82 



The AHG would also like to make this Committee of the little-acknowledged fact that 

 human life and human health is inextricably interwoven with environmental well-being. Like 

 plants, humans are simply another part of the greater ecosystem of the planet. However, unlike 

 the plants and most other living organisms, humans provide nothing that the earth needs for her 

 survival, but rather are completely dependent on her resources. Humans have yet to realize the 

 long-term consequences of our environmentally-destructive actions. Excessive development, 

 and loss of species diversity today can have negative effects that may take decades to recognize 

 and generations to reverse, if the damage can be reversed. 



Plants as Medicines 



Many people do not realize that more than 50% of modem pharmaceutical drugs had 

 their origins in plant materials, and though only a fraction of all the species of plants have been 

 examined, humankind has already reaped enomious benefits. Pharmaceutical manufacturers 

 continue to rely on crude plants for the processing of drugs such as estrogenic and 

 progesterenic drugs from the Mexican Wild Yam Dioscorea spp., and more recently Taxol 

 from the Northwestern Pacific Yew Taxus spp. As the natural habitats for these herbs 

 disappear, and the plants become harder to obtain, the costs of the material rises dramatically. 



Though we acknowledge that there is a distinct importance in preserving plant species 

 and their ecosystems for their own inherent value, in contrast to simply preserving them for 

 what they can contribute to society, we also acknowledge that it is important, in an 

 economically-driven society, to provide a strong case that shows there are economic benefits as 

 well. 



IMPORTANCE OF PLANT-DERIVED DRUGS 



• WHO estimates that 80% of the world's population relies chiefly on traditional 

 medicine. 



• A major part of traditional therapies involves the use of plant extracts or their active 

 constituents. 



• 25% of all prescriptions sold in the USA between 1959 and 1980 contained extracts or 

 active principles of higher plants. 



• Consumers in 1980 in the USA paid more than $8 billion for prescriptions containing 

 active principles obtained from plants. 



• WHO/WFPMM study confirms world-wide importance of herbal medicines. 



