Sonibare advocates cultivation, conservation of medicinal plants

In the quest for the provision of sustainable health-care, Professor of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Mubo Sonibare has advocated the cultivation and conservation of medicinal plants in the provision of healthcare.

She gave this position while delivering an inaugural lecture titled: ‘Quest for Sustainable Health Care Provision: Utilisation and Misutilisation of our Co-tenants’ at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, on Thursday, July 29, 2021.

She argued that medicinal plants had been proved to be important in the health care delivery system of many countries, including Nigeria. She however condemned the irrational exploitation of many of these plant genetic resources.

For her, “the utilisation of plants for medicinal purposes has existed from time immemorial. Historically, hundreds of medicinal plants are listed on clay tablets. The Greek physician, Pedanius Dioscorides, described approximately 600 plants and plant products as well as a few mineral and animal products. He also described 1,000 medicines made from the plants and close to 5,000 therapeutic uses of those medicines. This formed the basis of Pharmacopoeias.”

According to her, “Nigeria is blessed with enormous plant species, which are explored for agricultural and medicinal purposes. The frequent use of plants as traditional remedies by people in many of our local communities in Nigeria suggests their established curative and therapeutic significance among indigenes. However, the irrational exploitation of many of these plant genetic resources has subjected them to great risk of extinction. It is evident from our studies that many users of plants for medicinal purposes in most Nigerian communities depend on wild collection without recourse to the issue of sustainability. Plants that were found in abundance in many areas, including reserved parks, have become progressively endangered. It is, therefore, imperative to document and monitor our sacred plants and genetic resources, so that we can use them in the nearest future.”

She further informed that surveys had provided the basis for the continued effort on future drug discovery from indigenous medicinal plants and the need for conservation policy on them. “Lack of conservation will only lead to an increase in the number of endangered species, and it will eventually result in extinction, which is the gradual but sure elimination of taxa,” she stated. With the great potential of medicinal plants to alleviate major health problems in humans and the increased realisation that some wild species are being over-exploited, she contended that the need has arisen to pay a closer attention to the issue of conservation. She argued that extensive cultivation of the medicinal plants should be an urgent task by all stakeholders.

She therefore recommended that the use of key “medicinal plants in a way and rate that does not threaten or endanger the plants must be ensured. The preservation of indigenous knowledge on medicinal plant use is imperative in Nigeria and other African countries. Cultivation and proper documentation of medicinal plants are essential to prevent most of our plants from being endangered or going into extinction.” She insisted that the Plant Use and Conservation Research Ethics Committee (PUREC) should be well funded to ensure the monitoring and proper utilisation of plants.

The inaugural lecture was attended by both members of the university community and the general public.

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