African medicinal plants SETTING PRIORITIES AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND PRIMARY HEALTHCARE

This series of working papers is intended to provide information and to generate fruitful discussion on key issues in the sustainable and equitable use of plant resources. A Af fr ri ic ca an n m me ed di ic ci in na al l p pl la an nt ts s Setting priorities at the interface between conservation and primary healthcare A A. .B B.. C Cu un nn ni in ng gh ha am m The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The opinions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and do not commit any Organization. African medicinal plants: setting priorities at the interface between conservation and primary healthcare-A.B. CUNNINGHAM 1 Sustainable management of traditional medicinal plant resources is important, not only because of their value as a potential source of new drugs, but due to reliance on traditional medicinal plants for health. The vast majority (70-80%) of people in Africa consult traditional medical practitioners (TMPs) for healthcare. With few exceptions, traditional medicinal plants are gathered from the wild. Although reliance on TMPs may decline in the long term as alternative healthcare facilities become available, increasing demand for popular herbal medicines is expected in the foreseeable future. Over the same period, certain vegetation types that were sources of supply of traditional medicines will drastically decline due to forest clearance for agriculture, afforestation of mon-tane grasslands, uncontrolled burning and livestock grazing. Exclusion from core conservation areas adversely affects TMPs who previously gathered medicinal plants in those sites. In addition, supplies of herbal medicines to TMPs are affected by competing resource uses such as timber logging, commercial harvesting for export and extraction of pharmaceuticals, and use for building materials and fuel. This creates a growing demand for fewer resources, in some cases resulting in local disappearance of favoured and effective sources of traditional medicine and reduced species diversity. The most vulnerable species are popular, slow growing or slow to reproduce, or species with specific habitat requirements and a limited distribution. Although in theory, sustainable use of bark, roots or whole plants used as herbal medicines is possible, the high levels of money and manpower required …