OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEDICINAL PLANTS,TRADITIONAL MEDICINE & LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN AFRICA:CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Nairobi, 19 May 2000

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEDICINAL PLANTS,TRADITIONAL MEDICINE & LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN AFRICA:CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM

 

A Parallel Session to the Conference of Parties (COP-5) to the  Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), Nairobi, Kenya, 15-26 May  2000.

 

 

The  International Conference on Medicinal Plants, Traditional Medicine and Local Communities in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities of the new Millennium was hosted by the Environment Liaison Centre International , Nairobi, Kenya.

 

It was convened by ELCI and the Global Initiative for Traditional Systems( GIFTS) of Health of the University of Oxford, UK and the Commonwealth Working Group on Traditional & Complementary Health Systems. It attracted more than 200 international delegates representing major stakeholders from 50 countries from all over the world. The Conference was  held in Nairobi, Kenya, at the International Centre for Research  in Agroforestry (ICRAF) from 16th to 19th May 2000.

It is our pleasure to release the following conference recommendations.

 

 

 

CONFERENCE RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

I. Recommendations to the 5th Meeting of the Conference of the  Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity and to the COP/CBD Process

 

I.1.Establish an International Working Group for

   promoting, monitoring and assessing the conservation,

   management and  sustainable use of  medicinal plants

   and traditional medicines used for human and  livestock

   health care by providing appropriate financial mechanisms

   to  support:

 

·        An African inventory  and genetic assessment of medicinal

     plants;

·        Community-based in-situ conservation and management of      ecosystems      with high medicinal plant species diversity;

·        Development of sustainable harvesting guidelines of wild medicinal   resources;

·        Identification  and development of cultivation/propagation practices;

·        Information dissemination, networking, education and awareness    raising programs;

·        Interdisciplinary research into the efficacy, safety cultural  importance and use of traditional medicine and adding value to the   medicinal plants and phytomedicines; and

·        Co-ordinating and catalyzing the existing activities relating to medicinal plants and traditional health systems at international  level.

 

 

 

I.2. To establish an appropriate mechanism  for the effective

      involvement of indigenous and local  communities in

      redefining and  monitoring  intellectual property rights

      in the  context of traditional medicine.

 

I.3. To establish a mechanism to formalise, monitor and

       regulate the   trade   in medicinal plants and herbal

       products, in order  to guarantee  local communities fair

       and equitable access to benefits flowing from the

       trade; and to ensure that, the   trade  is  transparent

       and sustainable.

 

II. FOLLOW-UP ACTION

 

II.1.African governments and  the Organisation of Africa

      Unity (OAU)  should adopt as soon as possible a Decade

      devoted to the promotion and development of  medicinal

      plants, traditional medicines and  pharmacopoeia

      in Africa.

 

II.2. The Conference recommends to the Government of the

        Republic of Togo and His Excellency GNASSINGBE 

        EYADEMA, President of the Republic and Head Of

        State to kindly submit the Conference  Declaration

        on the Decade on Medicinal Plants and Traditional

        Medicines in Africa to the  attention of the

        forthcoming OAU Summit.

       

 

 

 

 

II.3. Governments, NGOs and International Agencies should

       take   urgent steps to support activities  and strategies

       for  Research and Development on Medicinal Plants and

       Traditional Medicine relating to addressing priority

       diseases  in Africa such as HIV/AIDS and  Malaria.

 

 

II.4.  To use  existing electronic networking opportunities

        (e.g.“ Phytomedica “ worldwide emailing list) in order to

        promote  constructive  relationships and  collaboration

        between  diverse  stakeholders and interested parties

        active in the field of medicinal   plants, traditional

        medicine and  pharmacopoeia.

 

II.5 .  African Governments  in partnership with NGOs and

         International  Agencies should find urgent ways to

         support  the implementation of the   recommendations

         and  the  comprehensive   Regional Action  Plan

         outlined by the  Regional   Workshops on Medicinal

         Plants and Traditional  Medicine in  Africa jointly

         organised by  the Environment Liaison Centre

         International (ELCI)  and the International

         Development Research  Centre (IDRC) held

         successively on 17-21  November  1997 in  Conakry,

         Republic of Guinea for African French  speaking

         countries and  on  14-18 April 1998 in Cape Town,

         South Africa for African  English   speaking

         countries. 

 

II.6. To establish and convene a two year regular conference

       to review progress in implementing the Programme of

       the Decade and to plan   for future  action, focusing on

       priority   and specific issues and   objectives.

 

 

 

The Nairobi Declaration

 

 FORMALLY RECOGNISE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

 

We, the participants of the Nairobi Conference on Medicinal Plants, Traditional Medicines and Local Communities in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities of the New Millennium do hereby confirm our commitment to the collective goal of Health for All through the primary health care approach and the principles of conservation and sustainable development outlined in the Convention of Biological Diversity.

 

Whereas:

 

·        in sub-Saharan Africa in 1999, there were 6,027 deaths a day due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, 2,345 deaths a day due to malaria, and 8,181 deaths a day due to diarrhoea; and

 

·        traditional medicines are often the only affordable and accessible forms of healthcare for the majority of the African rural population; and

 

·        local health traditions – many of which are oral in nature and therefore largely undocumented – are being lost; and

 

·        traditional health systems have not been replaced by the “Western” system because traditional healing is deeply embedded in wider belief systems and remains an integral part of the lives of most African people;

   We, draw attention to the fact that:

 

·        African governments have not acknowledged or built upon this traditional knowledge resource-base, thereby making the goal of Health for All more difficult to achieve unless these resources are mobilized and used more effectively;

 

·        the unsustainable, unregulated and indiscriminant harvesting of medicinal plant species is being compounded by the very low level of understanding of the biology and ecology of the species concerned;

 

·        it is unlikely that social, technical or economic changes in developing countries over the next decade will reduce significantly the dependency of rural peoples on medicinal plants species resources;

 

·        though there are few reliable data on global trade of medicinal plants the loss of species would be a catastrophic blow to productivity, balance of payments, national debt, and GDP.

 

We, call on the Presidents of all African countries to declare the period 2000 – 2010 the Decade of African Traditional Medicine and commit their governments through the appropriate ministries to:

 

·        formally recognize the value of Traditional Health Systems alongside modern health systems in national primary healthcare as an available intervention option in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases;

 

·        identify compelling scientific methods to evaluate and standardize traditional herbal remedies in order to promote their safe, effective and affordable use;

 

·        develop comprehensive strategies/policies for the conservation, management and sustainability of supply of medicinal plant species;

 

·        identify legal strategies that protect the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of knowledge holders;

 

·        formally recognize the value and contribution of ethno-veterinary knowledge in livestock healthcare;

 

·        establish an annual recognition week that acknowledges the important role that women play in home healthcare through their knowledge and use of medicinal plant species.

 

·        work with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to identify a process that effectively regulates the international trade of African medicinal plant species and protects individual country’s resources and rights;

 

·        establish a partnership of countries to protect and enhance this aspect of African cultural heritage.

 

For more information,

Contact:

 

ENVIRONMENT LIAISON CENTRE INTERNATIONAL (ELCI)

Medicinal Plants and Local Communities Programme

P.O. Box 72461, Nairobi ( KENYA ),Fax (2542) 562175,

Tel: 562022, 576114/25

E-mail : Ernest RUKANGIRA <info@conserveafrica.org.uk

 

 

 

   

     Conference Participants