ABSTRACT
Many species of medicinal plants in Laos are considered rare and threatened. A list of 21 such species is provided herein together with a poster depicting 16 representative species. In 2006, a tract of a secondary forest in the vicinity of Somsavath Village (Paksan District, Bolikhamxay Province) was declared a protected forest, called a “Medicinal Plants Preserve” (MPP), under the auspices of the Ministry of Health of Lao PDR. This effort to preserve a forested area will allow healers and members of the community the continued use of the medicinal plants found within this site. This was followed by the preservation of other similar types of forests, named either a MPP or a Medicinal Biodiversity Preserve (MBP). Today there is a network of 27 such preserves in Laos, under the coordination of the Institute of Traditional Medicine (ITM) of the Ministry of Health, Lao PDR.
