Kashmir is a home to a variety of populations, a rich cultural legacy entwined with the natural world, and is a hotspot for biodiversity. Kashmir being called the “Paradise on Earth “because of its natural diversity and is a hub of natural products. Medicinal plants in Kashmir have been used in folklore for the treatment of various ailments. In the era of synthetic medicines local people still rely on medicinal plants. However, the use of these plants is not now restricted to the local people as a treatment, but money took over the job. Local people now smuggle these therapeutically active plants overseas just for the sake of earning some money without realizing the consequences like biodiversity threats, environmental and cultural impacts, ecological changes. As the field of research is exponentially shifted towards theuse of natural products this also linearly provides the market for smugglers for natural product trafficking and pave the way for destruction of legal and sustainable supply chain of medicinal plants. Illegal trade of medicinal plants may lead to ecosystem disruption as these plants offer various ecosystem services and help local communities’ means of subsistence. Trafficking of medicinal plants causes an increase rise in overharvesting to meet the market demands and ultimately leads to the extinction of certain species. Some endangered species of Kashmir valley as per searches from various databases areTrillium govanianum (trepatir), Saussurea costus( Kuth) , ,Picrorhiza kurroa (Kood), Aconitum Heterophyllum (Indian Atees), Fritillaria roylei (Sheetkhar), Amebia Benthamii (Kah Zabaan) and Gentiana Kurroo (Nel Kant). Various indigenous tribes rely on these natural products possessing medicinal value for traditional healing methods or treatment practices and possess cultural significance, but smuggling may lead to the loss of traditional knowledge and behaviours which might undermine their cultural importance and cause a rift between indigenous tribes or communities and their environs. The most significant impact of illicit collection is the loss of genetic diversity of those medicinal plants which make them vulnerable to environmental changes and in turn affect the survival of these natural products.
“To prevent the natural product trafficking, sustainable practices or conservation strategies must be implemented by governments, conservation organizations. Also, the awareness among local communities should be promoted, research on the identification of vulnerable species of medicinal plants must be conducted, databases and documentary systems should be developed to track legitimate trade and stop anomalies. Ethical practices should be promoted within herbal and pharmaceutical companies, to make certain that their supplier chains comply with sustainability and legality regulations. It’s the responsibility of people of the valley to prevent their paradise.”
They often focus on an individual or specific plant species which have the high market demands which eventually might lead to their extinction. Natural environ may be destroyed because of smuggling since traffickers frequently use unsustainable techniques like clear-cutting or damaging harvesting techniques. In certain instances, there is a connection between the illicit logging and commerce networks, as well as the smuggling of medicinal plants. All these activities threaten the local biodiversity and ecosystem disruption. To prevent the natural product trafficking, sustainable practices or conservation strategies must be implemented by governments, conservation organizations. Also, the awareness among local communities should be promoted, research on the identification of vulnerable species of medicinal plants must be conducted, databases and documentary systems should be developed to track legitimate trade and stop anomalies. Ethical practices should be promoted within herbal and pharmaceutical companies, to make certain that their supplier chains comply with sustainability and legality regulations. It’s the responsibility of people of the valley to prevent their paradise.
(While Sameena Ramzan is a student of Pharmaceutical chemistry, Rafiya Bashir is a student of Pharmacognosy. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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