Editing Himalayas (section)

==Resources==
The Himalayas are home to a diversity of medicinal resources. Plants from the forests have been used for millennia to treat conditions ranging from simple coughs to snake bites.<ref name = JEE>{{Cite journal |title=Ecological status and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary of Garhwal Himalaya, India |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |volume=9 |page=1 |author1=Jahangeer A. Bhat |author2=Munesh Kumar |author3-link=Rainer W. Bussman |author3=Rainer W. Bussmann |date=2 January 2013 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1746-4269-9-1 |pmid=23281594 |pmc=3560114 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Different parts of the plants – root, flower, stem, leaves, and bark – are used as remedies for different ailments. For example, a bark extract from an ''[[Abies pindrow]]'' tree is used to treat coughs and bronchitis. Leaf and stem paste from an ''[[Andrachne|Andrachne cordifolia]]'' is used for wounds and as an antidote for snake bites. The bark of a ''[[Callicarpa|Callicarpa arborea]]'' is used for skin ailments.<ref name=JEE /> Nearly a fifth of the [[gymnosperm]]s, [[Flowering plant|angiosperms]], and [[pteridophyte]]s in the Himalayas are found to have medicinal properties, and more are likely to be discovered.<ref name=JEE/>

Most of the population in some Asian and African countries depends on medicinal plants rather than prescriptions and such.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|last1=Gupta|first1=Pankaj|last2=Sharma|first2=Vijay Kumar|title=Healing Traditions of the Northwestern Himalayas|year=2014|publisher=Springer Briefs in Environmental Science|isbn=978-81-322-1925-5}}</ref> Since so many people use medicinal plants as their only source of healing in the Himalayas, the plants are an important source of income. This contributes to economic and modern industrial development both inside and outside the region.<ref name=":1" /> The only problem is that locals are rapidly clearing the forests on the Himalayas for wood, often illegally.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Himalayan Forests Disappearing|journal=Earth Island Journal|volume=21|issue=4|year=2006|pages=7–8}}</ref>