[MPWG] yet another reminder...

Wed Aug 31 23:32:53 CDT 2005

Given that Half of the top Six selling herbs listed at the bottom are
endemic to Appalachia, I am wondering to what degree habitat destruction may
be contributing to the decline?  We have talked before about what role
wildlife management or lack thereof may be contributing to the loss of
ginseng, but I am deeply concerned about the role of development or, say,
mountain top removal and the dumping of "overburden" into the watershed may
do to disrupt the soil conditions that have taken millenia to establish.
Please DO NOT mistake this as a deflection of responsibility.  The
sustainability issues put forth in the article below are critical, I
believe, but I am wondering what such blatant disregard of the environment
sets as a psychological precedent.  We may be talking orders of magnitude.

http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org/index2.php
(scroll down for a "sense of place")

myron

**************************************************************
August 20, 2005  
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8125-1741056_1,00.html

So where have all the flowers gone . . .
by Frances Ive 
. . . We¹ve used them up in remedies. Herbal medicine needs to be
sustainable 

It is one of those days we¹ve had a lot of this summer, bursts of sunshine
punctuated by downpours. When the sun comes out the colours of the herbs
come into their own ‹ the brilliant orange of marigolds, bright red poppies
and beautiful lavender flowers laced with the wonderfully aromatic scents of
sage, rosemary and thyme.

Above all there is an overwhelming sense of tranquillity punctuated only by
the sounds of birds, bees and the sight of the odd rabbit hopping around.

The scene is Weleda UK¹s 15-acre (6-hectare) plot of herbs near Ilkeston, in
Derbyshire, where the company, which produces natural- health products,
grows more than 300 species for use in herbal and homoeopathic remedies,
toothpastes, shampoos, lotions and potions. Growing its own ensures
freshness, availability and sustainability.

The Derbyshire rabbits aren¹t too popular with Weleda¹s head gardener,
Michael Bate, because they dig up whole plants to get their food. But
rabbits aren¹t the biggest threat to the planet¹s herbs ‹ we are.

A report last year by Plantlife International, the wild plant conservation
charity, claimed that the £11 billion global herbal medicine industry is
causing 4,000 to 10,000 herbs worldwide to become endangered. Unfortunately,
the majority of the herbal medicine industry are not doing their bit to
ensure survival and Weleda is one of just a few natural-health products
companies growing its own and buying from sustainable sources.

An astonishing 80 per cent of the world¹s population relies on herbal
medicine as their primary healthcare. Often the cost of drugs is far beyond
the reach of many in the Third World but also, in many cases, local cultures
have a long tradition of using herbal medicines that have served them well
over the years. 

In the UK we spent £87 million on herbal remedies in 2004, according to the
market research group Mintel, which was an increase of more than 56 per cent
on 1999 ‹ with no let-up in annual growth. And all kinds of herbs
traditionally used by medicine men, native tribes and Indian and Chinese
doctors are now commonly available on the shelves of our local health-food
store. 

While many of us may applaud ourselves for embracing a natural lifestyle,
the Plant- life report also claims that two thirds of the 50,000 medicinal
plants used in the herbal industry are harvested from the wild, and
herbalists talk of varieties that are no longer available at all.

It is almost impossible to police the harvesting of herbs around the world
unless communities choose to do it themselves or herbal companies set up
sustainability projects.

The Sioux Indians of South Dakota have used echinacea for hundreds of years
to fight infection and to heal wounds and snake bites. When they collect the
plants, to prevent the extinction of the species, they never pick the first
one they see in case it is the only one of its kind left. Unfortunately, not
everyone has such high ideals and echinacea is being illegally harvested
even in protected areas in the United States.

Duncan Ross of Poyntzfield Nurseries, on the Black Isle, north of Inverness,
is a biodynamic horticulturist who grows several endangered species there.
³Anyone with a sense of sustainability will pick only a small proportion of
the seeds they find with the landowner¹s permission,² he says. ³But people
who are simply in it for a quick buck do a lot of damage.²

Endangered herbs cited in the Plantlife report include arnica, popularly
used in homoeopathic remedies for bruising; goldenseal, prescribed for
digestive problems and wound healing; American ginseng, traditionally an
aphrodisiac but now more usually dispensed to boost energy levels; and
liquorice, often used in herbal and conventional medicines for stomach
ulcers. The commonly known kitchen herbs, oregano and thyme, are also being
overharvested in some areas for their medicinal properties.

It is often the type of harvesting that can cause problems. In the case of
bearberry, or Uva ursi, a herb used to treat bladder conditions, only the
leaves are required but the whole plant is uprooted for expedience. This
happens commonly and as Ross explains: ³If you pick the whole plant it
doesn¹t seed again or regenerate.²

Most herbs grow easily in different climates and echinacea thrives even in
the UK, but some of the most endangered species require considerable
expertise, perfect soil conditions and the right climate. And many of them
take several years of nurturing before they are ready to harvest.

Poyntzfield grows arnica on the highest point of the Black Isle to supply
Weleda and medical herbalists. ³It needs time and patience, and requires a
sunny site with well drained soil, but because it is an alpine plant the
snow and frost suit it well,² says Ross. ³Goldenseal is harvested illegally
in the Appalachian mountains for its golden root. We grow it here but it
takes seven years to yield a crop.²

The report by Plantlife was critical of UK herbal manufacturers because most
of them buy from unsustainable sources. It also claims that whenever there
is a shortage of a particular herb, some companies buy plants on the open
market that have invariably been picked in the wild without concern for
sustainability, often because poor communities depend on selling them for
their livelihood. 

The kind of project environmentalists are keen to see is that adopted by the
Swiss herbal manufacturer Bioforce, which grows most of its own herbs in
Switzerland and claims to simply run out of stocks rather than buy on the
open market. 

Bioforce used to buy devil¹s claw on the open market but it recognised that
random harvesting would soon cause extinction ‹ since 15 million plants are
being pulled up out of the Kalahari Desert every year. The clamour is all
for the plant¹s tuber, which is traditionally used by local tribes to treat
digestive problems but is now much valued in the West as an
anti-inflammatory for arthritis and other joint and muscle pain.

Jen Tan, Bioforce UK¹s medical director, says: ³Because the local tribes are
poor and exploited by merchants, they try to get as much as possible from
the plants which are hard to dig out of the desert. Devil¹s claw takes four
years or more to mature, so it is extremely difficult for local growers to
cultivate it without some injection of outside investment.

³After several years of research and the cultivation of devil¹s claw on an
experimental farm in the desert, we have set up a local farmer with land,
finance and housing to grow it for us on a sustainable farm on the South
African border with Namibia,² says Ten.

The National Institute of Medical Herbalists is already drawing up
guidelines for its 700 members advising that they use only herbs from
sustainable sources. The institute also favours wildcrafting ‹ picking from
the wild only where it is known that herbs are not endangered.

There are encouraging signs that the industry is getting its act together
slowly and in the past few years the UK company Viridian has launched its
own range of 20 organic herbal tinctures, home-grown in Herefordshire,
including echinacea, ginkgo and motherwort. Cheryl Thallon, of Viridian,
says: ³We always want to check the full provenance of the herbs we stock
and, ideally, to watch the seeds growing in the ground.²

To find a herbalist, contact the National Institute of Medical Herbalists,
01392 426022, www.nimh.org.uk

To become a member of Plantlife International call 01722 342730, or visit
www.plantlife.org.uk

You can visit Poyntzfield Nurseries on the Black Isle: one-hour tours run
once a month in June, July, August, call 01381 610352, or visit
www.poyntzfieldherbs.co.uk

Herbal rules 

The EU Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive will come into effect
on October 31. To register their products, manufacturers have until 2011 to
produce a dossier that proves the efficacy of the remedies or they will no
longer be able to sell them in the EU. This is good news for consumers. Some
herbal remedies can be dangerous if taken in unregulated quantities or with
other medication. But it may not be such good news for small companies. ³It
is very expensive to produce these dossiers,² says David Belshaw of Bioforce
UK. ³Larger companies like us are all right, but for some smaller companies
the future is bleak.²

Top selling herbs 

St John¹s wort ‹ for skin wounds and depression.

Echinacea ‹ for infections, colds, flu and snake bites.

Gingko biloba ‹ for circulation and memory.

Ginger root ‹ for travel sickness and nausea.

Black cohosh ‹ for menopausal symptoms.

Ginseng ‹ for energy and as a libido booster.

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