FAO has commissioned two papers on the "Impact of Cultivation and Gathering
of Medicinal Plants on Biodiversity". These papers have now been made
available on the homepage of the FAO Non-Wood Forest Products Programme.
****************************************************************************
********
1. Impact of Cultivation and Gathering of Medicinal Plants on Biodiversity:
Global Trends and Issues, by Uwe Schippman, Danna J. Leaman and A. B.
Cunningham, available at
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA010E/AA010e00.htm#TopOfPage
<http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA010E/AA010e00.htm#TopOfPage> .
This paper discusses issues such as
* Wild or cultivated: What does the market want ?
* Wild or cultivated: What do people need?
* Wild or cultivated: What do the species and ecosystems require ?
The authors conclude their paper with the following key-recommendations:
(1) To overcome significant knowledge deficits, a global MAP cultivation
survey should be commissioned by an international organization. Aims are to
identify species
cultivated, in which countries they are grown, volumes produced and their
market values. This survey should also assess public domestication
programmes, as well as
in-situ and ex-situ conservation efforts for wild populations of species in
cultivation (e.g., in protected areas, in genebanks and botanic gardens).
(2) Wild harvesting of MAP will continue to prevail owing to economic
reasons outlined above. Sustainable wild harvest management schemes need to
be supported by
governments and authorities. Management plans need to be installed as a
standard prerequisite for any such harvesting in the wild. There is a need
to monitor and audit the
harvesting process to determine whether it is sustainable.
(3) Primary producers need help to improve returns from sustainable
harvesting of MAP. Community based small scale cultivation enterprises need
to be strengthened to
enable them to compete with large-scale high-tech cultivation.
(4) Secure ex-situ field gene banks need to be developed, particularly for
habitat specific, slow-growing species with high susceptibility of being
over-harvested.
(5) Medicinal plant domestication programmes need to be expanded, taking
fuller advantage of the genetic and chemical diversity within species over
wide geographical areas.
(6) Capacity to assess and monitor the conservation status of MAP and to
manage harvest within the limits of sustainability is extremely limited
worldwide and needs to be
developed through training courses and curriculum development in ethnobotany
and applied ecology . Research to investigate the sustainability of
production systems is
lacking and needs to be stimulated for a better understanding of the
biological dynamics of the resource in the wild and in domestication.
(7) Management planning has to take the diversity of tenure systems which
apply to medicinal plants into account to a far greater degree.
Clarification of user rights over the
resource and access to it, particularly where it is considered common
property, needs to be recognized as a crucial factor enabling or preventing
a sustainable harvest from
wild populations.
(8) Eco-labelling and other social and economic incentives to strengthen
market credibility and competitiveness of biodiversity-friendly products
need to be promoted. The
efforts of certifiers to develop certification standards for wild harvested
plant material need to be supported as well as the approaches of industry to
set up self-binding
product quality standards. The private sector should be encouraged to
consider local livelihoods and biodiversity when setting up ethical and
environmental standards.
(9) Conservation of medicinal plants currently lacks priority in policy and
law. There are opportunities to change this within the implementation of
legal instruments such as the CBD and CITES. Government policies and
legislation need to be adapted and implemented to recognize the value of and
need for sustainable wild harvesting management regimes, to implement
national and/or regional permit systems and make medicinal plant
conservation a priority for national health and economic policy.
(10) The Global Environment Facility (GEF) needs to consider medicinal plant
conservation as a programme priority worthy of funding.
(11) Medicinal plants warrant priority in national efforts to implement the
Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the CBD.
(12) Local communities can take more responsibility for sustainable harvest
of medicinal plants only if they have the choices afforded by adequate
income, control over the
resource and the knowledge and skills required. On the issue of
intellectual property rights it needs to be elaborated how the country, the
local user or other entity can be
adequately compensated for use of the resource by outsiders.
****************************************************************************
********************
2. Impact of Cultivation and Gathering of Medicinal Plants on Biodiversity:
Case studies from India; by K. Ramakrishnappa, available at
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA021E/AA021e00.htm#TopOfPage
<http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA021E/AA021e00.htm#TopOfPage>
The case studies highlight the need and some of the means for preserving the
rich biodiversity of the region while also underlining the relationship
between biodiversity, economic sustenance and preservation of cultural
traditions and environmental resources. Medicinal plants have a specific
role in serving the needs of indigenous medicine, of the pharmaceutical
industry, and of providing genetic resources for future propogation and
cultivation in- and outside their natural habitat.
The case studies also show that modern development has impacted on the
biodiversity of MP's in varied and complex ways, and they illustrate
examples where urban demands exploit rural poverty and illiteracy. This
leads to immediate deterioration of the rural environment and a delayed but
relentless impoverishment of national biodiversity and cultural assets. It
is therefore, essential that collection and cultivation of MPs be viewed in
a holistic way to achieve long-term success in protection of species and in
providing socio-economic benefits to society, locally and nationally.
Analysis and hindsight perception show that reversal of this trend can come
about through managing the demand for medicinal plants within an equitable,
farmer-centred system of quality assured products produced under an organic
or similar, well certified regime. The outcome of such an approach can be
expected to correct past mistakes and generate a relatively stable but
flexible mechanism for enhancing prosperity and socio-economic development
for rural populations as well as for preserving biodiversity of MPs and
their ecosystem companions, while also ensuring that the livelihoods of
existing collectors and cultivators are assured.
Best regards & merry Christmas & happy new year,
Sven
----------------------------------------------------
Sven Walter
Non-Wood Forest Products Programme (FOPW)
Forest Products Division - Forestry Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla - 00100 Rome - Italy
Tel: +39 06 570 53853 - Fax: +39 06 570 55618
Email: Sven.Walter@fao.org
Internet: www.fao.org <www.fao.org>
FAO Website on Non-Wood Forest Products:
http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm
<http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
of Medicinal Plants on Biodiversity". These papers have now been made
available on the homepage of the FAO Non-Wood Forest Products Programme.
****************************************************************************
********
1. Impact of Cultivation and Gathering of Medicinal Plants on Biodiversity:
Global Trends and Issues, by Uwe Schippman, Danna J. Leaman and A. B.
Cunningham, available at
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA010E/AA010e00.htm#TopOfPage
<http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA010E/AA010e00.htm#TopOfPage> .
This paper discusses issues such as
* Wild or cultivated: What does the market want ?
* Wild or cultivated: What do people need?
* Wild or cultivated: What do the species and ecosystems require ?
The authors conclude their paper with the following key-recommendations:
(1) To overcome significant knowledge deficits, a global MAP cultivation
survey should be commissioned by an international organization. Aims are to
identify species
cultivated, in which countries they are grown, volumes produced and their
market values. This survey should also assess public domestication
programmes, as well as
in-situ and ex-situ conservation efforts for wild populations of species in
cultivation (e.g., in protected areas, in genebanks and botanic gardens).
(2) Wild harvesting of MAP will continue to prevail owing to economic
reasons outlined above. Sustainable wild harvest management schemes need to
be supported by
governments and authorities. Management plans need to be installed as a
standard prerequisite for any such harvesting in the wild. There is a need
to monitor and audit the
harvesting process to determine whether it is sustainable.
(3) Primary producers need help to improve returns from sustainable
harvesting of MAP. Community based small scale cultivation enterprises need
to be strengthened to
enable them to compete with large-scale high-tech cultivation.
(4) Secure ex-situ field gene banks need to be developed, particularly for
habitat specific, slow-growing species with high susceptibility of being
over-harvested.
(5) Medicinal plant domestication programmes need to be expanded, taking
fuller advantage of the genetic and chemical diversity within species over
wide geographical areas.
(6) Capacity to assess and monitor the conservation status of MAP and to
manage harvest within the limits of sustainability is extremely limited
worldwide and needs to be
developed through training courses and curriculum development in ethnobotany
and applied ecology . Research to investigate the sustainability of
production systems is
lacking and needs to be stimulated for a better understanding of the
biological dynamics of the resource in the wild and in domestication.
(7) Management planning has to take the diversity of tenure systems which
apply to medicinal plants into account to a far greater degree.
Clarification of user rights over the
resource and access to it, particularly where it is considered common
property, needs to be recognized as a crucial factor enabling or preventing
a sustainable harvest from
wild populations.
(8) Eco-labelling and other social and economic incentives to strengthen
market credibility and competitiveness of biodiversity-friendly products
need to be promoted. The
efforts of certifiers to develop certification standards for wild harvested
plant material need to be supported as well as the approaches of industry to
set up self-binding
product quality standards. The private sector should be encouraged to
consider local livelihoods and biodiversity when setting up ethical and
environmental standards.
(9) Conservation of medicinal plants currently lacks priority in policy and
law. There are opportunities to change this within the implementation of
legal instruments such as the CBD and CITES. Government policies and
legislation need to be adapted and implemented to recognize the value of and
need for sustainable wild harvesting management regimes, to implement
national and/or regional permit systems and make medicinal plant
conservation a priority for national health and economic policy.
(10) The Global Environment Facility (GEF) needs to consider medicinal plant
conservation as a programme priority worthy of funding.
(11) Medicinal plants warrant priority in national efforts to implement the
Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the CBD.
(12) Local communities can take more responsibility for sustainable harvest
of medicinal plants only if they have the choices afforded by adequate
income, control over the
resource and the knowledge and skills required. On the issue of
intellectual property rights it needs to be elaborated how the country, the
local user or other entity can be
adequately compensated for use of the resource by outsiders.
****************************************************************************
********************
2. Impact of Cultivation and Gathering of Medicinal Plants on Biodiversity:
Case studies from India; by K. Ramakrishnappa, available at
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA021E/AA021e00.htm#TopOfPage
<http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AA021E/AA021e00.htm#TopOfPage>
The case studies highlight the need and some of the means for preserving the
rich biodiversity of the region while also underlining the relationship
between biodiversity, economic sustenance and preservation of cultural
traditions and environmental resources. Medicinal plants have a specific
role in serving the needs of indigenous medicine, of the pharmaceutical
industry, and of providing genetic resources for future propogation and
cultivation in- and outside their natural habitat.
The case studies also show that modern development has impacted on the
biodiversity of MP's in varied and complex ways, and they illustrate
examples where urban demands exploit rural poverty and illiteracy. This
leads to immediate deterioration of the rural environment and a delayed but
relentless impoverishment of national biodiversity and cultural assets. It
is therefore, essential that collection and cultivation of MPs be viewed in
a holistic way to achieve long-term success in protection of species and in
providing socio-economic benefits to society, locally and nationally.
Analysis and hindsight perception show that reversal of this trend can come
about through managing the demand for medicinal plants within an equitable,
farmer-centred system of quality assured products produced under an organic
or similar, well certified regime. The outcome of such an approach can be
expected to correct past mistakes and generate a relatively stable but
flexible mechanism for enhancing prosperity and socio-economic development
for rural populations as well as for preserving biodiversity of MPs and
their ecosystem companions, while also ensuring that the livelihoods of
existing collectors and cultivators are assured.
Best regards & merry Christmas & happy new year,
Sven
----------------------------------------------------
Sven Walter
Non-Wood Forest Products Programme (FOPW)
Forest Products Division - Forestry Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla - 00100 Rome - Italy
Tel: +39 06 570 53853 - Fax: +39 06 570 55618
Email: Sven.Walter@fao.org
Internet: www.fao.org <www.fao.org>
FAO Website on Non-Wood Forest Products:
http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm
<http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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