How will the market demand develop in the future?People in developing countries are already and will increasingly depend on medicinal plants as sources for their primary health care. An estimate by the World Health Organization (Bannerman 1982) that more than 80 percent of the world's population relies solely or largely on traditional remedies for health care is frequently cited.
Also in the northern countries, use of medicinal plants is expected to rise globally, both in allopathic and herbal medicine (WHO 2002). This upward trend is predicted not only because of population explosion, but also due to increasing popularity for natural-based, environmentally friendly products.
In general, the demand for medicinal plants and herbal remedies and especially its renaissance in the developed countries is driven by the following factors (Iqbal 1993; Leaman 2002):
Most MAP species will continue to be harvested wild
The limitations of cultivation as an alternative to wild harvest have been examined by Sheldonet al.(1997) in several case studies. We share their conclusion that, notwithstanding the level of interest in cultivation as a means for enhanced production and in a few cases as an effort to contribute to conservation of the resource, most medicinal and aromatic plant species will continue to be harvested wild to some extent. There is therefore a need to recognize and strengthen the role of local people in forest inventory, monitoring and impact assessment processes and to integrate non-timber product uses into forest management
Need for implementation of management plans
Limiting the harvest to a sustainable level requires an effective management system and sound scientific information (Table 6). The management system must include annual harvest quotas, consider seasonal or geographical restrictions and restriction of harvest to particular plant parts or size classes. In addition, clarification of the access and user rights to the resources providing MAP is part of the essential baseline information. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of the success is necessary to adapt the management strategy (FAO 1995; Leamanet al.1997; Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen 1996; Schippmann 1997; WHO, IUCN and WWF 1993).
In many cases harvesting techniques need to be improved as the extraction of the roots or bark is often negatively affecting the recovery of the species or may even kill it. Collecting methods are often crude and wasteful, resulting in loss of quality and reduction in price (Iqbal 1993; Vantomme in Anon. 2002a).
Field-based methods have already been developed for sustainable harvest assessment and monitoring of non-wood forest products, resulting in the publication of research guidelines and predictive models (Cunningham 2001; FAO 1995; Nantelet al.1996; Peters 1994).
Table 6: Steps and standard elements of a management plan for MAP utilization (Schippmann1997) |
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Eco-labelling and certification
Given that sustainable harvesting from the wild is difficult to achieve, certification standards can play a role to assure that a product meets certain standards of sustainability. Certification programmes related to natural resource use have mainly been developed for timber and agricultural products but they are presently being adapted for wild harvest of non-timber plants. Various schemes focus on different areas along the supply chain: production, processing, trade, manufacturing, marketing. Four categories of certification schemes have been identified to be of relevance for MAP products (Walter 2002): (i) forest management certification (e.g. Forest Stewardship Council FSC), (ii) social certification (e.g. Fair Trade Federation FTF), (iii) organic certification (e.g. International Federation of Organic Agriculture IFOAM), and (iv) product quality certification.
The latter include parameters such as product identity, purity, safety and efficacy. The Good Harvesting Practices (GHP) developed for medicinal plants cover to some degree ecological aspects (Harnischfeger 2000) but need to be more clearly focussed on this aspect before they can make a meaningful contribution to ensuring sustainability. Dürbeck (1999), Walter (2002) and most comprehensively Pierceet al.(2002) present overviews of certification programmes and their activities.