Herbal remedies endanger plants

[Wudang]

On the BBC news website this which starts "The growing demand for herbal remedies is threatening to wipe out 10,000 of the world's 50,000 medicinal plant species, conservation group WWF says"
So when someone offers you a herbal remedy tell them that you are too "green" and environmentally friendly to rape the planet just to stave off a cold.

 

[shanek]

Not that I'm advocating herbal remedies (although apparently there are a few that have some merit), I have to say I regard this with the same skepticism that I have when I hear how our consumption of paper is causing the trees to go away.

Think about it: Has increased demand for beef made cows at all endangered?

When you eat beef, you're demanding that farmers grow more cattle. When you buy paper or lumber, you demand that more trees be planted. And so it stands to reason that when you purchase an herbal remedy, you're demanding that more of those herbs be planted.

 

[Earthborn]

Shanek, I think you missed the part where it says that "about 90% are taken from the wild."

Sure, there probably will be farms of 'medicinal' plants in the near future so they won't actually get wiped out. Doesn't mean there isn't a problem right now.

I also wonder whether people will still think of herbal medicines as 'natural' if they are farmed on the same industrial scale as other plants and whether there won't be a substantial number of people who continue to demand that their 'remedies' are really taken from 'nature' instead.

 

[Hexxenhammer]

I also wonder whether people will still think of herbal medicines as 'natural' if they are farmed on the same industrial scale as other plants and whether there won't be a substantial number of people who continue to demand that their 'remedies' are really taken from 'nature' instead.

Yeah! I demand FREE RANGE rhino horn powder. None of that zoo grown stuff works.

 

[Mycroft]

Herbs grown indoors with artificial light can be grown with greater potency anyway.

 

[shanek]

Shanek, I think you missed the part where it says that "about 90% are taken from the wild."

And I think you missed that these herbs don't have to be taken from the wild, and it's more than reasonable to conclude that as they become more popular more will be grown in greenhouses. This is how it's happened with cattle and trees as well. Same trend.

 

[Earthborn]

And I think you missed that these herbs don't have to be taken from the wild,

I don't think I did. This is what I wrote:

Sure, there probably will be farms of 'medicinal' plants in the near future so they won't actually get wiped out. Doesn't mean there isn't a problem right now.

See?

and it's more than reasonable to conclude that as they become more popular more will be grown in greenhouses.

Maybe. But it also not unreasonable to assume that there will continue to be a market for herbal 'medicines' from the wild.

This is how it's happened with cattle and trees as well. Same trend.

And that isn't what has happened to fish. Yes, I know there are fish farms, and they are on the increase... But you do realize what most of those farmed fish eat, don't you? Other fish caught in the ocean...

Sure, it would be reasonable if the users of herbal remedies would use farmed herbs instead, or even better: effeciently synthesized active ingredients of the herbs. But I sometimes I have my doubts about the reasonability of people...

 

[Troll]

Yeah! I demand FREE RANGE rhino horn powder. None of that zoo grown stuff works.

Good point

 

[BTox]

And I think you missed that these herbs don't have to be taken from the wild, and it's more than reasonable to conclude that as they become more popular more will be grown in greenhouses. This is how it's happened with cattle and trees as well. Same trend.

You seem to be missing the point that once a species gets exterminated, it's too late. FYI some herbs are difficult to cultivate - sanguinaria/bloodroot is an example.