19 Dec 2007 - Poor or non-existent
collection controls are threatening the survival
of many of the plant species used in traditional
and modern medicines. Some estimates indicate
that 15,000 of the 50,000 – 70,000 plant species
used for medicinal purposes and mostly collected
from the wild may be threatened, many as a
direct result of unsustainable collection
practices.
Three years of collaboration in which WWF
has played a key role have now produced the
first set of principles and criteria for the
sustainable wild collection of plants.
“This important effort will benefit the health
and well-being of both the ecosystems they
are part of, and the local people who depend
on them for their livelihoods,”stresses Dr.
Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF’s Species
Programme.
The new International Standard for Sustainable
Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants (ISSC-MAP) has been produced by the
IUCN-SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group,
TRAFFIC the wildlife monitoring network, WWF
Germany and the German Federal Agency for
Nature Conservation (BfN), with support from
IUCN Canada. Concern over the decline in medicinal
and aromatic plant populations and supplies,
has been growing for some years and the new
standard addresses requests from industry,
governments, organic certifiers, resource
managers and collectors for a means of assessing
the sustainability of wild collection.
It also provides potential frameworks for
addressing a rising consumer concern and desire
for information on the sustainability and
ethical implications of products.
This document is designed to help the people
involved in the harvest, management, trade,
manufacture and sale of wild-collected medicinal
and aromatic plant resources to understand
and comply with the conditions under which
sustainable collection of these resources
can take place.
IUCN, WWF and TRAFFIC - the wildlife trade
monitoring network -are working together in
several countries to apply the ISSC-MAP to
certification, resource management, and development
of national laws and policies.
They are also working with several independent
companies and industry associations – currently
in the Ukraine, Morocco and Bosnia-Herzegovina
– to implement the ISSC-MAP through voluntary
codes of practice.
The process of developing the principles
and criteria that make up the ISSC-MAP has
also involved an international, multi-stakeholder
advisory group representing industry, independent
certifiers, organizations working on fair
trade, sustainable livelihoods and sustainable
agriculture and forestry.
Dr. Susan Lieberman
Director of WWF’s Species Programme
