Medicinal resources

Medicinal plants or part of them, have been collected and used throughout the millennia by populations, for their medicinal properties. All over the world, in both developing and developed countries, there is an ever increasing interest in medicinal and aromatic plants regarding their use, development, cultivation, conservation, sustainable use, etc. Today, plant-derived medicines are the basis for medical treatment in many countries. These treatments being traditional or considered as more "modern".

Grasslands host a wide variety of medicinal plants. In one study in the Philippine, 58 species have been identified. Grasslands degradation will lead to the loss of these natural medicines.

A variety of aquatic plants and animals are used in traditional medicine, e.g. sea horse, star fish, sea urchin and sea cucumber. Algae are a rich source of beta carotene and other carotenoids used widely in pharmaceuticals and can be harvested from the wild or from aquaculture ponds. Pollution, habitat destruction and overfishing are threatening these plants and animals. Sustainable management is needed to keep this medicine reservoir alive.

Key medicines such as Quinine, which effectively fights malaria, come from trees. Traditional knowledge can teach us a lot about other possible natural remedy as long as the fragile balance of the forest ecosystems is kept.