The first meeting of an expert committee on medicinal plants has urged the Forest Department to submit a report, within a month, on in situ conservation and preservation of medicinal plants in natural habitats. Talking to reporters on Tuesday, S. Kannaiyan, Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), said a threat assessment exercise carried out in southern and northern States revealed that nearly 427 species of medicinal plants were endangered, and 28 of them were considered extinct, 124 endangered, 81 valuables, 100 rare and 34 sufficiently available. These species needed detailed studies of their population structure, breeding behaviour and protection of their habitats for in situ conservation. "The Forest Department of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra have launched conservation programmes to prevent destruction across different attitude zones. Tamil Nadu is doing well. We will make Tamil Nadu a model State and take this concept to different parts of the country to intensify conservation and preservation. We have also received applications from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to set up more medicinal parks. Currently, there are 500 medicinal parks in the country, each growing nearly 100-150 species,' he said.