhere, a conclusionwhich accords to the ecosystem approach to conservation (required by the CBD) andwhich is supported by Tibetan philosophy 7 .Protected areas. The National Reports suggest that reserves (especially protectedareas) are significant tools for the conservation of medicinal plants in the Himalaya.Thisis very clearly accepted in Bhutan, which combines a high level of official interest inconservation with a high coverage of protected areas. Many of the core areas forconservation of Himalayan medicinal plants identified in India fall within protected areas,while the National Report for China reports that more than 50% of Chinese medicinalplant species are found in protected areas.What would now be a useful exercise is toreview the geography of protected areas in the Himalaya to ensure that they adequatelycover all natural habitats along both the west-east and altitudinal axes.A good coveragealong these dimensions will help to ensure that the genetic diversity of medicinal speciesis conserved (including in places where the species are not used medicinally and so arejust ‘ordinary plants’, i.e. not potentially benefiting from special local interest). It will alsoprovide the flora with resilience against climatic change.Policy frameworks. Progress in conservation of Himalayan medicinal plants will beachieved primarily through community-level processes, which can be fostered bysupport from traditional healers, cultural groups and industry (see following sections).The government can help by creating suitable policy frameworks, covering such fields30