| Survey
of medicinal plants in Northern
Areas
The Northern Areas are rich in medicinal
plants and herbs and there is a
great potential for their exploitation
in industry and export. The history
of exploration of medicinal plants
here is rich and diverse and is
given in Appendix 1.
Medicinal and aromatic
plants are valuable components of
Northern Areas biodiversity. Its
ecological landscape provides suitable
environment for the natural growth
of medicinal plants. There are two
ecological zones where several species
of economically important plants
are exploited commercially. These
are dry temperate forests and alpine
and high altitude meadows. Since
the majority of Northern Areas fall
under these two zones, they offer
an enormous opportunity for conservation
and sustainable harvest of medicinal
plants. Particularly,. Upper Astore,
Guraz valley, and Baltistan region
are important for medicinal plants.
Similarly, Rattu valley in upper
Astore is famous for Artemisia,
kuth, and cumin seeds. Rasool (1998)
describes over 60 plants of medicinal
and economic value including their
commercial importance, mode of collection
and important uses.
This section
explores the species of plants found
in this area. In this connection,
literature search has revealed a
number of sources which provide
information on this aspect.
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