Saving Plants That Save Lives

Scaevola glabra. 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.

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 Ð 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. ÒThis 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,Ó stresses Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWFÕs 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 trade 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. Adapted from materials provided by World Wildlife Fund.