Factors threatening wild growing medicinal plants:
Non-specific factors:
"ð large-area abiotic changes:
żð lowering of ground water level
(Źð industrial and infrastructural investments, melioration of arable lands and meadows,
drainage of peat bogs)
żð pollution of the environment
(Źð industrial wastes, municipal sewage, transport, agriculture)
żð eutrophication of natural water reservoirs
"ð changes in the structure and intensity of land usage:
żð meadows ®ð fields
żð intensification of exploitation of meadows/discontinuance of exploitation
(mowing, grazing, fertilization)
żð intensification of farming  high doses of fertilizers and plant protection agents;
introduction of monocultures
żð development of urban and transport infrastructure
"ð changes in forest management
żð oversized felling sites ®ð changes in water and light conditions
żð artificial reforestation of forest clearings
"ð habitat fragmentation
small and/or isolated populations ®ð higher extinction risk; reduced fitness
" natural catastrophes
" ­ð environmental stochasticity
" ­ð demographic stochasticity
" ­ð genetic stochasticity (genetic drift)
" inbreeding depression
" abiotic changes (water, light, trophic conditions); edge effects
" changes in biotic interactions
"ð fires; burning down grasslands, pastures and waste lands
"ð tourism
"ð invasive alien species
Specific factors:
"ð uncontrolled and excessive harvesting
żð chimerical demand for plant raw materials
żð improper methods of harvesting
żð lack of strict administration and law regulations concerning the rules of sustainable exploitation
of natural resources of medicinal plants