[MPWG] new guidelines for certified organic wild crops

[Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov]

Wow. These two excerpts are of particular interest...

"Minimal agricultural practices, such as re-seeding from and pruning of 
existing plants or the removal of non-native species, along with the 
sustainable harving of the wild crops may be employed and, in some cases, 
even required by other jurisdictions to support the long-term cviability 
of the habitat." 

"Section 205.200 states that production practices must maintain or improve 
the natural resources of an operation under organic certification...[which 
also applies to wild-certifed crops].  Unmanaged, untrained and uninformed 
harvesting of wild products from a wild habitat without maintaining or 
improving the natural resouces can disqualify the wild products from 
organic certification."

This seems to be a more pragmatic approach that address two important 
concerns about ecologically-appropriate activities: It recognizes that 
good stewardship practices don't relegate an otherwise wild resource to 
being a "crop."  It also "allows" the harvester to preserve and promote 
conservation of local germplasm. 

Penny, I suspect you submitted comments! 
-Patricia

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 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276

Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>




"Penny's Pine Nuts" <penny at pinenut.com> 
Sent by: mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
05/06/2011 01:52 PM

To
<mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
cc

Subject
[MPWG] new guidelines for certified organic wild crops






http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5090757
 
Some very progressive changes to the national organic program wild crops 
certification.
 
 
 
 
_______________________________________________
PCA's Medicinal Plant Working Group mailing list
MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org


To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to MPWG-request at lists.plantconservation.org 
with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Disclaimer
Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. 
reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The 
information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a 
substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific 
medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare 
information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by 
the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts 
do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant 
Conservation Alliance. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20110509/3503e0c1/attachment.html>