Biodiversity, Conservation of Some Medicinal Plants of Katsina State Nigeria

The medicinal values of some plants are identified bythe indigenous people. The indigenous people are generally veryknowledgeable about the wild medicinal plants around them,many of which have local names and are important to the peoplemedically. This traditional knowledge is best starting point foreffective in situ conservation, which requires accurate and up todate information on the status of medicinal plants populations,the extent and nature of plants used by local communities andthe capacity of the resources base to support different economicactivities. This knowledge can be used in the evolution and increation of the awareness of the importance of medicinal plantsas it is generally easier for the public to relate the culturalsignificance than the result of scientific trials. This may not beunconnected with the relatively high cost of conventionalpharmaceutical drugs, inaccessibility of orthodox medicinalservice to a vast majority of people particularly in the rural areasprevalence of fake, substandard or counterfeit drugs in themarket and the problem of anti- biotic resistance whichis verycommon in developing countries. It has been noted that in thelast few decades, there has been an upsurge in the circulation andusage of traditional medicinal plants in the treatment and orpreservation of disease. An understanding of the many aspects ofhuman influence on biodiversity and the underlying drivingforces of the influence is of crucial importance for settingpriorities and directing efforts towards conservation andsustainable use