CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Three medicinal plant species found in the Himalayas have made it to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species following a recent assessment. Meizotropis pellita has been assessed as ‘critically endangered’, Fritilloria cirrhosa as ‘vulnerable’, and Dactylorhiza hatagirea as ‘endangered’.

Detailed explanation-2: -Three medicinal plant species (Meizotropis pellita, Fritillaria cirrhosa, Dactylorhiza hatagirea) found in the Himalayas have been added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species following a recent assessment.

Detailed explanation-3: -The IUCN also lists 244 subspecies and 235 varieties as Vulnerable. No subpopulations of plants have been evaluated by the IUCN.

Detailed explanation-4: -The bad news, however, is that biodiversity is declining. Currently, there are more than 150,300 species on The IUCN Red List, with more than 42,100 species threatened with extinction, including 41% of amphibians, 37% of sharks and rays, 36% of reef building corals, 34% of conifers, 27% of mammals and 13% of birds.

Detailed explanation-5: -Artemisia, Rhododendron, Cinnamomum, Juniperus, Cymbopogon, Aegle, Swertia, Pinus, Origanum, and Saussurea species are some of the major plant genus, whose medicinally important plant species are found in the Himalayan forests.