<br><font size=3 face="Arial">The latest issue of FAO NWFP-Digest-L is
available at:<br>
www.fao.org/forestry/site/12980/en<br>
<br>
Below I've pasted some of the entries pertaining to North American native
medicinals (or<br>
NTFPs). There are lots of other interesting articles - I encourage
you to<br>
check it out.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.<br>
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority<br>
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group<br>
US Fish & Wildlife Service<br>
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110<br>
Arlington, VA 22203<br>
703-358-1708 x1753<br>
FAX: 703-358-2276<br>
Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural resources.<br>
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal></font>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>11.
Ginseng found highly effective for weight loss and diabetes control</b></font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>Source: Natural News.com, USA, 1
December 2008</b></font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Ginseng has long been one of the foundations
of healing in Chinese medicine, and is probably the world’s best known
herb. The botanical name panax means ‘all curing’ in Greek. This 5000
year old healer has traditionally been used as a restorative tonic to increase
energy, stamina, and well being. Western scientists have confirmed the
efficacy of ginseng for many of the traditional uses. Now researchers are
adding to the traditional list, documenting ginseng as highly effective
in weight loss and diabetes control.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>
</b><i>Phytotherapy Research Journal</i> reports an investigation of the
molecular basis of ginsenoside Rg3, a red ginseng constituent, focusing
on its ability to inhibit differentiation in the cells that store energy
as fat. The data showed that ginsenoside Rg3 effectively inhibited this
differentiation making the cells less able to complete the fat storage
process.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
<i>Phytotherapy Research Journal</i> also reports an evaluation of the
anti-obesity effect of wild ginseng in obese leptin-deficient mice. Wild
ginseng was administered orally to the mice at 100mg/kg and 200m/kg for
4 weeks. The mice showed a loss of body weight and a decrease in blood
glucose levels when compared to the control mice. A follow up study by
the same research team reported results suggesting that the anti-obesity
effect of identified saponins from ginseng may result from inhibiting energy
gain, normalizing hypothalamic neuropeptides and serum biochemcials related
to the control of weight gain.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
A study reported in <i>Phytomedicine</i> was performed to clarify whether
the crude saponins from stems and leaves of panax quinquefolium inhibited
lipase activity in vitro and prevented obesity induced in mice. For the
in vivo experiments, female mice were fed a fattening diet with or without
saponins for 8 weeks. The researchers found that the crude saponins inhibited
pancreatic lipase activity. Furthermore, crude saponins inhibited the elevations
of plasma triacylglycerol in rats administered the oral lipid emulsion
tolerance test. With long-term administration of crude saponins, fat tissue
weight was decreased in those fed the fattening diet as compared to the
controls.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
In a randomized clinical study reported in the <i>Journal of the American
College of Nutrition</i>, researchers sought to provide evidence of efficacy
and safety in the use of ginseng for diabetes. Their research generated
a mounting body of evidence to support the claim that American Ginseng
is useful in improving diabetes control, reducing associated risk factors
such as hyperlipidemia and hypertension, and ameliorating insulin resistance.
American ginseng acts in the digestive tract to increase insulin secretion.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
The <i>Journal of Ethnopharmacology</i> reports a study acknowledging ginseng’s
long history as an herbal remedy for diabetes. Researchers investigated
the effect and mechanism of Korean red ginseng on stimulation of insulin
release in rats. They found that the extract of Korean red ginseng significantly
evoked a stimulation of insulin release compared to the controls. Experiments
at different glucose concentrations showed that ginseng significantly stimulated
on its own, in a glucose-independent manner.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
As reported in the <i>Journal of Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative
Medicine</i>, initiating studies have shown that American ginseng increases
insulin production and reduces cell death in pancreatic beta-cells. Studies
have also revealed American ginseng’s ability to decrease blood glucose
in type II diabetes patients as well as in diabetes induced animals. These
data suggest that the effects of ginseng in improving hyperglycemia may
alter mitochondrial function as well as apoptosis cascades to ensure cell
viability in pancreatic islet cells.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">For full story, please see: </font><a href=http://www.naturalnews.com/024975.html><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><u>http://www.naturalnews.com/024975.html</u></font></a><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>34.
New foundation to promote sustainable collection of wild plants </b></font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>From: Roland Melisch, TRAFFIC International,
</b></font><a href=mailto:melisch@wwf.de><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><b><u>melisch@wwf.de</u></b></font></a><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>,
9 October 2008</b></font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Barcelona, Spain —An important agreement
was signed today between the four founding institutions of the International
Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
(ISSC-MAP) to endorse global implementation of the standard through the
FairWild Foundation. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
ISSC-MAP is a standard that promotes appropriate management of wild plant
populations used in medicines and cosmetics to ensure they are not over-exploited.
Under the new agreement, the FairWild Foundation will help develop an industry
labelling system so products harvested using the sustainable ISSC-MAP criteria
can be readily recognised and certified. Use of the standard will be promoted
throughout the herbal products industry. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
ISSC-MAP was developed by a partnership including the German Federal Agency
for Nature Conservation (BfN), the IUCN SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist
Group (MPSG), WWF-Germany, and TRAFFIC, plus industry associations, companies,
certifiers and community-based NGOs. The announcement was made at the World
Conservation Congress, currently underway in Barcelona. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
“This new agreement marks a significant step forward in the sustainable
use of wild plants important to human health and well being. Industry adoption
of the standard will ensure sustainable use and equitable sharing of the
world’s wild plant resources, reinforcing the healthy environments, healthy
people theme running throughout the World Conservation Congress,” said
IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre signing the agreement on behalf
of IUCN.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
“A successful wild plant collection standard is essential to ensure sustainable
use of medicinal plants not only for purposes of nature conservation but
also in a social and economic context. Germany, as one of the major medicinal
plant importers worldwide has a special responsibility of acting upon such
principles,” said Professor Beate Jessel, President of the German Federal
Agency for Nature Conservation.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
More than 400,000 tonnes of medicinal and aromatic plants are traded annually,
with around 80% of the species harvested from the wild. Almost 3,000 species
are traded, many of them over-exploited and in danger of extinction through
over-collection and habitat loss. Implementation of the standard will stop
more plants being over-exploited and becoming threatened with extinction
under IUCN’s Red List criteria. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
“Worldwide, people depend on medicinal plants and profit from the unique
therapeutic effects of medicine from nature’s pharmacy,” said Guillermo
Castilleja, Executive Director of Conservation, WWF. “This new agreement
is a significant step forward in ensuring the long-term sustainability
and supply of these invaluable natural products.” </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
“Over-harvesting of wild plants is a serious, yet often neglected issue.
</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
This timely agreement is a milestone on the road to seeing sustainability
become the norm throughout the herbal products industry.” said Steven
Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">For more information, please contact: </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Richard Thomas</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">TRAFFIC International</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Email: </font><a href=mailto:richard.thomas@traffic.org><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><u>richard.thomas@traffic.org</u></font></a>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Tel: +44 752 6646 216. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>LITERATURE REVIEW AND WEB SITES</b></font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>41.
NTFP Curriculum Workbook Available Online</b></font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>From: Eric Jones, Institute for Culture
and Ecology, USA, </b></font><a href=mailto:etjones@ifcae.org><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><b><u>etjones@ifcae.org</u></b></font></a>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">At long last the Nontimber Forest Product
Curriculum Workbook written by Dr. Kathryn Lynch is available through the
Institute for Culture and Ecology website. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
Despite enthusiastic interest from two publishers it got hung up in their
marketing departments because it is so big and expensive to produce that
they were concerned they might lose money. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
We decided to offer it directly through our website as an electronic download
and let people make a donation after deciding what it is worth to them.
This approach also has the advantage of letting us view the curriculum
as a work in progress and update and expand it into the future. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
The workbook was funded the National Commission on Science for Sustainable
Forestry and has been extensively peer-reviewed. Hyperlinks in the
document were just updated. We welcome feedback from users. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
Lastly, "NTFP" is such a big and diverse concept that this curriculum
is still just scratches the surface, even for the U.S., our geographic
focus. Is there a need and a path forward to create an international
repository for curriculum materials? It seems there would need to
be a website where lesson plans, syllabi, handouts, could be shared. Royal
Roads has the online bibliographic database but would that work? Could
it accommodate any language? Who would edit and maintain?</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>Nontimber Forest Products Curriculum Workbook
Website: </b></font><a href=http://www.ifcae.org/projects/ncssf2><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><b><u>www.ifcae.org/projects/ncssf2</u></b></font></a>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">For more information, please contact:</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Eric T Jones, Ph.D.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Environmental Anthropologist</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Institute for Culture and Ecology (501c3)</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Post Office Box 6688</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Portland, Oregon 97228-6688. USA</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Telephone: 541-683-1846</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">E-Mail: </font><a href=mailto:etjones@ifcae.org><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><u>etjones@ifcae.org</u></font></a>
<br><a href=http://www.ifcae.org/><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><u>www.ifcae.org</u></font></a><font size=2 face="Arial">
</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>44.
Other publications of interest</b></font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>Non Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme.</b>
2008. <i>From Seeds to Beads. Tales, Tips and Tools for Building a Community-Based
NTFP Enterprise.</i><b> </b>Yasmin Arquiza (ed). Quezon City, the Philippines,
NTFP-EP. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">From the Blue Mountains of India to the islands
of Indonesia, the experiences of local communities that depend on non-timber
resources from forests for their livelihood come alive. Part manual and
part storybook, this publication aims to share insights as well as lessons
learned by the partners of the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme
that are engaged in NTFP enterprise development. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
This compilation of stories from NTFP-EP partners reflects their journey
in pursuing strategies for building and maintaining sustainable livelihood
enterprises. Furthermore, the most helpful and commonly used tools by NTFP-EP
partners are presented. These practical methods aim to enable local partners
to systematically and professionally design and implement NTFP development
strategies using available resources. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">
It is hoped that more forest-based communities across Asia will find the
inspiration in this publication to embark on innovative enterprises using
the resources sustainably within their locality. </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">To obtain a copy, email </font><a href=mailto:publications@ntfp.org><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><u>publications@ntfp.org</u></font></a><font size=2 face="Arial">.
</font>
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