Open AccessCounting the cost: High demand puts Bunium persicum (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. in jeopardy
Author(s) -
Mukut Sharma,
Manisha Mathela,
Raj Pal Sharma,
Himanshu Bargali,
Gurinderjit Singh Goraya,
Amit Kumar
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of threatened taxa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.264
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 0974-7907
pISSN - 0974-7893
DOI - 10.11609/jott.6831.14.1.20530-20533
Subject(s) - threatened species , geography , population , biology , agroforestry , ecology , demography , sociology , habitat
In the Himalayan region, there have been several reports of medicinal species being reported in peril in the recent decade. Keeping the sudden spurt in price and high demand of yet another highly threatened MAP Bunium persicum (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. commonly known as ‘Kalazeera’ or black cumin of Himachal Pradesh in view, the current communication attempts to raise high conservation concern to preserve the species in the wild in the Lahaul and Pangi landscape of Himachal Pradesh. Based on intensive market surveys and individual interactions with the local populace and traders comprising 255 respondents in the landscape covering 12 villages of Pangi and five villages of Lahaul, the present study revealed that predominant factors that pose a major threat to the wild populations of the species include high market demand, increased illegal trade, destructive harvesting, relentless collection of seeds, competitive wild collection and its restricted population.