The destruction of forests leads to the destruction of valuable medicinal herbs, and therefore it is necessary to protect the forests and preserve the herbal species, said T.V. Manjunatha, District Forest Officer (DFO), Vellore, here on Tuesday. Inaugurating an exhibition on medicinal herbs and a seminar on Indian Alternative Systems of Medicine organised jointly by the Field Publicity Office, Community Development Through Polytechnic (CDTP) Scheme, Thanthai Periyar E.V.R. Government Polytechnic College (TPEVRGPC), Vellore and the Tamil Nadu Parambariya Siddha Vaidhya Maha Sangam at the college campus, Mr. Manjunatha said that the destruction of forests leads not only to the destruction of animals but also valuable medicinal herbs used in the indigenous systems of medicine. Therefore, man cannot survive without forests. The Siddha system stands out distinctly from other systems of medicine in that it focuses on the protection of one's health through prevention of diseases unlike other systems, which provide treatment after the onset of the disease. Herbs form the raw materials for most of the drugs prescribed by the various systems of medicine. Botanical products constitute 60 per cent of the ingredients of most allopathic drugs, he said. The DFO said changing diets had led to various illnesses. The types of cereals consumed has come down from 100 several years ago to just 10 to 15 now. T. Selvaraj, Principal-in-charge, TPEVRGPC, who presided, said that several youngsters were getting afflicted with diseases because of the loss of immunity due to faulty food habits. He therefore stressed the need for children taking food that strengthens their immunity. T. Sivakumar, Field Publicity Officer, Vellore who delivered the keynote address, said that out of the 45,000 herbal species available in India, 6,000 were used in medicine. About 960 botanical species were used for the preparation of herbal medicinal products. . K.P.Arjunan, State president of the Tamil Nadu Parambariya Siddha Vaidhya Maha Sangam, explained the principle of