An estimated 881 species are currently used in Industry for production of herbal products. Around 60 species are imported, about 60 species are cultivated and about 760 species are harvested from the wild. Thus around 90 percent of medicinal plants used by the Indian Industry are collected from the wild. Out of this, more than 70 percent of the collections involve destructive harvesting from the wild, because of the use of parts like roots, bark, wood, stem and also the whole plant in some cases. This poses a definite threat to the genetic stocks and to the diversity of medicinal plants.

How to prioritise medicinal plants of conservation concern?

The prioritisation of native medicinal plants of conservation concern could be done on the basis of the following;

1. Their endemism i.e., being confined to narrow regions.
   Eg: Cycas beddomei Dyer of Central A.P
2. Enlistment in published Red Data Books,
   Eg: Hidegardia populifolia
3. High volume consumption by the traditional medicine industries,
   Eg: Ravolfia serpertina, Garcinia indica, Coscinium fenestratum
4. Traded species that involve destructive harvesting.
   Eg: Pterocarpus santalinus, Decalepis hamiltonii, Oroxylum indicum
5. Phylogenetic distinctness i.e., fewer number of species per genus or family
   Eg: Decalepis hamiltonii -monotypic i.e., the genus Decalepis has only one species. The species thus prioritised need to be assessed in order to find out if their populations which are actually under threat and to what extent.

How to assess the 'threat' status of a species?