Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFPs) as medicinal and aromatic plants provide convenient and easy source of income for rural people. Due to human interference, over exploitation and indiscriminate harvest, IUCN, WWF and others have red listed them. FRLHT along with State Forest Department in India established in-situ conservation sites of medicinal plants known as Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas (MPCAs). Due to the richness of medicinal plants, the state of Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) in 2003 was declared as ‘Herbal State’. Under UNDP-GEF-GOI funded project for long term conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants, seven MPCAs were selected in Uttarakhand. Out of seven, six MPCAs were sampled by the author using nested quadrates technique for sampling of medicinal plants.

Paphiopedilum fairrieanum is categorized as Critically Endangered in the IUCN red list of threatened species. The species is found only in India, Bhutan and Nepal with a very restricted distribution. Due to over-exploitation for horticultural purpose, more than 95% of the population has lost in the past few decades (probably between 1984-2014). In Arunachal Pradesh, the species is found in West Kameng district with a small population size. During the year 2017-2021, many field explorations were conducted by Orchid Research Centre, Tipi to know the current status of this species in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Four locations were identified with less than 200 mature plants. Area of occupancy (AOO) is estimated as 16 km² and extent of occurrence (EOO) is about 137 km². Based on this, the species is categorized as Endangered (EN) at Arunachal Pradesh Regional level. The largest habitat of Paphiopedilum fairrieanum was measured at Munna-Camp (71 hectares), followed by Gaccham (68 hectares), Tenga-Ledge (15 hectares) and the smallest was measured at Salari (5 hectares). All these areas are owned by local communities and are facing many anthropogenic threats.

Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. is an evergreen, tree of laurel family native to Southeast Asia. In India, the species is found in Eastern Himalayas from Sikkim to Mishmi Hills. The fruit of the plant is a massive source of essential oil (EO) resembling citronella oil. The study explores the variation of EO content of L. cubeba fruit/seeds from 16 different population from North East India. Sixteen numbers of population were selected with 10 accessions for the study. Fruits were crushed to hydro distillation by using Clevenger apparatus for 5-6 h and the essential oil was extracted with dichloromethane and finally oil yield was estimated. The highest oil yield (6.15±0.05%) was extracted from Mebo area followed by Pashighat (5.47±0.1%) and Kasom Khullen (5.32±0.07%). Otherwise, Jowai (1.53±0.21%), Latyrke (1.53±0.09%) and Sohomi village (1.50±0.16%) exhibited the lowest EO yield. Variation in climato-ecological characteristics of different geographical locations influenced in oil content studied among the population. The present investigation is intended for selection of superior population with high EO yield. The study identified as superior in EO yield of Mebo and Pashighat population and could be potential for large scale cultivation and industrial utilization.

In the present floristic account, a total of fifty-seven taxa belonging to thirty-one genera and eight tribes of the family Asteraceae have been collected and reported from the Sechu Tuan Nalla Wildlife sanctuary. Out of these, eleven taxa are reported for the first time as additions to the flora of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Genus Artemisia stands as largest with seven species followed by the genus Anaphalis with six species in the sanctuary.

The paper deals with 22 species of plants used by the Bagata tribe of Andhra Pradesh for curing kidney diseases. 18 practices were found to be new.

This paper highlights the medicinal use of Andrographis paniculata to cure jaundice.

The paper enumerates 26 species of plants, the bark of which is used by the Bhils of Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh to cure various ailments.

Pavetta blanda Bremek. (Rubiaceae) is distributed in Sri Lanka and India (Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu). The present collection of this species from Kerala forms new distributional record for the state. The paper also discusses nomenclatural issues regarding it.