Production of Medicinal Plants in Asia

Medicinal plants

Contents  [hide] 1 Resources and Distribution 2 Management Systems 3 Uses and Value-Added 4 Partner Activities, Projects, Sites

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Resources and Distribution

Medicinal Plants Bioresources Forest-based medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are an essential part of traditional health care systems. Their gathering and cultivation provide a critical source of income for many rural communities, especially landless poor and marginalized farmers. MAPs are also inextricably linked to the region's natural biodiversity. Unfortunately, MAPs are increasingly threatened by various environmental, socioeconomic and institutional problems. At the same time traditional and indigenous knowledge about these plants is weakening and, in some cases, vanishing altogether. While attempts have been made (both at local and national levels) to address these issues, they have suffered from inadequate funding, a lack of government prioritization, and insufficient information sharing and coordination among stakeholders. After a number of years of supporting research on MAPs around the world by organizations like IDRC, Ford Foundation, and others a number of networks such as the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Program in Asia (MAPS) have been established in Asia.

The main goal of the Forest Medicinal Plants (FMP) is to institute a system of long-term sustainable and equitable use of MAPs. The objective is to improve resource conservation and livelihood security in rural and marginalized communities. The mechanism is the design, support and coordination of a holistic research program to strengthen linkages between stakeholders within the MAP production to consumption chain. This is being achieved through strategic research, partnership building and the promotion of regional and international networking. MAPS's focus currently encompasses the entire South Asian region, with ongoing plans to reach out to other parts of Asia. Through regional, national and local partners, including government organizations (GOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), national research institutions and universities, MAPS plans to work with regional network of expertise in community-based MAP conservation, participatory research, and documentation.

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs): Benefits & Challenges

Traditional, Affordable Health Care

South Asia is home to many rich, traditional systems of medicine. Ayurvedic methods date back to 5000 B.C. Along with the Unani, Siddha and Tibetan systems, they remain an important source of everyday health and livelihood for tens of millions of people. Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), including trees, shrubs, grasses and vines, are a central resource for these traditional health systems, as well as for pharmaceutical (or allopathic) medicines. There are more than 8,000 plant species in South Asia with known medicinal uses.

Medicinal plants are an accessible, affordable and culturally appropriate source of primary health care for more than 80% of Asia's population (WHO). Marginalized, rural and indigenous people, who can not afford or access formal health care systems, are especially dependent on these culturally familiar, technically simple, financially affordable and generally effective traditional medicines. As such, there is widespread interest in promoting traditional health systems to meet primary health care needs. This is especially true in South Asia, as prices of modern medicines spiral and governments find it increasingly difficult to meet the cost of pharmaceutical-based health care. Throughout the region, there is strong and sustained public support for the protection and promotion of the cultural and spiritual values of traditional medicines.

Widespread Demand for MAPs

Conservative estimates put the monetary value of MAP-related global trade at over 60 billion USD (Govt. of India, 2000; Nagpal & Karki, 2004). With increasing popular demand for medicinal plants, both in South Asia and internationally, this trade is expected to grow to 5 trillion by the year 2050 (FRLHT, 1996). Besides health benefits, MAPs also provide crucial livelihood options for millions of rural people in South Asia, particularly women, tribal peoples, and the very poor. India is the centre of South Asia's export trade in medicinal plants, and in this country alone, it is estimated that the collection and processing of medicinal plants contributes to at least 35 million workdays of employment a year. Unfortunately, while demand rises, inequitable trade practices have meant that only a small margin of the profits from MAPs trickle down to the collectors and harvesters. Highly developed illegal trading networks in Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, India and Myanmar control the raw MAPs trade, through lax border controls. Despite this, no regional collaboration in implementing international covenants relating to biodiversity exists to stem this growing illegal market.

Impacts of Commercialization

The expansion of unregulated trade and commercial use of MAPs poses a major threat to biodiversity in the region. Local communities tend to collect the highest value or most popular plant species, leading to over-harvesting or species extinction. Even when MAP species are safely cultivated, if done with mono-cropping systems, local biodiversity can be weakened. Finally, as 95 % of MAPs are harvested and collected in wild, the alarming levels of deforestation and ecosystem degradation in the region are also contributing to a decline in MAPs. Combined, all of these factors have severely reduced the availability of medicinal plant ingredients and the overall environmental sustainability of the region. Along with the deterioration of resources, the cultural heritage surrounding MAP use is being eroded. Unstandardized expertise and knowledge of traditional systems of medicine, as well as inadequate processing and storage facilities, can result in ineffective or unsafe treatments. The absence of institutional support, appropriate validation systems, and quality control protocol for indigenous health practices, threatens valuable MAP knowledge and use practices, as well as public health.

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Management Systems

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Uses and Value-Added

BENEFITS OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

TERMINOLOGY (extracted from Nagpal & Karki, 2004)

At the outset, it would be relevant to explain some of the terms commonly used in the context of medicinal plants and their by-products.

Phytomedicines: Plant-based pharmaceutical products with proven medical efficacy, phytomedicines are generally prescription drug products with formal market authorization involving detailed toxicological and clinical trials. According to a study (Kate, Laird 1999), 18% of the world’s top 150 prescription drugs are derived from plant sources.

Herbal remedies: Covering a broad spectrum from basic formulae applied by traditional healers to sophisticated formulations sold alongside other over-the-counter (OTC) medicines in western pharmacies as capsules, pills or liquid tonics, they are also classified as medicines in most European countries.

Herbal Teas and Infusions: These reflect one of the most basic and popular ways of using medicinal herbs throughout the world. They are imbibed as hot water infusions and sold in the form of tea bags or in granulated form. Many herbal teas are sold as single item products but combination products are becoming increasingly popular. Unless they attempt to make therapeutic claims they are not considered medicines and are not subject to prior market approval.

Homeopathic Drugs: They are medicines derived from plant, mineral and animal sources and used in extremely dilute amounts, generally in globule form.

Ayurvedic drugs: Ayurveda is a South Asian, holistic therapeutic concept, based not only on medical therapy, but including all aspects of the life cycle. Medicinal plants are hardly ever used for their specific curative agents – in most cases, a number of different drugs with varying effects are administered.

Dietary supplements: These refer to a range of food supplements of both plant as well as animal origin embracing most non-licensed herbal remedies, and comprising a major component of the OTC medicine market, which does not require prior marketing approval. Health claims are not generally allowed for such products.

Functional foods: This term can broadly be interpreted to imply any food or beverage which makes some claim to enhance one’s physical or mental health and well being, and to achieve demonstrable benefit beyond adequate nutritional effects to one or more target functions in the body. They are to be distinguished from dietary supplements in that they are not taken in pill or capsule form but compose part of the normal diet.

Nutraceuticals: Given that most regulators prohibit use of the terms medicines, drugs or pharmaceuticals in the context of unlicensed herbal remedies and dietary supplements, the term nutraceutical is a cross between nutrition and pharmaceutical. Originally coined in the US, this term is becoming increasingly popular in Europe and in other parts of the world, and refers to a wide range of products using both plant and animal based medicinal extracts.

Cosmeceuticals: These topical cosmetic-pharmaceutical hybrids are intended to enhance the health and beauty of the skin.

Aromatherapy Oils: These are essential oils used for therapeutic rather than solely fragrance purposes. Correctly used, they promote balance and harmony between mind and body and may support other applications of medicinal plants effectively. Aromatherapy can be used in a variety of ways: massage, bath, shower, inhalation, burner, perfume, lotion etc.

Modern western medicine: A system, which has been in existence for around 300 years, this seeks to fight, mitigate, or eliminate symptoms of diseases through a calculated allopathic application of agents or combinations of different substances. Unlike traditional medicine, it does not adopt a holistic approach; rather, healing effects are achieved by applying agents opposite to the diseases they are intended to cure.

Popular or folk medicine: A non-institutionalised, individual, family or tribal use of medicinal plants passed down from generation to generation, this is the oldest form of medical therapy that has survived in most countries till date.

Alternative medicine: Already institutionalised to a large extent globally, this forms a link between folk medicine and modern western medicine. Many of these healing concepts date back to well before the advent of modern medicine. With the rapid and enormous progress of scientifically based modern western medicine, these were, however largely repressed. The last couple of decades have, notwithstanding, seen a global resurgence of these alternative medicinal systems, some of the best known being homeopathy, Ayurveda, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: The dividing line between a medicinal and an aromatic plant is very blurred, and many plants are used in both, pharmaceutical as well as fragrance industries. Actually all aromatic plants are medicinal but not all medicinal plants are aromatic. It is also relevant to note here that a wide variety of inter-relationships exist between each of the above categories/sub sectors, e.g. peppermint is used in the production of herbal teas, fragrance flavours, and as a base for well known branded over-the counter (OTC) medicines.

Medicinal Plants Resources: The Basis of Traditional System of Medicine (TSM)

Worldwide, it is estimated that there are an estimated 21,000 medicinal plants. They are more concentrated in the global biodiversity ‘hot-spots’ such as the Amazon rainforest of South America, the eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats in south Asia, and the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of East Africa. Medicinal herbs, shrubs and trees are widely used both in the developed and developing world for preparing traditional remedies that find both domestic and commercial usage. In tropical Africa, for example, more than 4,000 plant species are used for medicinal purposes, and 50,000 tons of medicinal plants are consumed annually in the region. WHO has estimated that up to 80 per cent of people in the developing world are dependant upon traditional systems medicines primarily because of their easy accessibility, wide affordability and cultural familiarity. In fact, as up to 40% of the world’s poor have no access to the government health services, traditional and folk medicine is the only medicine available to them.

Multiple Benefits of Medicinal Plants:

MPs offer a wide range of subsistence, cultural and monetary benefits to people in the world. They provide affordable means of primary health care to poor and marginalized people, especially in impoverished rural areas. In some countries like China, Nepal & India, they are an important revenue generating resources providing critical income to economically marginalized and indigenous people. But most important, in a condition of sustainable harvesting and optimal usage, the medicinal plants could prove to be a model resource that can benefit both the environment and livelihoods in a balanced manner. The real challenge is how to strike this critical balance?

Given the fact that there are multiple benefits of MPs including: a) improved access to primary healthcare, 2) enhanced livelihood security, 3) potentially sustainable use of the biodiversity, and 4) improved benefit sharing with local communities, the promotion of sustainable management of medicinal plants can help the biodiversity rich countries to meet the international obligations such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In the broader sense, medicinal plants can also contribute to address the chronic problem of global poverty and hunger. The realization of mega global targets such as those set by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Poverty Reduction Strategy and Programs (PRSP) etc. will require interventions which are grass roots-based, poor-centred and livelihood focused. Put differently medicinal plants can meet the basic needs of the poor rural people. For example, pro-poor marketing and enterprise development activities in medicinal plants can help poor collectors and growers of medicinal plants to increase their household income, which is dwindling due to increased input costs and decreasing returns.

For example, China is estimated to have 12,807 species of plants out of which 11,146 are classified as medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is estimated that up to 492 species are currently under cultivation and the remaining 10,654 species are harvested from wild habitats (SEPA, 1997). According to Wang etc. (2002), the total production from wild sources is 8.5 million tons and the cultivated medicinal plants production was estimated to be 0.3 million tons in 2001-02. These produce not only contribute to the health of Chinese people but also add approximately 2 billion USD to the national economy annually. In the southwest mountainous province of Guizhou, the contribution of medicinal plants is reported to be about 10 percent of the province’s GDP in 2002 (equivalent to half billion US dollars) (Pei Shengzi, 2003).

Medicinal, aromatic and dye plants (MADPs) also have potential to present as commodities with competitive advantages for the poor regions of Asia, Africa & Latin America. It is observed that some of the poorest regions of the world such as the western and eastern regions of Himalayas, Borneo and Sumatra regions in Asia; Congo basin in Africa and Amazon catchments in South America are also rich in biological diversity where medicinal plants and other NTFP species grow in abundance. If we can promote a balanced conservation and cultivation of MADPs, rural poverty can be alleviated, gender imbalances can be addressed and local economy improved.

More broadly, many medicinal plants are found in forest ecosystems, where they are used to meet the health care needs and livelihoods pursuits of indigenous and local communities. Forests have been targeted in Central America and the Caribbean as priority eco-regions for conservation (IDRC, 2000). MPs are increasingly being recognized as an important resources for sustainable development, particularly as sources of safe, effective, and accessible health care that integrates traditional and community knowledge, innovations, and practices with modern scientific approaches to health research.

Traditional Medicine:

Types of traditional system of medicine (TSM) vary greatly from region to region based on many historical, economic and cultural factors. Asia is home to a number of codified systems—that is, systems of practice where the preparation of medicines and their specific applications have been documented in written form. These texts written thousands of years before have been passed down the generations through many millennia. On the Indian subcontinent, the oldest of the codified systems is Ayurveda – believed to be 5,000 years old. This region is also home to other codified systems of traditional medicine, somewhat more recent in origin, such as Unani, Siddha and Tibetan. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), also a codified system, estimated to cover 40 per cent of publicly funded health services in China, is believed to date back 4,000 to 5,000 years. The TCM is now globally accepted complimentary and alternate medicine (CAM).

Emerging Economic Benefits:

Increasing interest by multinational pharmaceutical companies and domestic manufacturers of herbal-based medicines is contributing significant economic growth of the global medicinal plants sector. In 1997, for example, 3,500 tons of the bark of the shrub Prunus Africana (valued at US $220 million) was exported from Africa, to be used in the treatment of prostate disease. The global market potential of aloe—used to treat burns and added to skin creams and cosmetics—is estimated in the billions of dollars. Devil’s Claw, is a major export from Namibia for use in the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

In the three Himalayan countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, several thousand tones of MAPs are extracted from forests providing earnings that run into millions of dollars each year (Karki, 2003, Belcher 2003). In India, which is the hub of the regional trade, at the national level up to 40% of the state forest-based revenues and 70% of forest export revenues, come from MAPs & non-timber forest products (NTFPs) mostly in unprocessed and raw forms. In Nepal it is estimated that every year 20,000 tons of MAPs worth 18-20 million US$ are traded and about 90% of this collection is exported mainly to India in raw form (Kanel, 2002).

In Bangladesh where herbal medicines have been used for centuries, the most important markets are the rural consumers. Each year, companies producing herbal medicines import huge amounts of raw plant ingredients into Bangladesh. The cultivation is becoming both profitable and environmentally friendly. The Government has encouraged the development of the industry since the Prime Minister launched `plantation fortnight’ last year with a call to plant medicinal plants & fruit trees. It is estimated that around 12,000 tones of dried medicinal plants are sold from the rural collection and production areas worth around 4.5 million USD to the rural economy. The wholesale value is estimated to be US$ 6 million and the import of around 5,000 tons worth US$ 8 million. In summary the MAP sector in Bangladesh is worth US$ 14 million with local supply comprising of 70% by volume and 40% by value (SEDF/IC, 2003).

Bhutan has a rich biodiversity and the government’s commitment to conservation has led to passage of number of important acts such as the 1995 Forest and Nature Conservation Act. The act, however, has made provisions for the issue of special permits for collecting plants for regulating the collection, cultivation, sale, import and, export of medicinal plants. The permit for the collection of medicinal plants, for the manufacture of traditional medicine is also issued annually. More recently, the Government has also lifted the ban on collection of the Yarsa Gumba or Cordicep sinensis, a high value medicinal plant, giving adequate access and benefit rights to the communities (Kunsel, Feb. 2004.). This was done after studies conducted by the Renewable Natural Resources Research Centre (RNRC) of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) had indicated that sustainable collection rather than illegal and haphazard collection would be the best way of conserving the resource and assist in the economic development of target communities. A committee was formed with Agriculture Marketing Services (AMS) as the lead agency to market cordyceps and a basic minimum price of Nu 37,500 (USD 830) was set per Kg. However due to competition between buyers the rates finally touched Nu 87,000/kg (USD 1,930) in 2004. Communities and the ministry of agriculture set certain laws and regulations for harvesting, selling, and monitoring the process and collectors in Northern Bhutan earned handsomely from an estimated sale of 300 – 400 kgs of cordyceps in 2004 (ICIMOD case studies 2005). The government is systematically developing traditional medicine sector as one of the major domestic consumer components of both the raw materials and processed drugs.

In Nepal, the benefit of small interventions promoting community-managed enterprises is evident from the case of Humla Oil Co. an essential oil processing enterprise established in Humla district in western Nepal. Under an USAID supported project. The project, implemented by a group of MAPPA partners led by the Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Biodiversity (ANSAB), sustainable collection, processing, management, and marketing activities were systematically carried out by local communities and their institutions (ICIMOD, 1998). A detailed study by Enterprise Works Everywhere (EWE), Washington DC showed that program beneficiaries boosted their annual income from collecting and selling natural products by 175 % during the period 1995-1998 (ANSAB, 2003).

References:

1. Pei, S.J. 1987: Medicinal Plants in Tropical Areas of China, Proceedings of Symposium 5-35, the 14th International Botanic Congress, Berlin, ISBN 90-220-0921-1, Wageningen, Netherlands. PUDOC 2. Pei, S.J. 2001: Ehtnobotanical Approaches of Traditional Medicine Studies: Some Experience from Asia, Pharmaceutical Biology, Vol.,39, Supplement pp. 74-79 3. Pei, S.J. 2000: Application of Ethnobotany in the Studies of Ethno-Medicine, in Chinese Journal of Ethno Medicines and Ethnopharmacy, Vol. 47, pp. 316-319 4. Pei, S.J. 1999: Modernization Traditional Medicine and Inherence of Ethno-Medicine in China, paper presented at National Forum on Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing 5. SEPA, 1997: National Status Report on Biodiversity of China, State Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), China Environment Press, Beijing 6. Wang, Yu-hua; Pei, S.J. & Xu, J.C. 2002: Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plant Resources in China: Literature Review and Implications, in Resources Science, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 81-88 7. Xiao, Pei-gen, 1999: Century Review and Perspective on TCM in Research & Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, Vol.7 8. Yang, Jing-seng, 1988: A Review on the Derivation of Xizang (Tibetan) Drugs and the advance of its Research. ActaBot. Yunnanic Adit. China 9. Zheng, Yu-lin, 1997: Greet the Spring of Exploitation and Utilization Ethnodrugs in Chinese Journal of Ethnomedicine and Ethnopharmacy Vol. 24, pp1-5 10. ANSAB (2003) Non timber Forest Products in Nepal, National Policy Workshop Proceedings, Kathmandu, Nepal. 11. Badola, H. (2003) International Workshop on Endangered Medicinal plants of Himachal Pradesh, GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Current Science Vol. 83, No.7, 10 October 2002. 12. Belcher, B.M. (1998). A production-to-consumption systems approach: lessons from the bamboo and rattan sectors in Asia. In: Wollengberg, E. and Ingles, A. (eds.) Incomes from the forest: methods for the development and conservation of forest products for local communities, pp. 57-84. Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia. 13. BIT (2003). Developing a sustainable chain in Uttaranchal, India, Bulletin 350, cultivating a Healthy Enterprise, Royal Tropical Institute, 2003, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 14. CRPA, (2002). Demand Study for Selected Medicinal Plants: Volume I and II. Centre for Research, Planning and Action (CRPA) for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GOI, Department of ISM & H and WHO, New Delhi, India; 15. Chandrashekharan, D. MAPs, Institutions and Income Generation In Nepal, MAPPA Discussion Paper series number MNR 98/1. 16. Ganesan Balachander, Message from the Director, Biodiversity Conservation Network (1999) Final Stories from the Field. Biodiversity Support program, Washington DC, USA. 17. IDRC, MAPPA (2004) A study on marketing opportunities for medicinal, aromatic and dye plants in South Asia by Arun Nagpal, IDRC/IFAD/FAO/Ford Foundation /MADP Project, October 2004. 18. TRAFFIC (1999). Implementing CITES for Himalayan medicinal plants Jatamansi and Kutki, TRAFFIC (India, East Asia and International, 1999, Study report. 19. Karki, M., BK Tiwari; AK Badony, and N. Bhattarai (2003). Creating livelihoods Enhancing Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Based Biodiversity-Rich Production Systems: Preliminary Lessons from South Asia; Paper presented at the 3rd World Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants for Human Welfare (WOCMAP III); February 3-72003; Chiang Mai, Thailand. 20. Karki, M. (2000) Development of Bio partnership for Sustainable Management of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in South Asia: Paper presented in the 21st IUFRO Congress, Kuala Lumpur, August 6-12, 2000. 21. Karki, M. (2001) Institutional and Socio-economic factors and Enabling Policies for Non-timber Forest Products-based Development in Northeast India – In: Consultation on NTFP-led Development in NE India; Confidential report No. 1145-In, March, 2000, International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Rome; 1-16 p. 22. Karki, M. (2001). Certification and marketing strategies for sustainable commercialization of medicinal and aromatic plants in Chhatisgarh; Paper presented at the National Research Seminar on Herbal Conservation, Cultivation, Marketing and Utilization with special emphasis on Chhatisgarh, The Herbal State; December 13-14, 2001; Raipur, India; 23. Karki M. B.& Arun Nagpal (2004) Marketing Opportunities and challenges for Medicinal, Aromatic and Dye plants (MADPs) - a position paper presented at the International Workshop on Medicinal Herbs & Herbal Products: Livelihoods & Trade Options - How to make market work for poor? 24. Karki, M.B. (2003). Certification and Marketing Strategies for Sustainable Commercialization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in South Asia; Paper to be presented at the IUFRO All Division 5: Forest Products Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand; March 11-15, 2003. 25. Nautiyal, M.C, Agrotechniques for some High Altitude Medicinal Herbs, High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Centre, HNB Gharwal University, Srinagar, India, 1994. 26. Olsen and Helles, Medicinal Plants, Markets, and Margins in the Nepal Himalaya: Trouble in Paradise, Highland Research and Development, VoU7, No.4, 1997, pp. 363-374. 27. P.S Ahuja, Approach to project design on medicinal and aromatic plants, in Cultivation of medicinal and Orchids in Sikkim Himalaya, Sundriyal and Sharma Eds. 1994. 28. Rana B Rawal, presentation during, Improving Livelihoods of Highland Communities through the Sustainable Utilization of MAPs, Regional Consultation Workshop, 2003, MAPPA, Kathmandu. 29. Rai and Sharma, Medicinal Plants of Sikkim Himalaya-Status, Usage and Potential, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, 1994 30. Report on the task force on conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants, Planning Commission, GOI, 2001. 31. Report of the UN Inter-agency working group on Gender and Development, New Delhi, 2002, India. 32. Salafsky, N., Cauley, H., Balachander, G., Cordes, B., Parks, J., Margoluis, c., Bhatt, S., Encarnacion, C., Russell, D. & Margoluis, R. (2001); A Systematic Test of an Enterprise Strategy for Community-Based Biodiversity Conservation, Conservation Biology 15 (6), 1585-1595. 33. SEDF/IC (2003). Medicinal Plants Marketing in Bangladesh SEDF/Inter-corporation – a Swiss Development Foundation study, 2003). 34. Subedi, B.P. 2002, Non-Timber Forest Products Sub-Sector in Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges for Linking the Business with Biodiversity Conservation. 35. Zaidi, S.H. 2003. Sustainable Development of MAP's in Hindu Kush Himalayas of Pakistan, PFI, Peshawar. 36. http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-19908-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html 37. www.nmpb.nic.in 38. www.medplant.net 39. www.medplant.com 40. www.gangtoktimes.com/2003/May05-11/state_biodiversity_park.html-27k 41. (http://www.panasia.org.sg/nepalnetlforestrv/ansab/himbio/voI4mav/article6.htm) 42. www.indianmedecine.nic.in 43. www.enteroriseworksworldwide.org

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Partner Activities, Projects, Sites

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Program in Asia [MAPPA]: [1] [2]

MAPPA Network in Asia:

After about five years of successful operation, IDRC as the lead agency involved in creating and running the network: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Programme in Asia (MAPPA), decided to devolve MAPPA to a suitable host institution in Asia region for long-term sustainability and strengthened partnerships. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal was selected by IDRC to host the devolved MAPPA program based on its programming fit, institutional commitment and existing demand. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), with its headquarters in Kathmandu, was established in 1983 to address challenges of economic and environmental development in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas: covering parts of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. ICIMOD’s mission is to develop and provide integrated and innovative solutions, in cooperation with national, regional and international partners, which foster action and change for overcoming mountain people’s economic, social and physical vulnerability. To achieve its objectives, the Centre carries out six Integrated Programmes namely (1) Natural Resource Management, (2) Agricultural and Rural Income Diversification, (3) Water, Hazards and Environmental Management, (4) Culture, Equity, Gender and Governance, (5) Policy and Partnership Development, and (6) Information and Knowledge Management.

MAPS is a unique program of strategic research, collaboration and networking. The program takes a holistic approach to research and supports activities that integrate biodiversity conservation, primary health care, sustainable livelihoods, and gender equity. MAPS strives to ensure that this action-oriented research informs both national and international policy, as well as local level stakeholders.

Specific Objectives:

- Support Research on viable approaches for the sustainable production and processing of medicinal plants to benefit the poor through better incomes and/or improved access to health care options;

- Exchange of raw products involves a number of trans-boundary transactions based on historically established trading links and kith-and-kin relationships (family, ethnic, and socially based networks);

- Provide Networking Support by facilitating two-way communication, coordination, collaboration and information dissemination among IDRC partners and other stakeholders including research groups and donors.

MAPS's Regional Approach

MAPS is a special program that promotes problem solving research and development with an extensive regional focus covering Asia. This regional network approach is critical for a number of reasons:

- Species distribution and ecological boundaries do not coincide with political boundaries;

- Exchange of raw products involves a number of trans-boundary transactions based on historically established trading links and kith-and-kin relationships (family, ethnic, and socially based networks);

- Regional collaboration for effectively implementing international covenants relating to biodiversity, trade and the sustainable use of MAP resources is essential.

MAPS's Research Program Focus

Sustainable Use and Conservation of MAPs, by promoting sustainable management and genetic conservation schemes at the community level:

- Target important species, especially those which are rare and/or endangered, and develop appropriate methods to restock natural and domesticated plant supplies;

- Develop and value-add gender sensitive technologies and practices for the sustainable conservation, harvesting and cultivation of these targeted species;

- Design sustainable conservation and use strategies that balance conservation needs with ideal domestic and commercial demands;

- Establish local, state and national policies for community-based conservation and sustainable management, as well as appropriate and workable implementation mechanisms.

Improved livelihoods for rural poor in Asia, by developing innovative strategies to ensure a more equitable distribution of benefits, especially between impoverished upland dwellers and indigenous communities:

- Develop and provide training for value-addition activities such as improved storage, primary processing, packaging and marketing of MAP products among rural communities;

- Emphasize improving collection, cultivation and marketing conditions and benefits for women;

- Develop and realize "bio-partnerships" between local communities and industry, fostering a more balanced division of benefits between these groups to ensure long-term sustainable conservation strategies;

- Carry out gender analysis of MAP activities including harvesting, production and exchange of selected species and their derived products;

- Influence both national and local policies and their timely and suitable reforms, institutional mechanisms that can provide more incentives for conservation and cultivation, and local control over resources and increased benefits to the rural poor. Improved human health by promoting MAPs as a means of safe and effective health care that can fulfill the primary health care needs of rural poor, and by increasing access to, and use of, MAPs:

- Assess the effects MAP commercialization has had on local health systems;

- Develop ways to understand local health care needs, as well as, approaches to improve the delivery of safe, effective and affordable health care to communities;

- Emphasize the documentation and use of local and gendered MAP knowledge and practices in order to improve their overall acceptance, value and use;

- Develop appropriate policies and laws to support the use of medicinal plants to meet primary health care needs, particularly for rural poor.

Networking to facilitating communication and collaboration:

- Promote networking at all levels among key actors involved in medicinal plants R & D. The goal is to increase the exchange of information, collaboration and coordination of activities;

- Identify ways to reach the diversity of MAP interest groups, recognizing skewed access to information and communication technologies;

- Promote discussion among different interest groups, especially encouraging the private sector, health care professionals, conservationists and government representatives.

Medicinal Plants Regional Network

As a partner of a global medicinal plants network, FMP is linked to MAP resources and forums and fostered by MAP networks and concerned organizations. The medplant global network is a global network of networks. It links and improves collaboration between existing regional initiatives and networks on the sustainable use and conservation of medicinal plants. The electronic network allows partners from around the world to post relevant medicinal plants information online, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and strengthening existing regional and local networks. To find out more visit [http:\\www.bellanet.org/medplants]

Opportunities

Given the scale and scope of the challenges in working toward the sustainable development of MAPs in Asia, FMP actively fosters synergistic research partnerships with other donor agencies, national programs and research partners. It is hoped that partnerships will continue to strengthen the MAPS program in the future

The Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Programme in Asia (MAPPA)

MAPS plans to mobilize resources from donors and periodically invites proposals from relevant NGOs, GOs, research institutes, foundations, community-based organizations (CBOs), and universities etc. Individual researchers, scientists and academicians are also eligible to apply .with the endorsement of their respective institutions. We encourage proposals from Nepal, Selection of proposals is based on the relevance of the research topic, novelty of the methods proposed and the application potential of the results. In addition to monitoring the selected projects, MAPS officers also promote successful implementation by facilitating the integration of network member inputs into the process. MAPS organizes workshops and conferences, commissions special studies and participates in the design and development of bilaterally and multilaterally funded development projects. Funding guidelines and application information is available by contacting MAPS project at ICIMOD. Prior to sending a complete proposal, we recommend submitting a two-page concept paper briefly outlining the proposed research.

Information Dissemination and Networking

MAPS is dedicated to the quick and appropriate dissemination of research information. In collaboration with The Foundation for the Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), MAPS publishes a quarterly newsletter to relate its activities to partners and support groups. MAPS also publishes research reports, technical papers and proceedings of its meetings. It plans to publish Tool Books, Manuals and Guidelines, preferably in local languages for disseminating information at the grass roots level. MAPS encourages networking through biannual meetings, as well as information sharing through Internet networks and between researchers. This website maintains a list of Current MAPS Publications.

For more information on MAPS, please contact:

Madhav Karki, Ph.D.

Deputy Director General – Programmes & Coordinator

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Khumaltar, Lalitpur

P.O. Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tel: (977 1) 5525 313 ext. 105 or 5525 318 (direct)

Fax: (977 1) 5524 509 or 5536 747

Email: mkarki(at)icimod.org

Source:

http://ntfp.inbar.int/wiki/index.php/Medicinal_plants