Plants for life: - Sacred Seeds Sanctuary

7. Recommendations for medicinal plantconservation by botanic gardensThe questionnaire survey has provided awealth of information on the ways botanicgardens can support medicinal plantconservation. These echo the pointsmade in the previous section, in whichcase studies from questionnaireresponses have already been highlighted.A strong majority of respondentsemphasised the role that botanic gardensplay in conservation education, and thecontinued importance of raisingawareness about medicinal plantresources. Also particularly highlightedwas the role of research and the need forbotanic gardens to develop collaborativeventures, working with partner NGOs andlocal communities.Rescuing Aloe castanea from granite mining.Encephalartos ghellinctii, vulnerable in thewild, slow-growing and rare in cultivation.Prioritise speciesTaking into account the sheer number ofmedicinal plant species around the world(c.70,000) and the number which may bethreatened (c.15,000) comprehensive andconsistent information on the threat statusof medicinal plants at a global level is notyet available. This limits the extent towhich a rational prioritisation can beundertaken for medicinal plantconservation.Logically, the informationrequired for such aprioritisation exercise is:i) which species are mostthreatened; ii) which speciesare most valuable in terms ofhealthcare and of livelihoodsand iii) our ability to conservethe species in question.Botanic gardens are wellplaced to define localpriorities. Globally, BGCI can assist byassessing the extent to which plants arealready in cultivation by botanic gardens,what their threat status is and (throughcollaboration with other organisations)what the priorities for practical action are.Annex 5 lists all the species that weresuggested to us as priority species forconservation action over the next 5 years,as well as their IUCN and CITES status.In most cases the information providedreflects species of national concern asprovided by the respondents.We have also indicated whether thesespecies are held in botanic gardencollections. Several species werementioned more than once, and these35 priority species are presented first.BGCI will pay particular attention to workwith its member gardens to conservethese species (See Section 8 andAnnex 7).Prioritise actions1. ResearchIt is widely recognised that medicinal plantconservation is hampered by a lack ofgood quality information. It is thereforeessential to collect accurate data regardingplant population density in the wild in thepast and present, the current commercialdemand and future projections, methods ofcollection and threats to these plants.Botanic gardens are well placed toundertake research to determine thetaxonomy, propagation and managementtechniques for medicinal plants.20Plants for life: Medicinal plant conservation and botanic gardens