236-239Considerable knowledge accumulated
by the villagers and tribals on herbal medicine
remains unknown to the scientists
and
urban people. Many plant species associated with the
rural people are on the verge of disappearing
and
are on vulnerable list. The impact of
deforestation, urbanization
and modernization is shifting the rural people from their natural
habitats and their very
knowledge particularly with respect to herbal drugs is slowly
disappearing. Our immediate
concern
is
to preserve this knowledge. Whatever knowledge exists today is
mostly confined to older generation. In this context some approaches needed for the preservation
and development of traditional knowledge are presented here, based on
the author's experience in ethno-medico-botanical survey since two
decades