The paper records the indigenous uses of medicinal plants found in the surroundings of the Naina Devi Sacred Shrine, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. Frequent monitoring of habitats, populations and extraction trend of medicinal plants, rehabilitation of the natural habitats, restoration of the degraded sites, monitoring and management of the invasive species, education and awareness for the local inhabitants and people’s participation in conservation of medicinal plants have been suggested.

The study provides insights into the role of an informal institution of the Santhal tribe of India in the conservation of biodiversity.  The data has been collected from 124 Santhal key informants from six tribal districts from the states of Jharkhand (Dumka, Pakur and Sahibganj) and West Bengal (Birbhum, Bankura and West Medinipur) through the methods of stratified sampling, chain-referrals, personal interactions, and focussed group discussions. The taboos associated with biodiversity conservation have been categorized into six categories such as segment taboo, specific-species taboo, life-stage taboo, temporal taboo, habitat taboo and method taboo.

Madhya Pradesh is rich in floristic as well as ethnic diversity. It comprises 50 Districts and forest covers 30.9% of the total area of the state. More than 41 tribal communities reside in or around the forests and depend mainly on forest resources for their daily requirements like food, fodder, fibre, gum, resin, tannin, wood, medicines, dye etc. Presently, there are a number of ethnobotanical studies being carried out in different tribal inhabited localities of Madhya Pradesh. The paper deals with the 91 weed species of probable medicinal potential, belonging to 79 genera and 38 families from Madhya Pradesh. These taxa are used for curing various ailments among the different ethnic societies. 

The paper deals with 18 species of plants used for curing asthma by the tribes of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh. Root is used in a maximum of 4 practices followed by leaf and fruit (3 each), and others. 9 new or less known practices  are reported. 

The study is an attempt to document the current practice of cultivation, processing and marketing of safed musli in Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh. A sample of farmers (N=267) were interviewed to study the cultivation, harvesting and economics of safed musli. Study revealed that it is economically viable, easy to cultivate and gives good returns to farmers. However, there are some risks which farmers are facing due to fungus attack which needs to be addressed soon.

Detailed study on seed storage and germination trailed in Knema attenuata (Wall. ex Hook. f. & Thomson) Warb.– the IUCN Red Listed ‘least concern’ medicinal tree species revealed that seeds were of recalcitrant nature. Viability of the seeds could be maintained for a longer period of up to 6 months with 47%  Moisture content  (mc) when kept in closed polycarbonate bottles at seed bank condition [20±2⁰C Temp. and 40% Relative Humidity (RH)]. The 55% seed germination under normal climatic condition could be enhanced to a much higher percentage (75±5) inside the mist house chamber (34±3⁰C Temp. and 70-80% RH).

Eugenia roxburghii is an evergreen graceful shrub with a tremendous potential as garden plant. As  a part of ex-situ conservation and popularization of the species, seed longevity was studied by understanding the relationship of seed viability with respect to different moisture contents and storage temperature. Seeds are recognized as recalcitrant, being desiccation as well as chilling sensitive. During hermetic storage, seeds stored at 30⁰C/70%RH retained viability for about 5 months and 4 months in 20⁰C/20% RH. Seeds can be best stored for five months in laboratory conditions.

Elaeocarpus ganitrus Roxb. ex G. Don (Syn. E. angustifolius Bl., E. sphaericus (Gaertn.) K. Schum.) occurs naturally in various parts of India and elsewhere in the world. The plant has poor regeneration in the wild and has been reported as a threatened species in the north-eastern region of India. This plant, known as Rudraksha in India, has been considered very sacred and pious for devotees in Hinduism. As, only limited studies have been carried out on morphometrics of the endocarp, seed and embryo of this species, therefore, the required studies on these aspects including detection of seed presence within the endocarp through X-Ray imaging were carried out and reported in the present article. Findings of the study will be helpful in correct identification of this important species and also in making comparison in case of infrageneric classification and grouping of various Elaeocarpus species within Ganitrus Group (Group V, sub group A).

The intricate dependence of cattle on agriculture resources for their population sustenance, which in turn, is a subsidiary source of income and supplementary insurance of people to maintain equilibrium of the social demography, mainly during collapse in crop yields. In such conditions, cattle raisers are forced to utilize alternate fodder resources from trees growing in vicinity which may lead to their over exploitation and population shrinkage. Identification and recognition of such trees is therefore necessary for population sustenance of both cattle and their fodder resources to avert imbalance in the community structure. The present paper enumerates 132 tree species as potential cattle fodder resources of Madhya Pradesh having highest cattle population in India.