[MPWG] MAPS in the Balkans

Patricia_Ford at fws.gov Patricia_Ford at fws.gov
Fri Sep 12 12:50:02 CDT 2003


News release on medicinal and aromatic plant species (MAPS) in the Balkan
countries:
http://www.traffic.org/news/press-releases/balkan_plant.html

                                                               
 Stocks of many medicinal plant species in the Balkan          
 countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,    
 and Romania) have declined in the past decades with some      
 species becoming rare or endangered due to habitat loss,      
 habitat modification and over-exploitation, among other       
 reasons. The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation    
 (BfN), WWF Germany and TRAFFIC Europe1, call for action to    
 fix and implement measures to avert the further depletion of  
 medicinal and aromatic plant populations in the Balkan        
 countries.                                                    
                                                               


                                                               
 The study found that the medicinal and aromatic plant species 
 wild-collected in the largest quantities in the region are    
 presently sage in Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina, juniper in  
 Bosnia-Herzegovina, dog-rose in Bulgaria, nettle in Croatia,  
 Field Shave-grass (Equisetum arvense) in Croatia, as well as  
 bilberry and raspberry in Romania. Species like Yellow        
 Gentian (Gentiana lutea) and Mountain Tea (Sideritis raeseri) 
 have become threatened almost throughout their natural range  
 in the Balkans.                                               
                                                               


                                                               
 The entire document (some 200 pages) can be read or           
 downloaded from the Germany BfN website at                    
 http://www.bfn.de/06/0602_en.htm                              
                                                               









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