[MPWG] Excerpts from July '05 Non-Wood Forest Products Digest

Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Tue Jul 26 11:14:22 CDT 2005


The latest issue of the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Non-Wood
Forest Products Digest is now available.

Herein, I am forwarding the Table of Contents for the entire July 2005
issue, but only the summaries for articles pertaining directly to
medicinals in the US.   Note:  The hyperlinks do not work, you need to
scroll down to see the articles.

To receive the electronic digest as soon as it becomes available, you can
join the NWFP listserve at: <www.fao.org/forestry/site/12980/en>. More info
at the very   bottom of this e-mail.

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. 8/05

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: LAGA reinforces wildlife laws
      2.                  Cork: Smart wine corks stop deforestation
      3.                  Ginseng guidelines sent back to drawing board
      (Embedded image moved to file: pic19169.gif)
      4.                  Gum arabic: Agreement made to stabilize gum
      arabic supplies
      5.                  Honey: Brazilian honey has flavours and colours
      for all tastes
      6.                  Honey production increases in Nepal
      7.                  Honey bank proposal
      8.                  Medicinal plants: Centurion Lake Declaration
      9.                  Medicinal plants: Artemisia annua Asia fights
      malaria
      10.              Medicinal plants: African governments urged to
      support herbal medicine development
      11.              Medicinal plants: Plant savers focus on conserving
      medicinals in USA
      12.              Moringa tree production gets $60 million boost
      13.              Mushrooms: Morels in Alaska (USA)
      14.              Seabuckthorn: Breakthrough in the fight against acne
      and eczema
      15.              Shea butter boosts W. Africa business
      16.              Spices: Mabira forest nurtures country’s spice
      farming

COUNTRY INFORMATION
      17.              Angola: Creation of database on biodiversity
      18.              Burkina Faso: TREE8, nationwide tree planting
      19.              Canada: Turning a new leaf on the maple tree
      20.              China: WWF Funds Ecological Protection in China
      21.              India: Women cooperatives add value to NWFP,
      especially lac and tamarind
      22.              India: bamboo export
      23.              India: ‘Vision, Bamboo-2020'
      24.              Kenya's forests at risk
      25.              Malaysia: Orang Asli and gaharu (species of the
      genus Aquilaria)
      26.              Malaysia: More plant species for bio-prospecting
      programme

NEWS
      27.              £10.5 million for new Darwin Initiative projects
      28.              Asian nations to build biodiversity conservation
      corridors
      29.              Biopiracy: Brazil gets tough on 'biopirates'
      30.              Biopiracy: Amazon countries team up to tackle
      biopiracy
      31.              Climate change 'threatens to evict African plants'
      32.              Tree Aid
      33.              World Agroforestry Centre forms alliance with
      Conservation International

REQUESTS
      34.              Request for information: Global Bamboo Resources
      Assessment
      35.              Request for assistance: Syllabus for a training
      program in medicinal plants

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
      36.              CIFOR opportunities

EVENTS
      37.              Transformative Learning
      38.              International Bamboo Inventory Training Workshop
      39.              International Beekeeping Congress

LITERATURE REVIEW AND WEB SITES
      40.              Forests for the new millennium – making forests work
      for people and nature
      41.              USAID’s Enduring Legacy in Natural Forests:
      Livelihoods, Landscapes, and Governance
      42.              Now online: Unasylva 220, COFO 2005
      43.              Other publications of interest
      44.              Web sites and e-zines

MISCELLANEOUS
      45.              Lure of amber keeps 80-year-old digging for years
      46.              Rare mushroom found in the Netherlands



EXCERPTED MEDICINAL ARTICLES

PRODUCTS


3.         Ginseng guidelines sent back to drawing board (Embedded image
moved to file: pic15724.gif)
Source: Food Navigator – France, 5 July 2005

            An international standard on ginseng will take several more
years to be adopted, as discussion at the Codex Commission yesterday
revealed a wide difference of opinion on the scope of the standard.
            The standard proposed by the Korean government a few years ago
has made slow progress under the Codex decision makers because of diverse
opinions on the herbal’s status as well as a significant number of
different species used on the market.
            Although the Codex regional committee in Asia succeeded in
drawing up a first draft standard last year, discussions in Rome yesterday
revealed that there is still no harmonised opinion on the guideline within
Asia.
            The Commission recommended that the standard go back to step
three of the eight-stage decision-making process. “Although we consider
this standard to be very valuable, further work needs to be done on the
text," said David Pineda, director of regulatory affairs at the
International Alliance of Dietary Supplement Associations (IADSA). "It is
unfortunate that it has to wait one more year before the draft is endorsed
but there are several issues to be addressed," he added.
            In some countries, including within Europe, ginseng is not
listed as a food ingredient. A Codex guideline on the herbal would
recognise its status at an international level as a food.
For full story, please see:
www.foodnavigator.com/news/news-ng.asp?n=61085-ginseng-guidelines-sent



11.       Medicinal plants: Plant savers focus on conserving medicinals in
USA
Source: Barre Montpelier Times Argus - Barre, VT, USA, 5 June 2005

United Plant Savers is a Vermont-based non-profit with a goal of preserving
North America's native medicinal plants. It has about 2,000 members
nationwide and for each member the focus is on its "at risk" list, about 20
plants in danger of disappearing due to habitat loss and over-harvesting.
From the well-known American ginseng to the lesser known lomatium, the
group is keeping watch and educating people about the problem.
            "Eleven years ago we looked around and saw that the medicinal
herb industry was burgeoning, it was going into supermarkets and it wasn't
just small health food stores that were carrying these remedies anymore,"
said executive director Lynda LeMole. "More people have access to herbal
medicine than ever before."
            The increased usage posed a problem, though. According to
LeMole, herbalists noticed that the increase in demand was not being met by
a corresponding increase in supply. The plants were being harvested in the
wild, and the supply was beginning to dwindle. “One of the first measures
that United Plant Savers took was to come up with a list of the plants that
we were most concerned about," she said. "And we came up with what we call
the 'at risk' list." With the list in hand, the organization could direct
its energies into seeking a solution to the problem. Knowing which plants
were most threatened LeMole said allowed the organization to begin studying
safe cultivation methods and educating the public about sound harvesting
practices.
            In Orange (Vermont), herbalist Betzy Bancroft manages the
United Plant Savers offices on Knox Mountain. There, Bancroft said, the
organization has created a botanical sanctuary where plants such as
ginseng, blood root and goldenseal thrive in their natural setting. And
across the country, members have created private sanctuaries to preserve
indigenous plants. "They range in size from somebody's backyard to hundreds
of acres," she said. In Ohio, Bancroft said, Untied Plant Savers has one of
its largest sanctuaries. "We have a 370-acre botanical sanctuary there of
herbs as far as the eye can see."
            According to Bancroft, once someone decides to designate
property as a sanctuary, United Plant Savers can help in a number of ways.
First, the organization can provide contacts for seeds and seedlings that
would typically grow wild in the area. Also, the group has a network of
affiliated land consultants who can assist in creating a sanctuary suited
to a particular bioregion.
            Cultivation of native plants can be tricky, though. According
to Jeff Carpenter of Zack Woods Herb Farm in Hyde Park, most of the plants
on the "at risk" list can be cultivated, but in some cases special
accommodations need to be made. "These are woodland plants, so we had to
create an artificial shade structure," Carpenter said. That structure, he
said, mimics the tree canopy that would exist in a forest setting. Such
accommodations have allowed him to cultivate numerous native medicinal
plants, which he sells in seed, seedling or dried form. Currently,
Carpenter said, he has between 20,000 and 30,000 goldenseal plants growing
under the shade structure. Carpenter said about a third of the calls he
receives during the year are referred to him from United Plant Savers.
            However, cultivation of native plants is not something to be
taken lightly. According to Bob Popp, a botanist with the state's Nongame
and Natural Heritage Project, the introduction of rare plants into the wild
can cause serious problems. Someone could unknowingly introduce a rare
plant into the wrong habitat, which could upset the balance that exists in
nature, he said. Or someone could inadvertently introduce a non-native
strain of plant into the wild, which could cause problems with the native
strain. Popp recommends educating people about rare plants and working to
protect natural habitats.
            At United Plant Savers, education is the primary concern,
Bancroft said. Through literature and herbal symposiums, Bancroft said the
organization works to teach the public about plant identification, natural
habitats, safe cultivation methods and ethical harvesting techniques.
            Plants such as ginseng and bloodroot, which can be used to
treat a number of ailments including stress, skin cancer and others, are of
particular concern, Bancroft said. Because the root of the plant is used to
create remedies, harvesting the plant kills it. Therefore, teaching
harvesting ethics is crucial to ensure that native medicinal plants
continue to thrive in the wild. Root dividing, pruning and seed planting
are a few of the ethical harvesting methods the organization promotes,
Bancroft said.
            According to United Plant Savers founder and president,
Rosemary Gladstar, the solution to the problem is for herbalists and
consumers to know the sources of their herbs, and whenever possible, use
cultivated sources.
            Bancroft agreed, and she encourages people to notice the labels
on herbal products and to purchase items that are known to be made from
cultivated herbs. And for the average person, Bancroft said even small
efforts can make a big difference. "Plant native plants," she said. "And
just leave room for wilderness in your yard, and that goes for bugs, birds
and plants."
For full story, please see:
www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/NEWS/506050358/1003


MISCELLANEOUS
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