Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products. Plant-based remedies have been used for centuries and have had no alternative in the western medicine repertoire, while others and their bioactive derivatives are in high demand and have been the central focus of biomedical research. As Medicinal plants move from fringe to mainstream with a greater number of individuals seeking treatments free of side effects, considerable attention has been paid to utilize plant-based products for the prevention and cure of human diseases. An unintended consequence of this increased demand, however, is that the existence of many medicinal plants is now threatened, due to their small population size, narrow distribution area, habitat specificity, and destructive mode of harvesting. In addition, climate change, habitat loss and genetic drift have further endangered these unique species. Although extensive research has been carried out on medicinal and aromatic plants, there is relatively little information available on their global distribution patterns, conservation and the associated laws prevailing.

This book reviews the current status of threatened medicinal plants in light of increased surge in the demand for herbal medicine. It brings together chapters on both wild (non-cultivated) and domestic (cultivated) species having therapeutic values. Thematically, conventional and contemporary approaches to conservation of such threatened medicinal plants with commercial feasibility are presented. The topics of interest include, but not limited to, biotechnology, sustainable development, in situ and ex situ c onservation, and even the relevance of IPR on threatened medicinal plants. We believe this book is useful to horticulturists, botanists, policy makers, conservationists, NGOs and researchers in the academia and the industry sectors.

Dr. P.E.Rajasekharan is a Principal Scientist at the ICAR Indian Institute of Horticultural Research Bangaluru. Dr. Rajasekharan completed his PhD in in vitro conservation of threatened medicinal plants at the Department of Botany, Bangalore University and is known for his contributions to the area of Plant Genetic Resources, i.e. in vitro conservation and cryopreservation of horticultural crops. Also holding 3 Post graduate Diploma one in Intellectual Property Rights from National Law School of India University and Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management from Indira Gandhi National Open University (New Delhi) and another Postgraduate diploma in Ecology and environment from Indian Institute of Ecology, New Delhi. He supervised 20 M. Pharm students of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. He also wrote many review articles and book chapters. He participated in various national and international symposia and seminars and presented the research results on cryopreservation and in vitro conservation. In addition, he has developed globally applicable cryopreservation protocols for the conservation of nuclear genetic diversity (NGD) in pollen of important vegetable, ornamental and endangered medicinal species. He also worked on conservation of threatened medicinal plants and established Field Gene Bank for the same at ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru. He also developed conservation protocols for several RET medicinal plant species including Nothapodytes foetida. Recently he worked on Madhuca insignis rediscovered after 120 years and reintroduced the same in the natural habitats. He currently teaches courses on Plant Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture. Dr. Rajasekharan has more than 200 articles and two books to his credit one book he co-edited with Dr.Ramanatha Rao for Springer Nature entitled Conservation and utilization of horticultural genetic resources. He is an expert reviewer for several international peer-reviewed journals, and sits on the editorial board of several journals. He is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources and Indian Associ