DUSHANBE, February 17, 2014, Asia-Plus -- A seminar on the Research Project on Medical Herb took place in the conference hall of the Forestry Agency in Dushanbe on February 15, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s Office in Tajikistan reports.

According to JICA’s Office, Tajikistan is known as a country with wide range of animals and plants which are valuable not only academically but also economically.  Actually some of the wild plants are being utilized as medical herb and more than 70 species are registered as medical plant in the list of Tajikistan Government, which includes plants with rarity value.  On the other hand, in the world, some of these plants are being faced with crisis of resource depletion due to overharvesting.

In this regard, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has reportedly been cooperating with the Forestry Agency for two years by dispatching Japanese Researcher Dr. Hiroaki Hayashi and supporting their co-research activity, aiming to classify medical herb, to identify the native environment, to study the quality of the medical herbs which have economic potential, so that Tajik people can utilize these herbs and at the same time protect them properly.

As a result of their research activity, it became clear that there are variety of medical herbs preserved in Tajikistan and some of them are very rich in medical ingredients, even in export quality.  Licorices are growing in area which is close to Afghan border and Ephedra in mountain area, which could be thought as non-productive land.  However, Dr. Hayashi says, “If Tajik people use and preserve these plants effectively, I believe that they can contribute to the improvement of livelihood.”