Spiraling demand for herbal medicine is threatening to wipe out up to one-fifth of the world's 50,000 medicinal plant species, New Scientist reported today. Up to 80 percent of people in some countries use herbal treatments, and the industry is valued at over $20 billion, according to Alan Hamilton, author of a World Wildlife Fund report to be released later this year. "It's an extremely serious problem," he told New Scientist. Hamilton also contributed to a second report, Herbal Harvests with a Future, scheduled to be unveiled next week by the United Kingdom-based advocacy group Plantlife International (New Scientist, Jan. 8).

Threatened species include the bearberry - used to treat kidney and digestive problems - as well as tendrilled fitillary, used for respiratory problems, and a saw-wort known as costus or kusta that is used for skin disorders, Plantlife says (BBC Online, Jan. 8). Tetu lakha, a tree found in south Indian and Sri Lankan rainforests and used in anti-cancer drugs in Europe, is also reportedly endangered.

"With demand and commercialization growing fast, the future of the wild plants which have helped most of humanity for centuries is now more uncertain than it has ever been," said Martin Harper of Plantlife.

The group accuses industry officials of harvesting ingredients wastefully and failing to ensure the sustainability of the plants on which its products rely. It says that 11 of the 16 herbal companies in the United Kingdom harvest all their plants from the wild, and the other five grow only a small proportion.

Plantlife has urged industry to invest in cultivation and to label products that have been harvested in a sustainable way (New Scientist).

The British Herbal Medicine Association argues the claims are exaggerated (BBC Online).

Copyright, National Journal Group, 2004