Shen, L., 2020. The research on protection and exploitation of the rare and endangered medicinal plant in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 387-390. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The Three Gorges Reservoir area is the focus of rare and endangered medicinal plant in China, as the core area of endemic plants distribution center in eastern Sichuan and western Hubei. To carry out the protection work more effectively in future, the balance between the utilization and protection of the medicinal plant must be handled with much more caution. Encouraging breeding by exploitation will promote the protection of the medicinal source. Strengthen the construction of the rare medicinal plants germplasm genebank under the international standard is urgent to conduct the research on species introduction, breeding, in vitro protection, endophytic bacteria and its active ingredients. Using biological technology to reconstruct the endangered medicinal plant resources will help us expand the growth region, improve the viability and the reproductive rate, on condition that the “rare” quality is kept. At the same time, breeding and cultivation research must be greatly reinforced to improve industrialization upon meeting the changes and the request of market, in order that the rare and endangered medicinal plants can survive safe and sound.