FWD 2 Traditional and Wild Medicinal Plant Harvesting Program in Czech Republic and the Republics of Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia

HerbalEGram: Volume 8, Number 8, August 2011

Traditional and Wild Medicinal Plant Harvesting Program in Czech Republic and the Republics of Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia
A 3-year, EUR €1.176 million project titled “Promoting traditional collection and use of wild plants to reduce social and economic disparities in Central Europe” commenced in May 2011. The project is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and aims to introduce by 2012 a pilot model for the collection, processing, and use of wild plants that is socially and culturally acceptable, economically-viable, and environmentally sound.1

The new project is led by Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, and includes 9 partners from 4 Central European countries: Czech Republic, Republic of Hungary, Republic of Poland, and Republic of Slovenia. The partnering bodies range from local authorities to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), agrarian chambers, and universities. TRAFFIC Europe and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Hungary are engaged in the project to promote the sustainability of wild harvesting and trade through implementation of the FairWild Standard, which TRAFFIC helped develop and promotes through its partnership with the FairWild Foundation.2 The FairWild Standard3 will be used within the project to gather information about the use, harvest, and traditional importance of wild plants and their significance in the cultural heritage of Eastern Europe.

According to the Traditional and Wild project description, “Central Europe used to be and still is among the main exporters of products originating from plants—e.g. medicinal and spice plants—to processors in Western Europe. Wild collection represents 30-40% of medicinal drug* production. In Europe it is estimated that about 2,000 plants are traded commercially, of which 60-70% are natives. Up to 90% of these species are still collected from the wild. These plants constitute an important market and an important genetic base for many essential drugs. With continued growth in this sector, it is important for the countries of Central Europe to join forces to develop a coherent approach to plant supply in order to ensure that this demand does not exhaust natural stocks and the traditional knowledge base is preserved. The goal of Traditional and Wild is to protect and share this declining cultural heritage and also to improve livelihoods of vulnerable groups in rural parts of Central Europe.”1

Some expected results of the project include improved employment options for economically vulnerable groups of collectors, harvesters, and processors in target regions; a better capacity among target groups to sustainably collect and process plants; and a sustainable approach to plant use. These results will be achieved through the development of a strategy and action plan for employment and reduction of social disparities among populations in marginalized rural areas of Central Europe. Such a program would include an analysis of the regions, employment opportunities, establishment of major partnerships, and recommendations for implementation (e.g., the development of training materials, collecting data, etc.). This strategy will result in a transnational model and the production of an ethnobotanical study and training materials. These will serve as the basis for the training of approximately 200 people in traditional plant collection methods and for the establishment of demonstration installations.1


* “medicinal drug” in this quote is synonymous with “medicinal plant”


—Josef Brinckmann

[A previous version of this article was published in Medicinal Plants & Extracts No. 39, a newsletter from the International Trade Centre/Market News Service, with permission from ITC/MNS. It has been slightly edited for publication in HerbalEGram.]


References

1. The Central Europe Programme. Promoting traditional collection and use of wild plants to reduce social and economic disparities in Central Europe. 2011: Available at: www.central2013.eu/nc/central-projects/approved-projects/funded-projects/?tx_fundedprojects_pi1[project]=106. Accessed July 19, 2011.

2. FairWild Foundation. New project to protect traditional knowledge in European plant trade. Budapest, Hungary: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Hungary. 23 May 2011. Available at: www.fairwild.org/news/2011/5/31/new-project-to-protect-traditional-knowledge-in-european-pla.html. Accessed July 19, 2011.

3. FairWild Foundation. FairWild Standard: Version 2.0. FairWild Foundation, Weinfelden, Switzerland. 2010. Available at: www.fairwild.org/publication-downloads/fairwild-standard-ver-20/FairWild-Standard-V2.pdf. Accessed July 19, 2011.