The task force on High Altitude Medicinal Plants (HAMP), set up under the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), is working on a database of around 2000 medicinal plants in the Himalayas which will give exposure to these rare plant species in the higher altitudes for research.

The task force, at its meeting in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, has decided to publish the database, as the project is in an advanced stage and will be finalised soon. The database will help the researchers to work on rare plant species in the higher altitude of Himalaya which are usually not exposed more of their medicinal usage, said B S Sajwan, chief executive officer, NMPB and a member in the task force.

The objective of the task force is to identify and prepare a database of medicinal plants growing in an altitude of 3000 feet and above including Shivaliks in the western Himalayas and the entire North Eastern states including Darjeeling in West Bengal. At present, a large number of medicinal plants in the high altitude areas of Himalayas are unavailable for the researchers for serious studies due to the geographic conditions and inaccessibility of terrain, adverse climatic conditions and short life cycle of plants.

The government set up the task force by realising an urgent need to document all the information regarding these plants about their present status, usage, occurrence, distribution and threat status, added NMPB officials. "In order to increase the availability of these high altitude medicines, we are also planning to partner with local medicinal plant cultivators associations, self help groups and non governmental organisations to organise awareness camps and workshops," said Sajwan.

The task force, consisting of three groups to study the various aspects in making the high altitude medicinal plants available for more research activities is dealing with issues in identification of critical gaps in R&D and recommend projects, identify proper institutions to bridge such gaps, capacity building and awareness, involvement of civil society of organisations working in the field and leverage their strengths.

The task force will also look into regulatory issues in promoting conservation and cultivation of the medicinal plants and would recommend appropriate amendments to the existing regulations. Developing market linkages, value addition methods and a strategy to promote conservation of medicinal plants both in and out of its natural habitat are also listed as the part of task force job.

In its first meeting conducted in July 2007, shortly after the Union Health Ministry notified setting up the task force, the team had identified that there were about 50 important HAMPs and NMPB would consider prioritizing 15-20 plants for specific zones and promote their development using the agro-technology developed by involving growers and civil society organizations.

The task force is expected to conduct the next meeting after three to four months. The reports from three groups will be collected for documentation and the document will be submitted to the ministry later, said Sajwan.