Ancient Cyrenian coins dating from 300 BC were often embossed with the image of the silphion plant, demonstrating how highly Mediterranean societies valued it as both a medicine and commodity. But as it was collected only from wild sources, it became a victim of its own success and can no longer be found.

Many medicinal plants today face the same plight. Proponents of herbal medicines have succeeded in getting medicinal plants more accepted by a skeptical public and by government. In the wake of a 1994 law, the US Food and Drug Administration has finally allowed more informative labels regarding herbal medicines. However, supplies of some of these plants are already endangered by the industry’s rapid rise success. Recent years have witnessed a veritable explosion in the trade of medicinal plants worldwide. In 1980, the World Health Organization estimated global trade at US$500 million per year; by 2000, the European market alone could reach US$500 billion.

In North America, popular demand has finally forced the medical and government authorities to accord herbal medicines the kind of attention that can regulate their quality and efficacy. For some plants, however this attention may be too late. Maintaining supplies is problematic since most of these medicinal plants are harvested from the wild or "Wildcrafted". This practice been relatively benign for centuries since those who used the plants only collected what they needed. But the advent of market-oriented and international trade means that the numbers of wildcrafters are outstripping natural populations.

A recent World Bank study reports that in China, where traditional medicine sales has doubled in the last five years, 77 out of 389 rare and endangered species are traditional medicinal plants. In India, according to one estimate, 120 plants fit that category, 35 of which are said to be important medicinal. Across the boarder in Nepal, plant such as jatamansi (Nardostachys grandiflora) have spawned a flourishing black market. Despite export constraints, India has a considerable market for this bitter essential oil, which is used in Ayurvedic medicine as sedative and to keep hair thick and glossy. A TRAFFIC-USA officer reported finding jatamansi advertised in US catalogues at prices 300 times those received by the collectors. In the United States itself, annual retail trade in medicinal herbs is estimated at US$1.6 million. However, this trade is very poorly reported as imports and exports of products are shown by commodity rather than species, posing problems to conservation trying to determine which species are at risk. Of the six Native American medicinal plants listed in CITES, American ginseng is the only one harvested exclusively for the medicinal trade and so is easier to track.

American ginseng has been exported for nearly 300 years, mainly to East Asia, where it is processed in traditional Chinese medicines as a tonic for the lungs, heart, stomach and spleen. The enduring profitability of ginseng has made it one of the most widely cultivated medicinal plants in North America, according to TRAFFIC-USA. The high value of ginseng (US$1000 per kg, three times that of the cultivated ginseng) has prompted the illegal collection of American ginseng in a number of states.

A more recent addition to the medicinal plan trade, Echinacea (purple coneflower), has steadily risen as a cure for colds and influenza. Annual sales have reached US$80 million. As the two main species are not monitored, it is difficult to say how much is cultivated and how much is wildcrafted. According to Robert McCaleb of the Herb Research Foundation, most cultivated Echinacea is E. purpurea, while most E. angustifollia is wildcrafted. Although there appears to be no immediate danger to these two species, many wildcrafters may unwittingly harvest other endangered species: Tennessee purple cone flower and smooth cone flower both resemble the more common echinaceas, but are extremely rare.

Other plants could go the same way as echinaceas or American ginseng. Much seems to depend on mass media exposure and marketing techniques. Nevertheless, the trade in ginseng suggests that trade in wild medicinal plants can be sustainable, as does the "Save the Gokdenseal" project launched by lowa-based Frontier Cooperative Herbs. The project is aimed at promoting goldenseal cultivation and at reducing misinformation about the plant and its uses. Moreover, as mentioned in the World Bank report, the cultivation of medicinal plants represent numerous opportunities for rural people. However, collectors and consumers need to become more aware of what is at stake, there must be better self-regulation in the industry and labeling and other public education efforts need to be improved.

Medicinal plant species and NWFPs face another threat in rainforest areas of the world: deforestation and the associated loss of biodiversity that this involves. In addition to medicinal plants, forest supply valuable food sources such as fruits, leaves, nuts, mushrooms and insects, which provide essential vitamins and proteins. In this way, forest contributes significantly to global food security and nutrition. However, the mass clearing of forest land to make way for agriculture, new grazing lands, etc., is endangering this role. Foods and medicines that have sustained rural people for centuries are now seriously threatened and many potential medicinal species may be in the process of being lost forever.