Preservation Efforts
Preserving the Earth and Medicinal Plants for Generations to Come
We support responsible herb harvesting and collection practices...While the growth of awareness in natural healthcare has resulted in a huge expansion of the availability of herbal products, it has also sadly contributed to non-sustainable methods for the harvest of certain herbs compounded by the increasing loss of habitat due to encroachment from development. Because of this, our ingredient philosophy mandates that we take into consideration the environmental and social issues associated with a particular herb. We support sustainable wild collection practices and work with our herb suppliers to implement sustainable methods for all wild herbs.
Initiatives We Support
Organizations We Support
Initiatives We Support
Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants
We support the principles outlined in the "Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants," and encourage our herb suppliers to incorporate them into their own business practices. These guidelines, prepared in partnership by The World Health Organization (WHO), The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), provide strategy for integrating conservation with development. The Guidelines are currently undergoing updating and revision and we have participated in the advisory group and consultation process. Publication of these revised and updated Guidelines is anticipated in 2009.
Learn More - Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants
International Standard for the Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP)
Traditional Medicinals® participates as a Decision Group member of the “International Standard for the Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants” (ISSC-MAP), a joint initiative of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), the IUCN Medicinal Plant Specialist, Group, WWF Germany and TRAFFIC.
ISSC-MAP provides clear principles, criteria, indicators and verifiers that will enable industry, resource managers, collectors and other stakeholders to assess and monitor the sustainability of wild resources and collection practices. The Standard focuses on ecological aspects of good collection practices (GCP), which are often neglected, the need for thorough but cost-effective resource assessments and the determination of sustainable yields. Social and economic factors are also addressed. ISSC-MAP builds on but does not replace existing principles, guidelines, and standards for sustainable forest practices, organic production and good agricultural practices, fair trade, and product quality. Traditional Medicinals® is investing in the preliminary testing of the new standard at selected wild collection sites in partnership with Martin Bauer of Germany.
Learn More - International Standard for the Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP)
Study on the Sustainability of Wild Collection of Uva Ursi Leaves in Siberia
In 2004, Traditional Medicinals® made a commitment to source uva ursi leaf only from a specific wild collection site in Siberia where a sustainable wild harvest study was in process.
Uva ursi is a medicinal plant that grows wild in Europe and the Russian Federation including Siberia. The import of uva ursi (Arctostaphylos uva ursi) into the European Union is monitored by the European Union’s Regulation 338/97 Annex D, which regulates the trade of wild fauna and flora.
In 2002, a survey on the sustainability of wild collection of uva ursi leaves in Siberia was initiated between the WWF (the global conservation organisation), TRAFFIC (joint wildlife trade monitoring programme of WWF and IUCN) and IUCN (the World Conservation Union), researchers at the University in Landau and the German herb company Martin Bauer. The project included a study of the plant’s biology (seeding, germination, flowering and post harvest regeneration) and its’ habitat requirements (eco zone, soil type, climate) as well as an analysis of its’ commercial trade. The study results demonstrated the sustainability of current wild collection of uva ursi in this region.
Traditional Medicinals® is committed to formulate its products only with uva ursi obtained from this source. Your purchase of these products (Cran Aid®, PMS Tea®, Weightless® Cranberry, and Weightless® Tea) helps to assure that the wild harvest of uva ursi in Siberia will be managed sustainably.
AHPA-AHP Good Agricultural and Collection Practice for Herbal Raw Materials
As members of the Botanical Raw Materials Committee of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Traditional Medicinals has participated in the development of, and supports the implementation of, the “AHPA-AHP Good Agricultural and Collection Practice for Herbal Raw Materials.” Environmental stewardship is a general principle of the AHPA-AHP GACPs, which also include a chapter on the sustainable harvest of herbs.
Learn More - AHPA-AHP Good Agricultural and Collection Practice for Herbal Raw Materials
FairWild Certification
Traditional Medicinals® has made an early commitment to and is investing in the auditing of selected wild collection sites according to the new FairWild standard. We anticipate some of our products to be labeled with FairWild certification following the 2008 harvests.
The increasing demand for wild collected products in the sectors of food, personal health care and medicinal herbs poses major ecological and social challenges. The high demand of potentially vulnerable plants can endanger local ecosystems substantially and the poverty of collectors who often belong to the poorest social groups in the countries of origin is of increasing concern.
FairWild is certifiable and provides the buyers with transparency and the assurance that products are produced in a socially and ecologically sound way. Traceability and better product safety add additional marketing arguments for the final consumer.
The development of the new FairWild standard is initiated by SIPPO (the Swiss Import Promotion Organisation) and financed in cooperation with Forum Essenzia. The Institute for Marketecology (IMO), significantly involved in professional support to the development of the Standard, offers certification to this new and unique guideline.
Learn More - FairWild Standards
Linking Economic Development and Biodiversity Conservation in the Russian Far East through Tiger Friendly Certification
In 2005, Traditional Medicinals® made a commitment to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to participate in their proposed "Tiger Friendly Certified" program in the Russian Far East (RFE) for the supply of medicinal plants such as schisandra fruit. This is a community level conservation program that rewards the medicinal plant wild collectors with an added premium for monitoring the endangered tiger population in the forest collection areas and preventing illegal poaching.
The project aims to provide economic incentives for local communities to conserve tigers and their habitat by recognizing sustainably harvested products with a Tiger Friendly Certification. The RFE has been identified as one of the world’s top priority ecoregions for its high numbers of endemic species, including the endangered Siberian tiger. The locally unemployed, comprising more than half of the population, resort to poaching and illegal harvesting of forest products, such as ginseng and Siberian tiger bones, to generate income. But by unsustainably extracting these endangered products from the forest, the local communities are also threatening many RFE species with extinction. After more than three years since our initial commitment to the project the first harvests of certified organic and Tiger Friendly Certified™ ingredients are expected to come to market in 2009 in partnership with Organic Herb Trade.
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Organizations We Support
In addition to our stringent ingredient sustainability standards, we actively support organizations that focus on resource preservation.United Plant Savers
The mission of United Plant Savers is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.
Learn More - United Plant Savers
International Standard for the Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP)
The purpose of the ISSC-MAP is to ensure the continued use and long-term survival of medicinal and aromatic plant species and populations in their habitats, while respecting the traditions, cultures and livelihoods of all stakeholders.
The objectives of this standard are:
- To provide a framework of principles and criteria that can be applied to the management of MAP species and their ecosystems;
- To provide guidance for management planning;
- To serve as a basis for monitoring and reporting; and
- To recommend requirements for certification of sustainable wild collection of MAP resources.
Learn More - International Standard for the Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP)
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