Lichens are existing in the symbiotic relationship between a filamentous fungus and a photosynthetic collaborator, which could be either cyanobacterium or a green alga. Approximately, more than 18,000 species of lichen are estimated worldwide. Lichens are large number of valuable lower plants consider as mini ecosystem with distinctive features and various applications worldwide in the fields of textile, cosmetics, food, medicine industries, etc. There are more than 1,000 lichen metabolites that are reported and established for a diverse biological and pharmacological activities including antioxidant, antiviral, antifungal, antitumor, cytotoxic, and antigenotoxic activities. Interestingly, the last decade witnessed renewed and growing interest in lichen substances as a source of novel, pharmaco-logically active biomolecules, and environmental bio-indicators. Lichen-derived products exhibited a diverse nature of biological and therapeutical potential. This study explains the significance of lichens as a potential source of these bioactive secondary metabolites.