Growing sales of herbal medicines are threatening to wipe out up to a fifth of the plant species

Growing sales of herbal medicines are threatening to wipe out up to a fifth of the plant species on which the industry depends, a new report claims. It also accuses the herbal medicines industry of doing nothing to stop the problem. The new report, to be published later this year, suggests that two-thirds of the 50,000 medicinal plants in use are still harvested from the wild, and between 4000 and 10,000 of them may now be endangered.

—Nutraingredients.com, 1/9/04