야생꽃 정원

The medicinal plant project is a research project which was undertaken in 12 countries of the Asia Pacific region namely Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philppines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This 4 year project covering two phases was undertaken through a collaborative effort between the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and Rural Development Administration (RDA) of the Republic of Korea. The first phase involved the collection and documentation of information on medicinal plants conserved in the Asia Pacific region while the second phase focused on the development of descriptors for the priority medicinal plants species selected in the earlier phase. 

This report provides an overview of the outputs garnered for phase one of this project, which mainly deals with the documentation of all the medicinal plants literature found in their respective countries both published and unpublished. This has led to the development of an inventory for 2917 forms of literature both published (80%) and unpublished (20%) from all the participating countries (except Vietnam). Sources of medicinal plants conserved were namely in research institutions, genebanks and protected areas of the Asia Pacific region. In relation to this, a database for 1789 species of  medicinal plants in the form of a catalogue was developed based on the status of conservation and given details of the plants which included  scientific name, local name, family, place conserved, medicinal values (usage) with illustrations of the plant.  This catalogue was developed using the information collected through the medicinal plant database.

Conservation and utilization has also been in the forefront of medicinal plants research.  Recognizing its importance, this first phase of this project has identified that much research has been done on improving the medicinal values of the species as well as the conservation of these species. Several research gaps identified and documented in the report will also be useful for future research projects in the region.