PROTECTION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS: A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE IN THE STATE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR

The indigenous and traditional health care system based on the rich diversity of plants associated knowledge serves more than 70% of the Indian population. More than 7500 species of plants have been used in Indian medical traditions and over 2700 documented species of plants are used in classical medical systems of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha. About 1800 plants are documented in various Ayurvedic tenets, about 400 in Unani and approximately 500 in the Siddha system. What is of more interest in almost every tribe or forest based community is the existence of impressive localized knowledge and practices of plant based ethno-medicine. Western Himalayas are a source of almost fifty percent of medicinal plants used in Ayurvedic, Unani and allopathic systems but there has been little concerned effort towards their indigenous cultivation. Of 2500 such plants grown in wild only 300 species are currently used by 8000 licensed drug manufacturing units. As an integral part of western Himalayas the State of Jammu and Kashmir is known for its beauty and biological resources. The herbal wealth of wild medicinal plants of high Mountains has not only been a potential source of revenue to the state but also the only relied indigenous health care system of people in the past. Even now Unani and Ayurvedic systems of medicines play a major role in the health care system of the state.