Plants in East Africa with promising antimalarial qualities—ones that have treated malaria symptoms in the region”s communities for hundreds of years—are at risk of extinction, according to research released in anticipation of World Malaria Day.

Scientists fear that these natural remedial qualities, and thus their potential to become a widespread treatment for malaria, could be lost forever.

They have called for more research and conservation of trees to harvest potential for next generation of malaria drugs.

A new book by researchers at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Common Antimalarial Trees and Shrubs of East Africa, provides a detailed assessment of 22 of the region”s malaria-fighting trees and shrubs.

According to researchers, many species of trees in East Africa are at high risk of extinction due to deforestation and over-exploitation for medicinal uses.

Scientists in the field have been able to identify at-risk tree species, including those that have antimalarial qualities, by monitoring deforestation in the region and by talking to herbalists and local communities.

According to researchers, not all species of antimalarial trees are at risk, particularly those that grow wild in lowland and coastal areas.

One such plant, which is critically endangered in Kenya and threatened in other regions, is Zanthoxylum chalybeum, commonly known as “Knobwood.”

It grows in dry woodlands or grasslands of eastern and southern Africa and has been found to have antimalarial properties that need to be further explored.

An extraction process from leaves, bark or root is used to effectively treat a malarial fever in many communities. other uses for the plant include infusing tea with the leaves, making toothbrushes, and using the seeds as beads in traditional garments.

The African wild olive (Olea europaea Africana), also threatened in East Africa due to over-exploited for timber, contains organic extracts with significant levels of antimalarial activity, and is used to treat malarial and other fevers. The plant also acts as a natural laxative to expel parasites or tapeworms.

“while we”ve made scientific progress identifying these compounds over the last few years, the fact is that we may lose these important trees before we”ve had a chance to understand their ability to defend us against malaria, a disease that devastates Africa—killing hundreds of thousands of our children and costing us billions of dollars in productivity year after year,” said Geoffrey Rukunga, Director of KEMRI”s Centre for Traditional Medicine and Drug Research and one of the book”s co-authors.

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