[MPWG] NWFP Digest 2/05
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Wed Apr 6 09:13:59 CDT 2005
Hello again!
The February '05 Non-Wood Forest Products Digest contains articles
exemplifying the complexity of issues surrounding sustainable use and
conservation of medicinal plants - including patent and certification
issues. It also includes an announcement of the first-ever "international
certification for sustainable extraction of herbal and medicinal products"
- in Nepal!
Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 750
Arlington, VA 22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural
resources.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>
NWFP-Digest-L
No. 2/05
Welcome to FAO’s NWFP-Digest-L, a free e-mail journal that covers all
aspects of non-wood forest products. A special thank you to all those who
have shared information.
Back issues of the Digest may be found on FAO's NWFP home page:
www.fao.org/forestry/site/12980/en
==============================================================
IN THIS ISSUE:
PRODUCTS
1. Bushmeat: Ebola virus outbreaks linked to
infected wild animal carcasses
2. Bushmeat: West African confab on bushmeat begins
3. Bushmeat: Chimpanzee babies starved by rare
animal smugglers
4. Bushmeat: Cruel world of trade in bushmeat
5. Ecotourism: Uttaranchal (India) tries to involve
tribals in forest conservation
6. Ginseng: Biologist says deer threaten ginseng
7. Honey: Locusts threaten honey production in
Guinea-Bissau
8. Honey: Accessing EU market for Zambian honey
exporters
9. Medicinal Plants: Global trade in medicinal
plants growing
10. Medicinal plants: ICRAF to conserve medicinal aloe
plant
11. Medicinal plants: Indian Government to protect
patents on medicinal plants
12. Medicinal plants: Certification not a cure for
threats to India's medicinal plants
13. Mushrooms: Fungus studied as cancer fighter
COUNTRY INFORMATION
14. Brazil: President creates massive forest reserves in
Amazon
15. China to boost research into traditional medicine
16. Morocco: la forêt de la maâmora, un écosystème
fragile à préserver
17. Nepal: International certification for NWFP
18. Peru: la shiringa nuevamente vale
19. Sri Lanka: 50,000 acres of Horowpathana Forest to be
declared National Park
NEWS
20. Certification of Non-wood Forest Products
21. Green inventor wins top honour
22. Training: RECOFTC Training Courses and Study Tours
for 2005
23. Training: The International Association for Impact
Assessment
24. World leaders must take action on Congo agreement
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
25. European Forest Institute: Director
EVENTS
26. The Second Annual North Carolina Natural Products
Association Conference
27. Biodiversity and Conservation Biology in Plantation
Forests
28. Small-scale Forestry in a Changing Environment
29. A Future Beneath the Trees
30. International training workshop on small bamboo
daily product processing technologies and machines
31. Interactive forest and nature policy in practice -
managing multi-stakeholder learning in sector-wide approaches and
national forest programmes
LITERATURE REVIEW AND WEB SITES
32. Africa Environment Outlook. Past, present and future
perspectives
33. Discovering a new source of income
34. Unasylva
35. Other publications of interest
36. Web sites and e-zines
REQUESTS
37. Request for assistance: Training in India
38. Request for assistance: Association of medicinal
plant scientist of India – proposal
MISCELLANEOUS
39. El Perú se ubica entre los 20 países que mejor
cuidan sus ecosistemas
40. MSc. in European Forestry – University of Joensuu,
Finland
41. WOCAN: Announcement of a new global network
42. United Kingdom: New Forest national park date set
PRODUCTS
1. Bushmeat: Ebola virus outbreaks linked to infected wild animal
carcasses
Source: News-Medical-Net, 14 February 2005
All recent Ebola virus outbreaks in humans in forests between Gabon and the
Republic of Congo were the result of handling infected wild animal
carcasses, according to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
and its regional partners. Appearing in the February edition of the journal
Emerging Infectious Diseases, the study found that many animal carcasses
tested for Ebola between 2001 and 2003 produced positive results, and found
direct links between the deadly disease in animal populations and humans.
"This research proves that hunting and consumption of great
apes represent a serious health risk for people in Central Africa, and a
risk that can be avoided," said Dr. William Karesh, field veterinarian for
the Wildlife Conservation Society and a co-author on the paper. "What we
need now is improved awareness of this risk in communities where bushmeat
is still a source of sustenance and continued monitoring of wildlife in the
region. We have identified a 'win – win' opportunity by using this
information to both protect endangered apes from illegal hunting and to
protect humans from deadly outbreaks."
The paper provides definitive proof for the assumption that
Ebola moves from wildlife populations to humans through the consumption or
handling of carcasses or bushmeat.
Specifically, the researchers found that Ebola infections in wild animals
such as gorillas, chimpanzees, and occasionally duikers, move across the
human-wildlife divide through hunters taking either sick animals or
carcasses for meat. Hunters can then spread the disease to families and
hospital workers, creating the conditions for an epidemic in the process.
Between August 2001 and June 2003, researchers noted that
wildlife outbreaks occurred prior to five human outbreaks in the same
relative locations. During this same period, 98 animal carcasses were
discovered in the region straddling northeast Gabon and the northwest
Republic of Congo. Of these carcasses, 21 gorilla, chimp and duiker
carcasses were tested for the Ebola virus, with 14 samples being found
positive. In 11 cases, instances of human infection were directly linked to
gorilla, chimpanzee and duiker carcasses.
To prevent future outbreaks from becoming health crises, health
officials and wildlife researchers must continue to work together in
monitoring the region's wildlife for signs of Ebola.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) is a severe, often-fatal
disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and
chimpanzees) that has appeared sporadically since its initial recognition
in 1976.
For full story, please see: www.news-medical.net/?id=7751
BACK TO TOP
2. Bushmeat: West African confab on bushmeat begins
Source: GhanaWeb, 23 February 2005
A three-day West African conference on bushmeat dubbed “Taking the bushmeat
crisis in West Africa” opened in Accra yesterday. Thirteen participants
comprising bushmeat traders, traditional rulers, environmental groups and
Government authorities are attending the meeting.
The conference is a result of a poorly managed and largely
uncontrolled harvesting of wildlife, which is posing a threat to wildlife
in the sub-region. In view of this, the stakeholders will, among other
things, develop long term programmes to ensure effective implementation of
wildlife strategies, enhance protection of endangered areas, reduce illegal
hunting activities and sustainably manage wildlife harvest.
Prof. Dominic Fobih, Lands and Forestry Minister said that his
ministry, through the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, has
introduced a new concept to promote community participation in the
conservation of wildlife resource. Known as the community resource
management concept, it seeks to transfer ownership and management
responsibility of wildlife back to rural communities under the
establishment of community resources management areas (CREMA). According to
the Minister, the aim is to encourage farmers to integrate wildlife
management into farming and land management systems. It is also to enable
them to have responsible ownership and authority for wildlife on their
land.
For full story, please see:
www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=75999
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3. Bushmeat: Chimpanzee babies starved by rare animal smugglers
Source: Independent – UK, 22 February 2005
Customs officials at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi know to listen out
for whimpers coming from crates that pass through the customs hall. As a
transport hub for East Africa, animals flown illegally from one part of the
world to another frequently pass through here.
Last week officials made the biggest seizure of its kind when
they found five baby chimpanzees and four guenon monkeys crammed together
in a tiny crate on a plane coming in from South Sudan. "The baby chimps
were found in a pitiful state and were starving” said Richard Obanda, a
senior official at Kenya Wildlife Services, which has taken charge of the
animals.
The chimpanzees have a black market value of around $20,000
(£10,500) each, and Kenya Wildlife Services said it believed the animals
were being taken to Nigeria from Egypt. The raid highlights the magnitude
of the worldwide trade in chimpanzees, mankind's closest relatives. They
are classified as a highly endangered species by the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) and there are believed to
be only 200,000 remaining in the world. They can only be transported for
very specific reasons, but 32,000 primates annually are still bought and
sold on the international market. One third go to America to be kept in
zoos or used in laboratory research, where they are used to research
infectious diseases such as HIV/Aids and hepatitis. Conservationists
estimate that at least a quarter of the trade worldwide is illegal and that
as many as eight chimpanzees are killed for every one exported alive.
Interpol, the international police agency, estimates that
illegal wildlife trade is worth $5bn a year, second only to drugs in the
worldwide black market. Within their native habitats, chimpanzees are
sought for food. Around 6,000 are killed each year and eaten by rural
populations in Africa who cannot afford any other source of meat. In the
jungles of eastern Cameroon and Congo, gorillas and chimpanzees have long
been considered a source of food, but the dense growth that surrounded
their habitats often foiled hunters. Now European logging companies have
opened up huge tracts of forests and carry bushmeat from the hunters
directly to the towns, where gorilla and chimpanzee meat sells at three
times the price of beef.
"Chimpanzees are threatened by humans who regard then as both
pets and as food," Mr Obanda said. "Many people in the Middle East like to
keep baby chimpanzees as pets but once they grow to full size they get very
strong and powerful. They end up frightening their owners and then end up
on someone's plate. It's double jeopardy."
For full story, please see:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=612857
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4. Bushmeat: Cruel world of trade in bushmeat
Source: The Nation (Nairobi), 23 February 2005
We smelt her before we found her, a six-month old cheetah cub practically
garrotted by the rusty wire snare. The leader of the de-snaring team run by
the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) working with Kenya Wildlife
Service and funded by the World Society for the Protection of Animals
(WSPA) pulled her dusty, inert body out of the cunningly hidden trap from
where she had innocently walked into and become ensnared.
That day the cheetah wasn't the only victim of the escalating
but completely illegal bushmeat trade - it is considered by leading
conservationists not only unsustainable, but on the verge of being a
national disaster. In the Tsavo park, the de-snaring team came across three
giraffes, or rather, their remains. The poachers had harvested their
ill-got gains on-site and fled the scene.
Working together with KWS who provide back-up in the form of
armed patrols/rangers, the de-snaring teams comprise dedicated,
well-trained professionals. There are six teams operating in and along the
borders of Tsavo East and West, who seek out and dismantle numerous snares
as well as an alarming number of wildlife corpses on a daily basis.
In the Tsavo West National Park, poachers have set thousands of
illegal snares that indiscriminately kill everything, including the cheetah
we came across. Some 151 snares were dismantled in the eastern border of
the park (near Maktau Gate) in December alone, a conservative figure due to
the late rains. The peak culling period is the dry season between June and
October when people and wildlife are struggling for survival.
Particularly depressing are some of the tactics used. As we
walked, we came across fencelines a metre or more high built from cut
branches, and especially thorn bush that extended for miles. Craftily
hidden within the thick web of branches are steel wire snares. Wildlife is
then chased into the barrier, often by dogs, and in their attempt to
escape, the animals are caught up in the traps set in the crude structures.
What is surprising is that poachers operate – and are
discovered – miles inside national park boundaries. They come under the
cover of darkness, blinding dik-dik with torches and then simply cutting
their hamstrings with a scythe or bludgeoning their spinal chords so that
the helpless creatures cannot run away. Donkeys pulling cartloads of
carcasses have been found deep within the parks, especially the neglected
corners such as Maktau, where there are few roads and hardly any visitors.
The poachers themselves are not always from poor communities,
struggling to make a living. The bushmeat trade has become an increasingly
commercial market and those involved include businessmen, opportunists and
even shifta. They employ traditional hunters good at tracking – and money
has upped the ante. A giraffe can sell for Sh10, 000, while a zebra sells
at Sh2, 500, so traditional hunters are no longer killing wildlife just to
supplement their own diet with extra protein, but poaching and selling game
meat for profit.
Carcasses and selected cuts are available fresh in practically
every village in Kenya - mostly in seedy kumi-kumi joints. But as the
rapacious trade becomes ever more commercial, the meat is turning up in
towns and cities, disguised as ng'ombe [beef] and mbuzi [goat meat],
filleted and presented as choice cuts.
Hunting was banned in 1978, and wildlife is officially
protected under the Wildlife Act. But Punishments handed down by current
judiciary practice are exceedingly lenient. Six months is a typical
sentence and sometimes the poachers are even acquitted. This is a real blow
to the morale of the KWS rangers/de-snaring teams working to apprehend
poachers, because they are the ones who witness the slaughter on a daily
basis and put their lives at risk in the process.
On the other side of the border, the Tanzanian Government takes
poaching seriously and the punishment is imprisonment for 15-20 years. So
it is no wonder that we now have an influx of poachers from Tanzania
helping themselves to Kenya's natural resources.
The combined efforts of KWS and the DSWT-funded teams save
3,000 animals each year on average from prolonged and agonising death. The
de-snaring teams run educational projects in communities targeting
school-children.
Unless something is done, the wildlife is going to be
decimated. It is estimated that in just one area of Tsavo Park there are
ten groups of poachers working 15 days of the month killing numerous
animals on each mission. The levels of animals being poached has become so
serious an issue that unless it is challenged, it will create problems in
the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
Ms Winnie Kiiru of BornFree says. "We as Kenyans will have to
take a critical look at our value system with regard to the conservation of
our wildlife. The notion that we have abundant resources and that we can
continue to harvest with impunity is false. We have to address rural
poverty to ease the dependence on wildlife meat for subsistence. Poaching
for commercial purposes must be stopped through consistent and effective
policing and law enforcement. Consumers of wildlife meat must also be made
aware of the dangers of eating meat that has not been inspected."
For full story, please see: http://allafrica.com/stories/200502221492.html
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5. Ecotourism: Uttaranchal (India) tries to involve tribals in
forest conservation
Source: New Kerala, 12 January 2005 (in Community Forestry E-News 2005.01)
Uttaranchal is trying to involve in thousands of tribals and villagers
living in the state’s forests to help woo ecotourists to its remote area.
The government is attempting to provide livelihood strategies for the
tribals by training them to conserve the forests and to practise
sustainable community-based tourism. Revenues generated are to be
distributed to the people who actually reside in those areas.
Encouraged by the response to similar packages in states like
Sikkim and Assam, authorities are now trying to get locals to adopt their
traditional lifestyles – a distinctly forest culture – to bring in the
millions of foreigners fascinated by it to the region. The government has
also set up a four billion rupees master plan to develop lesser-known hill
stations and an institute of eco tourism would be set up to train villagers
to boost community-based tourism.
For the full story, please see
www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=59241
BACK TO TOP
6. Ginseng: Biologist says deer threaten ginseng
Source: Associated Press, 11 February 2005, in CFRC Weekly Summary 2/17/05
American ginseng, sister of the Asian wonder herb and a seasonal cash crop
in Appalachia, West Virginia, has two obstacles to long-term survival in
the United States: Man and deer. That's the conclusion of West Virginia
University biologist James McGraw, who says that since humans aren't going
anywhere, it's time to do something about the deer.
In Friday's edition of Science, the journal of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, McGraw says natural,
slow-growing ginseng could be extinct within 100 years if deer keep grazing
at current rates. He contends there are two ways to ensure its survival:
Reintroduce mountain lions, wolves or other natural predators to the
Appalachians, or loosen hunting restrictions to reduce the deer herds.
Curtis Taylor, chief of the West Virginia Division of Natural
Resources' wildlife section, laughs at what he calls a "totally
unrealistic" suggestion.
Buddy Davidson, spokesman for the state Department of
Agriculture, says it's also unnecessary. "Don't worry about the ginseng,"
he says. "The coyotes will take care of the deer."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports an explosion in the
number of coyotes, a non-native species that has migrated eastward, in West
Virginia. The agency suspects there are 20,000 to 50,000 coyotes in the
state.
Ginseng is a protected under the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species, a global treaty to which the United States has
agreed. The federal government must certify each year that harvesting the
root will not threaten its existence.
"So if deer keep lowering the population sizes, eventually, it
will definitely curtail any harvesting," argues McGraw. "In one sense, we
have a legal mandate to protect this species. But more importantly, that
wild harvest provides an important economic supplement to many people in
rural Appalachia. It provides a cushion of sorts when times are rough."
Commercial demand is huge for ginseng, touted as a cure-all for
everything from headaches and insomnia to sexual dysfunction. Even beer and
soda makers are now adding it to their drinks.
The state Division of Forestry says some 10,000 West Virginians
enter the woods each fall to dig them up. Last year, they collected more
than 6,400 pounds worth more than $2 million.
McGraw and research associate Mary Ann Furedi studied ginseng
in seven locations from 2000 to 2004, examining 800 plants every three
weeks. In some spots, deer grazed on as little as 11 percent of the plants.
In others, they ate every one.
Though mathematical formulas suggest West Virginia has 95
million ginseng plants, McGraw says they're seldom found in large clumps.
Ginseng takes 18 months to germinate, then eight to 15 years to mature.
Although McGraw and Furedi studied ginseng, they don't think
deer are going out of their way to eat it. They believe the animals are
destroying many understory plants, including oak saplings, wild orchids and
trilliums, a perennial in the lily family.
Hunting may be the control method that makes sense to most
people, and McGraw says states should work harder to educate hunters about
the downside of a large deer herd.
But Taylor, at the DNR, says people still pose the greater
threat. "Deer get blamed for everything," he says. "Deer and ginseng have
coexisted in the Appalachian Mountains ever since there were Appalachian
Mountains.
For full story, please see:
www.forestrycenter.org/News/news.cfm?News_ID=799
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7. Honey: Locusts threaten honey production in Guinea-Bissau
Source: IRIN, 21 Feb 2005 (in Reuters AlertNet, 21 February)
Swarms of locusts have invaded western Guinea from neighbouring Senegal and
Guinea-Bissau and are devouring the foliage of flowering trees, threatening
the region's honey production, agricultural experts told IRIN.
Honey, which accounts for 40 percent of farmers' cash earnings
in central Guinea, is particularly threatened in the Labe and Mamou areas,
in western Guinea, Abdulkarim Camara, Director of the Agriculture at the
Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forests, told IRIN by telephone from the
Guinean capital Conakry.
Mohamed Lemine, an expert of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) who recently visited Guinea to evaluate the locust
infestation, agreed that honey was an important industry in the area. He
told IRIN that the authorities would have to choose carefully the
pesticides used to control locusts so as not to kill bees at the same time
in this sensitive environment.
The locusts are also viewed as a potential threat to tree crops
in Guinea-Bissau, whose plantations of cashew nut trees are currently in
flower. Cashew nuts are the country's biggest export and the main cash crop
of the country's peasant farmers.
For full story, please see:
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/7154fbd1321683544f31f98a3afc1497.htm
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8. Honey: Accessing EU market for Zambian honey exporters
Source: The Times of Zambia (Ndola), 24 February 2005
Zambia is one of the countries in the region which is able to trade its
honey on the basis of it being organic in nature. However, despite its
organic status, the honey is unable to access the European market and so
gain the benefits attracted by honey products from a developing country.
This is due to outlying factors, which honey producers should overcome to
increase the honey exports from the current levels of over 500 tonnes
annually.
Honey composition is an important determinant of the quality to
be exported to the European Union (EU). It is obligatory to carry out
laboratory tests for all the honey being exported to ensure that there is
compliance with the quality standards required by the EU regulations.
ISO Certification provides a harmonized set of generic quality
assurances, standards applicable to any organization regardless of size,
activity or status. Honey consumers are becoming increasingly quality
conscious and demand that these standards are met as a minimum requirement.
Certification can be carried out through organizations affiliated to the
European Union, such as Ecocert International and British Soil Association.
Honey colour is an important aspect in the setting of the value
for marketing of honey and determination of its use. Normally, darker
coloured honeys often have a strong taste and are used for industrial
application. The lighter colours, which have a less strong taste, are used
for direct consumption. Colour as a single important aspect determines
import and export prices.
The honey exported to the EU is normally shipped in steel drums
of 205 or 210 litres and weigh about 300 kg. The honey imported by the EU
is expected to meet certain standards of marking. The minimal information
required on the steel drums are the contact details of the seller
(importer) in the importing country, contact details of the producer, type
of honey, gross and net weight, drum number, lot number, name of organic
certifying organisation and country of origin.
Exporting countries use Eco-labels to indicate that the honey
produced has a reduced impact on the environment. Eco-labels are not
compulsory, as the market share for them remains relatively low.
In light of the foregoing, most honey producers lack the
financial resources for an infrastructure that ensures that honey is
produced in an organized manner.
Production of honey to meet the required parameters requires
tracing the honey production from the time when the beehives are set to the
time of harvesting and processing.
ISO certification is an important aspect when it comes to
exporting to the European Market. Once a product is certified and accepted
in one place by accredited certifying bodies, it would be the accepted
standard elsewhere.
There is need to embark on an expansion programme for tree
varieties that are used in honey production, as well as planting other
varieties of trees to ease pressure on trees used by bees for honey
production.
This increases the production of different types of honey such
as monoflora, which sell for higher prices as they are consumed directly.
Currently, most Zambian honey used is industrial honey in food preparation
after the rediscovery of honey’s valuable food ingredients.
Zambian exporters require a form of training to be able to
understand the importance of labelling and marking as an important tool
when selling to the European Union. Once all the markings are correct, it
creates confidence with the importers.
For full story, please see: http://allafrica.com/stories/200502240058.html
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9. Medicinal Plants: Global trade in medicinal plants growing
Source: The Times of India, 14 February 2005
Despite its inherent strength in Ayurveda and other ethnic systems of
medicine, India accounts for only a small portion of the world trade in
medicinal and aromatic plants which is dominated by China.
While China held a handsome 40 percent share in the $60 billion
world trade in medicinal plants, India accounted for just US$100 million,
according to Kerala's annual Economic Review.
The global market for medicinal plants has been growing at a
brisk pace of 7 percent annually, capitalizing on the growing awareness of
herbal and aromatic plants worldwide. The United States accounted for
nearly 50 percent of the export of Indian medicinal plants and products.
India's share in US imports of pharmaceutical preparations had steadily
been increasing since 1998.
The National Medicinal Plants Board had prioritized 32 plants
for development, formulating schemes and guidelines for financial
assistance applicable both for governmental and non-governmental agencies.
One of the problems faced by the sector is destructive
harvesting and inefficient, imperfect and informal marketing by
pharmaceutical firms, the review noted.
Out of the annual consumption of raw drugs, 50 percent are from
roots, 15 percent fruits/seeds, 12 percent wood, 9 percent whole plants, 7
percent bark/stem, 4 percent leaves and 3 percent flowers.
For full story, please see:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1026236.cms
BACK TO TOP
10. Medicinal plants: ICRAF to conserve medicinal aloe plant
Source: The East African Standard (Nairobi), 15 February 2005
The International Centre for Research and Agro Forestry (ICRAF) has started
a project in Nyando District (Kenya) to conserve the endangered Aloe Vera
plant. The plant will then be exported to pharmaceutical firms in
Australia.
Mr David Nyantika, an ICRAF research extension officer,
yesterday said a pilot project to conserve the medicinal plant has been
launched in Jimbo east sub-location within the district.
"The Aloe plant is threatened with extinction due to heavy
destruction of forest cover in Nyakach, land degradation and harvesting by
local residents," Nyantika said. He added that aloe has a variety of uses.
Its most important value is medicinal and some residents use it for
treatment of skin ailments." The plant is also used for making hair
conditioners and gels, among other beauty products.
Nyantika said due to the high demand for the plant by local
pharmaceutical and cosmetic firms, it was quickly getting depleted.
For full story, please see: http://allafrica.com/stories/200502150711.html
BACK TO TOP
11. Medicinal plants: Indian Government to protect patents on
medicinal plants
Source: Financial Express, Bombay, 13 February 2005
Integration of unani systems of medicine with modern medicine in health
delivery systems would benefit more people, Union health and family welfare
minister Anbumani Ramadoss said.
The government is taking all steps to protect the country’s
vast reservoir of traditional knowledge and has initiated a project to
record detailed information about the plants of medicinal value, Mr
Ramadoss said.
The project of traditional knowledge digital library of unani
medicines has been initiated recently and a team of experts were busy
transcribing 77,000 formulations which exist in 14 classical texts of unani
medicines, the minister said. He added that the database would go a long
way in scientific development of the system and help protect patents of
medicinal plants in favour of the country.
For full story, please see:
www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=82489
BACK TO TOP
12. Medicinal plants: Certification not a cure for threats to India's
medicinal plants
Source: Press Release, TRAFFIC
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