GSPC Target 12

Introduction

Wild plants provide a wide range of products. These products include food, fuel, fibre, timber, medicines, dyes and cosmetics amongst others. 

A very large number of wild plant species are used by humankind. For example, more than 50,000 medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) species are used globally.

The poor in developing countries are particularly reliant on products derived from plants harvested from the wild, both for direct use and on the income provided by selling the plants they collect.

The demand for natural products in the food, cosmetics and medicinal market sectors especially, is growing worldwide. As a result many plant species are at risk from over-collecting and habitat loss.  The decline in wild plant populations has serious consequences for the livelihoods of the people these plants support.

Download an introduction to Target 12 here.

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Medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP) species have so far received the most attention under this target.

It is thought that about 3,000 MAP species are traded internationally, while an even larger number of MAP species are found in local, national, and regional trade. Relatively few MAP species are cultivated, however. The great majority of MAP species in trade are wild-collected. This trend is likely to continue over the long term. However, over-harvesting, land conversion, and habitat loss increasingly threaten a considerable portion (approximately 15,000 species, or 21 per cent) of the world's MAP species and populations. To address this situation, an International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP) has been developed.

As well as MAPs, other species of concern under this target include non-wood forest products (NWFPs) and wild food plants.

NWFPs (also known as non-timber forest products - NTFPs)  are products of biological origin other than wood derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests. 

Examples of NWFP include products used as food and food additives (edible nuts, mushrooms, fruits, herbs, spices and condiments, aromatic plants), fibres (used in construction, furniture, clothing or utensils), resins, gums, and products used for medicinal, cosmetic or cultural purposes.

Several million households world-wide depend heavily on NWFP for subsistence and/or income. Some 80 percent of the population of the developing world use NWFP for health and nutritional needs. FAO is working to improve the sustainable utilization of NWFP in order to contribute to the wise management of the world's forests, to conserve their biodiversity, and to improve income generation and food security.

In the case of wild food plants, it is estimated by FAO that around one billion people use wild foods in their diets. There is often no easy distinctions between ‘wild’ and ‘cultivated’ foods. Plant foods can thus be envisioned as ‘existing along a continuum' ranging from the entirely wild to the semi-domesticated, or from no noticeable human intervention to selective harvesting, transplanting, and propagation. Wild foods have long provided farmers a ‘hidden harvest’, as they have used co-evolved species and other wild biodiversity in and around their farms to supplement their foods and earnings. A paper on the roles and values of wild foods in agricultural systems can be downloaded here.

The implementation of this target relates to Targets 4 and 6 of the Aichi targets of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020:

T4: By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.

T6: By 2020 all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.

The implementation of this target is linked to Target 11, especially with relation to the formulation on non-detriment findings under CITES.   

Implementation

In response to the decline in wild plant resources, the FairWild Foundation was established in 2008. It promotes the sustainable use of wild collected ingredients, with a fair deal for all those involved throughout the supply chain. The FairWild Foundation promotes the FairWild Standard and a certification system for sustainable management and collection of wild plants, which is based in part on the International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP).

Fairwild certification 

At present, the FairWild Standard Version 2.0 is exclusively certifiable through the Institute for Marketecology (IMO); no other control bodies are approved by the FairWild Foundation to offer this certification scheme.
 
Certified products and producers provide the buyers of wild collected products 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. Products can be labelled with the FairWild logo.

The FairWild Standard Version 2.0

• Guarantees sustainability for both wild plant and human resources, by combining the principles of fair trade, international labour standards (based on principles of the International Labour Organisation) and sustainability for wild collection (all principles of the ISSC-MAP).

• Foresees the management of plants and involved people through a management plan.

• Requests resource assessments for target plant populations.

• Requires an organizational structure for collectors in order to work jointly with the wild collection company on improvement of their social situation.
  

Tools and resources

Please also check in the database of Tools of Resources for Case Studies relevant to this target.

Status

A report produced by TRAFFIC in 2010  'Wild for a cure: ground-truthing a standard for sustainable management of wild plants in the field'  details projects ranging from South America to Southern Africa and South-East Asia where new methods were devised to protect key natural resources from the wild while improving the livelihoods and benefits for local people through application of guidelines on sustainable wild collection. The report notes the importance of ensuring all local stakeholders - from collectors to local organizations, resource management authorities and businesses - are involved in partnership from the outset, and that clear and realistic market openings should be identified for harvested products and with ways devised to give “added value” to products and a fair share of benefits to the owners of traditional knowledge.

A copy of the report can be downloaded here.

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