Piece Description

A lot of medicines are derived from plants. And today, the growing popularity of traditional medicine has many of us using herbs to prevent and treat ailments. Unfortunately, many of these herbs have become endangered. American Ginseng has been used since the 1700's. It became very popular in China after Chinese ginseng was virtually wiped out by over-harvesting. Now, American ginseng is endangered, too. Black cohosh, a popular remedy for "hot flashes" during menopause, is another endangered herb. Although black cohosh is in high demand, it's rarely cultivated. Today, the herb can be found on the United Nations' list of endangered plants. Governments are starting to take notice. In India, the government has taken steps to both increase the availability of herbal medicines and conserve natural habitats for future production. One way to avoid endangering herbal medicines is to cultivate the plants commercially instead of harvesting them from the wild.