Lantana camara threat looms over HP forests

After having devoured many forests in the country, an invasive weed from South America, Lantana camara, is gradually spreading its tentacles to eat away the native medicinal plants found in the Dhauladhar range, an extension of Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, researchers have warned.

During their research, they found that more than 86 per cent plant species were reported to be used for therapeutic purpose by the locals. The study is published in the latest journal of Current Science.

They pointed out that the heavy infestation of Lantana camera in sub-tropical forests has degraded the habitats of native medicinal plant species. The invasion of Lantana camara, which emerged as the most dominant shrub species during the present study, is changing the structure and composition of subtropical forests.

Among the category of medicinal plant, Lantana camara is one, but in India this plant is categorised in poisonous plant as, this plant is among top ten invasive weeds and toxic plant on the earth.

“Since Lantana camara prefers relatively warm climatic condition, it has not yet invaded the temperate and subalpine forests in the region.

“Besides, as Lantana camara spreads in the habitats occupied by many important medicinally and ecologically important species, including Berberis asiatica, Vitex negundo and Adhatoda vasica, its continuous proliferation may be crucial for the survival of these important native plant species,” noted researchers, Natasha Sharma and Chandra Prakash Kala from Ecosystem and Environment Management of Bhopal-based Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM).

They have called for immediate protective steps such as declaring the high density medicinal plant areas as medicinal plant conservation areas among others. The researchers said that apart from their therapeutic properties, these medicinal plant species maintain the health of an ecosystem as each species has a specific role in the functioning of an ecosystem.

During their study, they encountered around 184 plant species in the sampling region, of which 86 per cent had medicinal uses. Among woody plant species, the use of bark was highest, whereas in herbaceous species the use of leaf and root was highest for treatment of over 32 groups of diseases.

Though the local people deserve credit for sustaining village forests for centuries, further loss of medicinal plants at these elevations should be discouraged, said the researchers.

Agreed Sanchit Sharma from AIMIL Pharma, Delhi, which is engaged in production of herbal drugs like Lukoskin for white patches and BGR-34 to treat diabetes, based on extracts from medicinal plants viz. Daruharidra, Giloy, Vijaysar, Gudmar, Manjeestha and Methi.

He laid stress on immediate protection of country's herbal wealth to ensure cost effective herbal drugs to the large segment of the population who can't afford to pay the costlier allopathic drugs. More so, when the Government is going all out of its way to promote the herbal drugs, most of whose efficacy has been well proven through various studies, said Sharma.