[MPWG] Happy 25th Anniversary American Botanical Council!

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Here's to an MPWG ally in medicinal plant conservation! Happy Birthday!
-Patricia

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
Service-International Affairs
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
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>

Follow International Affairs
> on Twitter  http://twitter.com/USFWSInternatl
> on Facebook   http://www.facebook.com/USFWS_InternationalAffairs


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: American Botanical Council <publicrelations at herbalgram.org>
Date: Thu, Oct 31, 2013 at 6:15 PM

*The American Botanical Council Celebrates 25 Years of Herbal Medicine
Education* *Award-Winning Nonprofit with Passion for Plant-Based Medicine
Has International Impact and Reputation*


(AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 31, 2013) On November 1, the American Botanical
Council (ABC) celebrates a quarter century of promoting the responsible,
science-based use of herbal medicine. The independent nonprofit’s 25th
anniversary is a major milestone for the Austin, Texas-based organization
and speaks to its enduring message of informed, research-supported healing
through nature — one that has resonated with thousands of members and
supporters both locally and in many countries around the world.

“I've been affiliated with and have supported ABC since its inception,
because I believe in its mission,” said internationally renowned author and
integrative medicine pioneer Andrew Weil, MD, the founder and director of
the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona
College of Medicine. Dr. Weil, whose image has twice graced the cover of *TIME
Magazine*, said, “As more health professionals are trained to use medicinal
plants and other natural therapies, healthcare costs will decrease and
health outcomes will improve. Education is required for this to happen,
education of the sort that ABC has provided over the past 25 years and I'm
sure will continue to provide.”

In the 1980s, when the modern herbal medicine movement was experiencing a
revival and consumer awareness and exposure to natural medicine was slowly
increasing, ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal saw the need
for an authoritative, science-based source of information on botanical
medicine to act as a touchstone for herbal education and quality for all
aspects of the herbal industry including consumers. The Texan visionary,
whose passion for herbal medicine earned him the nickname “Herbal Cowboy,”
together with two internationally respected medicinal plant experts — the
eminent ethnobotanist James A. Duke, PhD, and the late distinguished
pharmacognosist Norman R. Farnsworth, PhD — established the educational
nonprofit American Botanical Council in 1988.

“I think of Mark as the great herbal diplomat,” said Rosemary Gladstar,
herbalist, prolific author, educator, and founder of the nonprofit
conservation organization United Plant Savers. Gladstar, whom Blumenthal
nicknamed the “Godmother of American Herbalism,” praised his efforts over
the past 25 years as being “beautifully, seriously, and joyfully effective.”

As ABC celebrates its 25th anniversary in November 2013, the organization’s
flagship publication — the quarterly, peer-reviewed journal *HerbalGram* —
commemorates 30 years of herbal education with its 100th issue. Part
scientific journal, part consumer magazine, *HerbalGram *has furthered
ABC’s unique nonprofit educational mission by disseminating extensively
researched, literature-supported, and expertly peer-reviewed information on
botanical medicine.

“Under Mark Blumenthal’s steady editorial guidance, the information [in *
HerbalGram*] has always been cutting-edge and in a word — reliable,” said
author and medicinal plant expert Steven Foster, whose stunning botanical
photography has adorned the magazine’s pages since its early years. “From
history to new clinical studies, reporting on new regulatory and market
developments to comprehensive reviews and covering the world’s herbs and
the world of herbs, no publication has provided more to all interested
stakeholders in every aspect of herbal medicine.”

In addition to *HerbalGram*, ABC boasts numerous other publications that
provide dependable herbal medicine information for consumers, healthcare
practitioners, researchers, educators, industry, the media, and more. The
nonprofit’s most recent publication, the weekly online newsletter, “Herbal
News & Events,” keeps ABC members and supporters abreast of events,
conferences, and news items relevant to the herbal community. HerbalEGram,
ABC’s monthly online periodical for members, also reaches a milestone this
month, celebrating 10 years of publishing timely, original, in-house
features and news articles.

Members of ABC can also access HerbMedPro™, a professional, continuously
updated database of medicinal plant research articles searchable by herb
name, condition, indication, and more. ABC provides free online access to
HerbMed®, a “sister” database featuring 20 to 30 herbs from HerbMedPro that
are rotated on a regular basis. Making this unique resource free to the
public increases the number of people who benefit from updated information
on herbs, in accordance with ABC’s nonprofit educational mission.

Another notable resource is the organization’s HerbClip™ service, which for
two decades has provided summaries and critical reviews of seminal articles
on medicinal plant research and clinical trials, as well as information on
regulation, marketing, conservation, and sustainability.

These services and many others — including a digitized version of *The ABC
Clinical Guide to Herbs*; ABC’s Healthy Ingredients, a plant-based dietary
supplements and cosmetics reference page; and the lauded, historical
compilation of *The Complete German Commission E Monographs* — are all
available online through ABC’s information-rich website, *www.herbalgram.or*
*g* <http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=9oYGjMKoOSMPyBuoPwYKrw>.

ABC’s headquarters at the 160-year-old Case Mill Homestead in the heart of
East Austin serves as an extension of the organization’s commitment to
herbal education. Purchased in 1997, the property was renovated with the
help of the nonprofit’s first capital campaign and updated with expansive
medicinal plant gardens, a greenhouse, and annex that functions as home for
ABC’s library and a community meeting space sometimes used by other Austin
nonprofits. With guidance from ABC’s dedicated education department, the
gardens are used as a tool for dietetic and pharmacy interns from local
universities, who apply their research in hands-on medicine-making labs and
presentations using herbs from the grounds. The Case Mill Homestead also
functions as the idyllic setting of ABC’s annual HerbDay event, where
community members gather to celebrate the healing properties of plants.

For the past three years, ABC also has been actively involved in
establishing and directing a major international collaborative research
project addressing the quality of herbal ingredients used in consumer
products. In 2011, ABC joined forces with the nonprofit American Herbal
Pharmacopoeia (AHP) and the University of Mississippi’s National Center for
Natural Products Research (NCNPR) to bring to light the accidental and
intentional adulteration of botanical materials. To date, the *ABC-AHP-NCNPR
Botanical Adulterants
Program<http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=Zk31yakyNrF-7DXmviq8Ww>
* is underwritten and/or endorsed by more than 100 natural product industry
companies, independent analytical laboratories, nonprofit and professional
organizations, trade associations, accredited natural medicine
institutions, and more.

The American Botanical Council’s dedication and passion for providing
reliable information on herbal medicine for the past 25 years has impacted
thousands of individuals around the world, from eager-to-be-educated
consumers to distinguished medicinal plant experts.

“Mark Blumenthal and the American Botanical Council have played a
tremendous and important role in opening the eyes and minds of countless
healthcare professionals to the importance of herbal medicines in healing,
eco-conservation, traditional use, and even economics,” said Aviva Romm,
MD, Yale-trained physician, herbalist, and award-winning author.

As an example of ABC’s global impact, Kerry Bone, one of the leading
medicinal plant experts in Australia, wrote, “Congratulations to Mark and
[the ABC] team for their tireless work over 25 years in representing
and promoting botanical therapy as a rational and credible
healthcare alternative.”

“We are deeply grateful to all of our members, donors, and other supporters
who have made this milestone possible,” said Blumenthal. “From medicinal
plant researchers, healthcare professionals, consumers, industry members,
and many others, in the United States and 80 countries around the world,
ABC’s success is a result of the strong ongoing support of people who value
reliable, science-based information on the many positive health effects of
herbs, spices, teas, phytomedicines, and other beneficial plants and fungi.”
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20131101/321489cc/attachment.html>