plants for life

20YEARS

1987-2007

Plants for life:Medicinal plant conservationand botanic gardens

Plants for life:Medicinal plant conservationand botanic gardens

Belinda Hawkins

The Rosy periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), extracts of which have helped increase thechance of surviving childhood leukaemia from 10% to 95%.

Cover image: Echinacea spp. used by Native American Indians and still popular todayfor stimulating the immune system and accelerating the healing of infections.

January 2008ISBN: 1-905164-21-1Published by Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Recommended citation: Hawkins, B., 2008. Plants for life: Medicinal plant conservationand botanic gardens. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, U.K.

Further copies of this report can be requested from Botanic Gardens ConservationInternational, Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, U.K.Alternatively, please email [email protected].

This report draws on a questionnairesurvey of botanic gardens, experts andconservation organisations worldwide.The response has been extremelyencouraging. Conservation organisationssuch as Plantlife International, TRAFFICand the IUCN SSC Medicinal PlantSpecialist Group have all highlighted thevaluable skills and expertise of botanicgardens that can and should be madeavailable to provide integratedconservation solutions for medicinalplants. We are very grateful for theirpractical suggestions and ideas forpartnership. Botanic gardens have sharedpractical case studies and expressedtheir willingness to take on moreconservation commitments. BGCI willnow act on the findings presented in thisreport to fully develop and implement amedicinal plant programme that deliversthe objective in our 5 Year Plan:To enhance the conservation andsustainable use of threatened medicinalplants to address human well-being andlivelihood issues as a contributiontowards Targets 3 and 13 of the CBDGlobal Strategy for Plant Conservation.

Sara OldfieldBGCI Secretary GeneralDecember 2007

Medicinal plants harvested from the wildremain of immense importance for thewell-being of millions of people aroundthe world. Providing both a relief fromillness and a source of income, over70,000 plant species are thought to bemedicinal. Loss of habitat combined withover-harvesting threatens the survival ofmany of these plant species. Botanicgardens are important agencies forensuring their conservation.

The original purpose of the earliestbotanic gardens established in Europe inthe sixteenth century was the cultivationand study of medicinal plants - at a timewhen medicine and botany wereessentially the same discipline.The tradition of cultivating and displayingmedicinal plants has been retained bymany botanic gardens. For example,a study by BGCI in 1998 highlighted themedicinal plant collections of 480 botanicgardens. Conservation of threatenedmedicinal plants has become anincreasingly important role through ex situconservation as an insurance policyagainst loss of resources in the wild,informing visitors about the values andconservation needs of these specialplants and working with localcommunities to show how the plants theyrely on can be cultivated or harvestedsustainably. The multitude of ways inwhich botanic gardens support theconservation of medicinal plants ishighlighted by this report. And yet muchmore needs to be done.

Plants for life: Medicinal plant conservation and botanic gardens2

Foreword

Zingiber spectabile. In addition to its useas a spice, ginger root has been used forcenturies for an array of complaints; fromstomach upset to rheumatism.

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................4

2. Background .................................................................................................................................................................................5

3. Medicinal plants for healing .................................................................................................................................................6

4. Medicinal plants for livelihoods...........................................................................................................................................8

5. Approaches to medicinal plant conservation .................................................................................................................10

6. Medicinal plants and botanic gardens .............................................................................................................................15

7. Recommendations for medicinal plant conservation actions by botanic gardens ..............................................20

8. Towards an action plan for medicinal plant conservation by BGCI..........................................................................24

9. Conclusions...............................................................................................................................................................................26

10. References .................................................................................................................................................................................27

Acronyms and Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................29

AnnexesAnnex 1 The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: 2010 Targets .....................................................................................30Annex 2 Source data for list of medicinal plants ....................................................................................................................31Annex 3 Medicinal plants questionnaire ..................................................................................................................................33Annex 4 Analysis of questionnaire responses ........................................................................................................................34Annex 5 Suggested priority species for conservation action ................................................................................................36Annex 6 The 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categories ...................................................................................45Annex 7 BGCI regional action plan for medicinal plant conservation ..................................................................................46

Plants for life: Medicinal plant conservation and botanic gardens 3

Contents

Magnolia denudata.Flower buds and seeds

used in Asia forheadaches and sinusitis.

Botanic gardens around the world havebeen involved in the study and cultivationof medicinal plants for over 500 years.Collectively they provide an importantrepository for medicinal plants and theassociated knowledge about theseimportant species. Recognising this,BGCI has taken various steps to promotethe conservation of medicinal plants bythe botanic garden community since itsestablishment 20 years ago.

Currently, one of the aims of BGCI’s5-year plan (2007 – 2012) (available atwww.bgci.org) is to enhance theconservation of threatened medicinalplants to address human well-being andlivelihood issues as a contributiontowards the Global Strategy for PlantConservation (GSPC) (Annex 1).Though there are a range of resourcesdirected at the conservation of medicinalplants, few of these have beenspecifically targeted for botanic gardens.BGCI’s ‘Safety Nets for Medicinal Plants’project, a one-year programme of worksupported by the Rufford Maurice LaingFoundation, aimed to maximise thepotential for skill-sharing within themedicinal plant conservation community,with a view to prioritising the practicalmedicinal plant conservation actions that

botanic gardens and BGCI can take.Although botanic gardens havehorticultural skills that can bedisseminated to achieve a communitybenefit that is not necessarily aconservation benefit, the focus for thiswork was on threatened medicinal plants.

The project has involved updating BGCI’sPlantSearch database (available atwww.bgci.org/plant_search.php/) toinclude information on threatenedmedicinal plants for use as a planningtool. Some 3,000 key medicinal plantspecies are now included in thedatabase, allowing botanic gardens toidentify medicinal plant species withintheir collections and BGCI to build apicture of the ex situ status of priorityspecies, at local, regional and globallevels. This phase of the project hasresulted in the collection of large amountsof data, which will be made available viathe PlantSearch database and will serveas a basis for on-going work. Annex 2records the sources of data used duringthis initial exercise.

Secondly, a medicinal plants workshopinvolving over 150 participants was heldat the Third Global Botanic GardensCongress in Wuhan, China in April 2007,at which a wider consultation exercisewas begun. This involved a questionnairesurvey (Annex 3), which was directed atvarious medicinal plant stakeholderbodies; from botanic gardens to NGOs,Government agencies and commercialenterprises. 80 questionnaire responseswere received. Answers and commentaryreceived have been woven into thisreport. Graphic results can be seen atAnnex 4, suggested priority species canbe seen at Annex 5.

Drawing on all of these inputs, thisreport compares the need forconservation of the world’s medicinalplant diversity with the conservationresources provided by botanic gardensaround the world and moves towardsan action plan for prioritisingconservation action, taking intoaccount livelihoods and healthcare foran integrated approach.

Plants for life4

1. Introduction

Hibiscus spp. Many species are usedmedicinally and as food across the globe.

To begin simply, plants equal life. They arethe primary producers that sustain all otherlife forms. They regulate air and waterquality, shape ecosystems and control theclimate. They provide food, medicine,clothes, shelter and the raw materials fromwhich innumerable other products aremade. These benefits are widelyrecognised but poorly understood. Thusplants are both a vital part of the world’sbiological diversity and an essentialeconomic resource for human existence.

Yet plant extinctions are occurring at a rateunmatched in geological history, leavingecosystems incomplete and impoverished.Current extinction rates are at least 100 to1,000 times higher than naturalbackground rates, with a quarter of theworld’s coniferous trees known to be injeopardy (IUCN, 2006) and as many as15,000 medicinal plants under threat(IUCN/SSC MPSG, 2007). Over 50% ofcycads, used medicinally and the oldestseed plants on earth, are threatened withextinction. This makes them one of themost threatened groups of species

currently on the IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species. Whilst the extinctionof a species is the ultimate loss, theprocess of extinction itself has seriousconsequences for local ecosystems.Plant to plant interactions effect bothresource availability and habitat structure,and play an important role in mediating theresponses of natural systems (Brooker,2006). Thus the loss of any one speciesweakens an ecosystem’s ability to adapt ina rapidly changing world.

“Exploitation pressures have increasedwith growing human population.Although sustainable exploitation ofmany species is theoreticallyachievable, many factors conspire tomake it hard to achieve in practice,and overexploitation remains a seriousthreat to many species andpopulations. Among the mostcommonly exploited species or groupsof species are plants and animalsharvested for the medicinal trade”(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).

Destructive harvesting practices coupledwith the degradation of forests,agricultural expansion, grazing pressureand urbanisation all threaten the survivalof medicinal plants. In short, we areasking more and more from naturalecosystems even as we reduce theircapacity to meet our needs (Kazoora,2002).

As we lose species, we lose vitalcomponents necessary to our ownsurvival. Humans, with all their culturaldiversity, are an integral part ofecosystems; ultimately one is entirelydependent on the other. Whilst we driveecosystem change both directly andindirectly, changes in ecosystems causechanges in human well-being also.Adverse impacts on ecosystems haveadverse impacts on cultures andcommunities, often affecting the world’spoorest people with disproportionateseverity. The ecosystem approach toconservation, which puts people at thecentre of ecosystem management, isstrikingly relevant to medicinal plants.Surely, we should save the plants thatsave us?


2. Background

Ginkgo biloba, a ‘living fossil’ with a longhistory of use in China for improving thememory.

In 1960, at the cave site of Shanidarin what is now north-eastern Iraq,the skeleton of an adult male wasdiscovered, lying on his left side ina partial foetal position. He’d beenburied some 60,000 years ago.Routine soil samples were gatheredfor pollen analysis in an attempt toreconstruct the site’s palaeoclimateand vegetational history. In some ofthe samples concentrated clumps ofpollen were found suggesting thatentire flowering plants had beenburied close to the man. Though thesource of the pollen is hotly debated,a study of the particular flower typessuggested that the flowers may havebeen specifically chosen for theirmedicinal properties. Yarrow (Achilleaspp.), St. Barnaby’s thistle (Centaureaspp.), groundsel (Senecio spp.) androse mallow (Hibiscus spp.) amongstothers were represented in the pollensamples, all of which have long-known curative powers as stimulants,astringents and anti-inflammatories.

Medicinal plants have been used bymankind for millennia; their use is as oldas humanity itself. The range of speciesused and their scope for healing is vast.Cures as yet undiscovered may exist inplants as yet undescribed. Currently, it isestimated that the number of higher plantspecies used worldwide for medicinalpurposes is more than 50,000(Schippmann et al., 2002). This equates toapproximately 20% of the world’s vascularflora and constitutes the biggest spectrumof biodiversity used by people for aspecific purpose (Hamilton et al., 2006).

• In China, Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) is largely plant-based (80%) andTCM preparations account for 30-50%of total medicinal consumption, risingto 90% in rural areas (WHO, 2003).

• In India, Ayurvedic medicine, a systemmore than 5,000 years old, is based onsome 2,000 plant species (Zedan,2002).

• In Sub-Saharan Africa, the ratio oftraditional healers to the populationis approximately 1:500, while medicaldoctors have a 1:40,000 ratio to therest of the population (Richter, 2004).

In fact, of the total pharmaceutical drugsupply available worldwide, only 15%is consumed in developing countries(Lydecker et al., 1992), supporting the

3. Medicinal plants for healing

Traditional medicine

“Traditional medicine is the sum totalof the knowledge, skills and practicesbased on the theories, beliefs andexperiences indigenous to differentcultures, whether explicable or not, usedin the maintenance of health as well asin the prevention, diagnosis,improvement or treatment of physicaland mental illness”(World Health Organisation (WHO), 2003).

much-quoted WHO’s estimate that 80%of people worldwide rely on traditionalmedicine for their primary healthcare.The majority of these people are indeveloping countries, where rapidpopulation growth is expected to increasepressures on medicinal plant resources.

The greater part of traditional therapyinvolves the use of plants. With little orno access to modern pharmaceuticalsand a strong cultural preference fortraditional medicine, medicinal plants aretherefore fundamental to the well-being ofbillions of people.

Demand for traditional remedies is alsoincreasing in so-called developedcountries, alongside growingenvironmental awareness and a desirefor natural healing through naturalproducts.

‘Modern’ medicine

Of course, allopathic or ‘modern’medicine also owes a great deal tomedicinal plants. Catharanthus roseusfor example, treats leukaemia andHodgkin’s disease. Morphine andcodeine are produced from cultivatedopium poppy, Papaver somniferum.Aspirin was originally found in willow bark(Salix spp.). Quinine from the cinchonatree has been the primary treatment formalaria for centuries. Digitalin medicines,

extracted from the leaves of the commonfoxglove (Digitalis spp.), are widely usedfor a variety of heart conditions. Topicalsteroids for eczema are produced fromthe yam (Dioscorea spp.) or from sisal(Agave spp.) and the alkaloidGalantamine, sourced from the bulbs ofsnowdrops (Galanthus spp.) is used totreat Alzheimer’s disease, slowing downthe progression of dementia.

In fact, as many as 50% of prescriptiondrugs are based on a molecule thatoccurs naturally in a plant, with some25% of prescription drugs derived directlyfrom flowering plants or modelled on plantmolecules (Foster and Johnson, 2006).

In many cases modern chemistry cannotoffer viable alternatives to activebotanical compounds. The compoundpaclitaxel (found in Taxus spp. and sourceof the anti-cancer drug, taxol) wasdescribed as the kind of molecule that nochemist would ever sit down and think ofmaking;

“If contemporary chemistry is nowallowing us to merely copy suchmolecules, one can imagine the nearimpossibility of designing from scratch amolecule with a comparable combinationof form and biological function”

(Capson, 2004).

Predictions that advances in chemicalsciences and synthetic materialdevelopment would lessen the need fornatural materials have proved to bewrong, and modern medicine dependson the continuing availability ofbiological materials as anincomparable source of moleculardiversity.


Digitalis spp.

Taxus spp.

Medicinal plants are clearly an importantglobal resource in terms of healthcare butthey are also an important economicresource, traded extensively on scalesranging from the local to the international.

Internationally, the trade in medicinalplants is estimated to be worth $60 billionper year (World Bank, 2004) increasing ata rate of 7% a year (Koul and Wahab,2004).

Very little of the raw material to supplythis demand is from cultivated sources.Of the 3000 or so species known to be ininternational trade (Schippmann et al,2006) there are approximately 900 forwhich commercial cultivation is underwayor in development (Mulliken and Inskipp,2006). Putting it another way, about 70-80% of the medicinal plants being tradedin the world’s most important rangecountries for medicinal plants originatefrom wild-collection (WWF/TRAFFICGermany, 2002). Many of these speciesare widespread and abundant but for

naturally rare and heavily exploitedspecies wild collection can be a majorthreat with local extinction the outcome.It is the collection for commercial traderather than home-use that isoverwhelmingly the problem (Hamilton,2003).

Though notoriously poorlydocumented, and though ourunderstanding of the biology, ecologyand status in the wild of mostmedicinal plants is very fragmented,this level of wild harvest is said to becurrently unsustainable.

We know this because herb-gatherers arehaving to go farther and farther afield toharvest the plant they want; they’reexperiencing a drop in harvest levels.Some species just aren’t there anymore.Unfortunately, the motivation of short-term profit increase neglects allconsiderations of sustainability, butconservation intervention can occur atseveral points along the supply chain.

The consequences of unsustainableharvest are far-reaching, and not simplyconfined to a loss of healthcare orbiodiversity. Many of the world’s poorestpeople rely on the collecting and sellingof wild medicinal plants for incomegeneration. Though prices paid togatherers tend to be very low medicinalplant collection provides a significantincome for the often marginal, rural poor(World Bank, 2004).


4. Medicinal plants for livelihoods

Gentiana lutea

Gentiana lutea (Yellowgentian) is found in themountains of central andsouthern Europe. Gentianroot (which can be asthick as a person’s arm)has a long history of useas an herbal bitter in thetreatment of digestivedisorders. An Egyptianpapyrus from 1200 B.C.mentions gentian as aningredient in medicines(Foster and Johnson,2006).

The root contains one ofthe bitterest substancesknown to science (the

bitter taste can still be detected atdilutions of herb to water 1:20,000) andit stimulates the taste buds and brainreflexes to promote the secretion of salivaand gastric juices. As such it has beenused as an appetite stimulant in thetreatment of anorexia (Foster, 2006).It is said to be especially useful in statesof exhaustion from chronic disease andin cases of debility or weakness of thedigestive system; strengthening the humansystem by stimulating the liver, gall bladderand digestive system (Plants for a Future,2004).

Most imports of G.lutea originate fromwild harvest and occasionally fromcultivation in south east Europe(WWF/TRAFFIC Germany, 2002).The species is endangered or critically

endangered over most of its range; it isincluded in the Red Data Books ofBulgaria, Albania and Transcarpathia;wild harvest is banned in Montenegro;the species is protected by law inSerbia and the Ukraine and it isconsidered threatened in Turkey.

Gentiana lutea is recorded in cultivationin 48 botanic gardens (PlantSearchdatabase). The gathering ofpropagation data from these gardensand the exchange of this informationwill help to ensure the ex situconservation of this species and willsupport restoration and reintroductionefforts. BGCI aims to facilitate thiswork though its medicinal plantsprogramme.

• About 20,000 tons of medicinal andaromatic plants worth US$18-20 millionare traded every year in Nepal alone,and about 90% are harvested inuncontrolled fashion by landless,resource-poor mountain farmers forwhom the harvest and trade inmedicinal plants constitutes their onlyform of cash income. The situation issimilar in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,and other countries of South Asia(MAPPA, 2007).

• In Namibia, there are an estimated5,000 to 10,000 Devil’s Claw(Harpagophytum spp.) harvesters,50 to 100 middlemen and 17 Namibianexporters. The retail value in 2001 wassome US$40 million, though Namibiacaptures at most 5% of the retail valueof the trade (Cole and Stewart, 2006).

• Ethnoveterinary medicine is used bylivestock raisers throughout the worldto keep their animals healthy andproductive, since modern treatmentsmay be expensive and inaccessible inremote areas (Mathias, 2001).

The world’s greatest concentration ofmedicinal plant wealth is found in tropicaldeveloping countries that are beset byacute poverty. In these regions, the lossof biodiversity and land degradation isaccelerating as poverty is increasing.The loss of livelihood is a very real concerngiven that approximately 1 billion people, afifth of the world’s population, live on lessthan US$1 a day (World Bank, 2007).

A common definition is that a livelihood isthe financial means whereby one lives; forexample, collecting wild medicinal plantsfor sale. However, this does notnecessarily mean that the plantscollected are sufficient to satisfy anindividual’s needs or to lift them out ofpoverty. Such a livelihood cannottherefore be sustainable. A sustainablelivelihood is one that can cope with andrecover from stresses and shocks whilstmaintaining or enhancing its capabilitiesfor the future and not undermining thenatural resource base (Kazoora, 2002).Sustainable use meets the needs of thepresent without compromising the abilityof future generations to meet their ownneeds (Brundtland, 1987).


Aconitum heterophyllum (Patris) isendemic to the alpine and sub-alpinezones of the north-west Himalayas.It grows only in localised restrictedecological niches and is said to neitherinvade new areas nor survive at loweraltitudes (Beigh et al, 2005).The species has;

1 name in Arabic, 5 in Hindi, 2 inKannada, 1 in Malayalam, 2 in Marathi,3 in Persian, 70 in Sanskrit, 83 in Tamil,3 in Telugu, 5 in Tibetan and 4 in Urdu(FRLHT, no date).

The dried root is commonly used totreat gastric disorders and high fevers,as a substitute for quinine and to treattoothache and scorpion or snake bites.It is a high value species; gatherers can

expect to receive around Rs 1500/kg(approximately US$37) (Uniyal et al,2006). Traditionally, it was harvestedevery two to three years. It is nowharvested every year and subject to alengthened harvesting season, placingthe species under heavy pressure(Singh, 2006). The species shows poorseed germination and low seed survivaltherefore regeneration is low undernatural conditions. This characteristic,combined with non-judiciousexploitation, over-grazing and habitatdestruction mean that the species isnow hard to find and criticallyendangered.

Aconitum heterophyllum is recorded incultivation in only 4 botanic gardens(PlantSearch database). BGCI willtherefore support the ex situconservation of this species by alertinggardens to the conservation needs ofthe species, gathering species-specificdata and facilitating knowledge sharebetween gardens.

Aconitum spp.

Rows of ginseng and mushroom elixirs for sale in Seoul, Korea.

Medicinal plant conservation is challenging,since the taxa occur in a wide range ofhabitats and geographic regions. Theirconservation threats and ultimate use arediverse and users are not only local ruralcommunities but also far away urbancitizens. However, it is widely agreed thatthe conservation of medicinal plants (andbiodiversity in general) can be achievedthrough an integrated approach balancingin situ and ex situ conservation strategies.

Medicinal plant conservation musttherefore operate within several spheres;drawing together disparate groups andmutually acknowledging differentstakeholder interests in order to succeed.

The policy context

A policy trend positively linkingbiodiversity conservation with humandevelopment is gaining momentum andpeople’s access rights to naturalresources necessary for their survivalhave improved with policy provisions.

• The Convention on BiologicalDiversity (CBD) was ratified in 1992 atthe Rio Earth Summit. The 190 Partieshave agreed to commit to protectbiodiversity, develop sustainably andengage in the equitable sharing ofbenefits from the use of geneticresources.

The conservation of biodiversity isacknowledged as the cornerstone ofsustainable development. For moreinformation on the CBD go towww.cbd.int.

• The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO)agreement on Trade-Related Aspectsof Intellectual Property Rights(TRIPS), 1994, sets out how to dealwith the commercial use of traditionalknowledge and genetic material bythose other than the communities orcountries where these originate,especially when these are the subjectof patent applications. Moreinformation on the WTO and TRIPSAgreement is available at www.wto.org.


5. Approaches to medicinal plantconservation

The Chiang Mai Declaration of 1988 led to the publication of the first Guidelineson the Conservation of Medicinal Plants (currently being updated), recognisingthe “urgent need for international co-operation and co-ordination to establishprogrammes for the conservation of medicinal plants to ensure that adequatequantities are available for future generations” (WHO, 1993).

Agronomists: To improve techniques for cultivating medicinal plantsConservation campaigners: To persuade the public of the need to conserve medicinal plantsEcologists: To understand the ecosystems in which medicinal plants growEthnobotanists: To identify the use of plants as medicines in traditional societiesHealth policy-makers: To include conservation and utilisation of medicinal plants in their policy and planningHorticulturists: To cultivate medicinal plantsLegal experts: To develop effective legal mechanisms that ensure that collection of medicinal plants is at

levels that are sustainablePark managers: To conserve medicinal plants within their parks and reservesPark planners: To ensure the park and reserve system contains the maximum diversity of medicinal plantsPharmacologists: To study the application of medicinal plantsPlant breeders: To breed improved strains of medicinal plants for cultivationPlant genetic resource To assess the genetic variation in medicinal plants andspecialists: maintain seed banks of medicinal plantsPlant pathologists: To protect the cultivated medicinal plants from pests and diseases without using dangerous

chemicalsReligious leaders: To promote a respect for natureResource economists: To evaluate the patterns of use and the economic values of medicinal plantsSeed biologists: To understand the germination and storage requirements of the seed of different medicinal plantsTaxonomists: To identify the medicinal plants accuratelyTraditional health practitioners: To provide information on the uses and availability of medicinal plants

The guidelines detailed the expertsmost needed for a programme ofconservation and sustainable utilisationof medicinal plants, though terms mayhave changed in the almost 20 yearssince, the roles remain just as current.

• The UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative(launched in 1996) promotes thesustainable use of goods and servicesderived from biodiversity, in support ofthe objectives of the CBD(www.biotrade.org/).

• The eight Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) were agreed by worldleaders in 2000, providing an agendafor reducing poverty and improvinglives through environmentalsustainability by the target date of2015. Any measures which enable thesustainable use of natural resources toimprove livelihoods will contribute tothe MDGs. The MDGs can be viewedat www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.

• The Millennium EcosystemAssessment (MEA) assessed theconsequences of ecosystem change onhuman well-being, gathering data from2001 to 2005 and providing a scientificappraisal of the condition and trends inthe world’s ecosystems and theservices they provide, as well as thescientific basis for action to conserveand use them sustainably(www.millenniumassessment.org).

• The Doha Declaration of 2001 aimedto ensure that the TRIPS agreementand the CBD support each other;“allowing for the optimal use of theworld’s resources in accordance withthe objective of sustainabledevelopment, seeking both to protectand preserve the environment and toenhance the means for doing so in amanner consistent with their respectiveneeds and concerns at different levelsof economic development”.

• In 2002 the CBD adopted the GlobalStrategy for Plant Conservation(GSPC), which specifies 16 outcome-orientated targets for delivery by 2010.See Annex 3 and www.plants2010.org.

• The 2002 World Summit onSustainable Development aimed topromote a global commitment tosustainable development, improving thelives of the world’s poorest people aswell as reversing the continueddegradation of the global environment.For the latest developments seehttp://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/index.html.

• The WHO launched their TraditionalMedicine Strategy in 2002, discussingthe role of traditional medicine in healthcare systems. View at http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditionalpolicy/en/.

• In 2004, the Addis Ababa Principlesand Guidelines to the CBD detailed 14interdependent practical principles andoperational guidelines that govern theuses of components of biodiversity toensure the sustainability of such use.These can be viewed on the CBDwebsite, as before.

• Also in 2004, a new paragraph wasadded to the Convention onInternational Trade in EndangeredSpecies of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES) Resolution Conf.8.3 statingthat the Conference of the Partiesrecognizes that implementation ofCITES listing decisions should take intoaccount potential impacts on thelivelihoods of the poor. Seewww.cites.org for further information.

Access and benefit sharing (ABS)

One of the three fundamental objectivesof the CBD is to promote the fair andequitable sharing of the benefits arisingout of the utilisation of genetic resources.One way of doing this is by confirmingthe sovereign rights of the State over itsbiological resources. The bioprospectingof plants for potential new drugs raisesissues about the protection of traditionalknowledge and the mechanisms toensure that indigenous peoples benefitfrom uses of their resources.

• Homalanthus nutans (the mamala tree)is native to the rainforests of the SouthPacific island of Samoa. It hastraditionally been used to treat anumber of conditions; from back painto hepatitis, diarrhoea and yellow fever.Researchers at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, in the US identifieda promising AIDS drug (Prostratin) inthe bark of the tree. Samoa thereforedeclared sovereign rights over thespecies, including the actual genesequences, and signed an ABSagreement with the University in 2004(picture above). The agreement givesSamoa and the University equal sharesto any commercial proceeds resultingfrom the genes. Samoa’s 50% sharewill be allocated to the government, tovillages and to the families of traditionalhealers. Another facet of theagreement is a requirement that anysubsequent commercialised drug mustbe supplied to developing countriesfree, at cost or at very nominal profit.


Homalanthus nutans

• In October 1991, the Costa RicanAsociacion Instituton Nacional deBiodiversidad (INBio), a private, non-profit, scientific organization andMerck, a U.S. multi-nationalpharmaceutical corporation, signed atwo year agreement. In the agreement,INBio would supply Merck withsamples among the plants, insects andmicroorganisms collected from CostaRica’s protected forests. Merck thenwould have the right to use thesesamples to create new pharmaceuticalproducts. Merck paid one milliondollars to INBio for the right to analyzean agreed-upon number of indigenousplant and animal samples. Merck (it isbelieved) will pay INBio between one tothree percent royalties for any productdeveloped through the agreement.Ten percent of the initial one milliondollars and fifty percent of any royaltywill be invested in biodiversityconservation through Costa Rica’sMinistry of Natural Resources. (Tradeand Environment Database, no date).

Clearly such agreements are beneficial inmany ways to countries rich in biodiversitybut without the capacity to develop theseresources. However, there are concernsthat such legislative measures may restrictaccess to plant resources for non-commercial use such as research,conservation, education and display.Considering the key role that botanicgardens play in educating the publicabout medicinal plant use, access tomedicinal plants for education and displaypurposes as well as for conservation andresearch activities, is important. Botanicgardens have in recent years beenworking to develop harmonisedapproaches to implementing the ABSprovisions of the CBD. Two voluntaryapproaches have been developed,the Principles on Access to GeneticResources and Benefit-Sharing (thePrinciples) and the International PlantExchange Network (IPEN).

• The Principles provide a framework tohelp guide gardens when developingtheir own individual policies.

• IPEN establishes a system of facilitatedexchange for a network of gardens thathave signed up to a Common Code ofConduct. The IPEN system only coversnon-commercial use of livingcollections.

Non-monetary benefits resulting fromplant exchange can include knowledgetransfer, technical support, staff exchangeand capacity building to strengthenconservation work in the country of originof the plant material.

Further information can be found atwww.bgci.org/abs.

Cultivation versus wild harvest

Cultivation has long been suggested as apossible mitigation to the unsustainablewild harvest of medicinal plants,simultaneously taking the pressure offwild stock whilst boosting commerce.Along an agronomic model, modernmethods of plant breeding, propagationand post-harvest processing techniques


Panax quinquefolius (Americanginseng) has been heavily traded inNorth America for over a century;

“We were down in the Tennesseemountains when there came slowlydown the mountain trail a dilapidatedspecimen of humanity, slouch hat,bare foot, coat hung on one shoulder,and a sack, of unknown origin, in hishands. He saw us, heard us as wegreeted – but without turning the headslunk on like some phantom creatureinto the forest labyrinth. ‘Humph’,said the guide. ‘You might a’ known.You can’t expect nothin’ of a ginseng-digger.’”

(Koch, 1910).

It is highly prized as a universal remedy ineast Asia, where more than 95% ofharvested roots end up. Traded ginsengtypes include wild, wild-stimulated,cultivated woods-grown and cultivatedfields-grown. Field-grown ginseng rootsreach a size in three years that can only beattained by 15-30 years of growth undernatural forest conditions, and are very palein colour compared to wild-grown roots.

Wild ginseng root has the greatestperceived medicinal value of all theginseng types and this is reflected inprice – from as much as US$1300/kg forwild roots to as low as US$44/kg forfield-cultivated roots (Pierce, 2002).Though there is a move towards gradingthe roots according to the quantity ofactive chemical content, buyers primarily

grade roots according to physicalcharacteristics; size (the bigger thebetter), shape (the more ‘man-shaped’and thicker the better), age (the olderthe better) and colour (the darker thebetter) (Sinclair, 2005).

Illegal wild harvest is known to occur;10,515 illegally harvested roots wereseized between 1991 and 1999 in theGreat Smokey Mountain National Parkalone (Pierce, 2002). Conservationefforts have therefore includedemploying marker technology to enabledistinction between cultivated and wildroot, as well as research into the activecompound content. P .quinquefolius iswidely cultivated commercially, andrecorded in eight botanic gardencollections (PlantSearch database).

Panax quinquefolius

Rauvolfia serpentina (Indiansnakeroot, Sarpaghanda) is member ofthe dogbane family, found in India,Pakistan and south east Asia.

“The primary folk use for the extractwas as a means of attaining states ofintrospection and meditation, andIndian holy men, including MahatmaGhandi, were habitual users of thedrug”

(Mann, 1992).

But the plant is also an importanthealer, used for stomach disorders,snakebite and epilepsy. R. serpentinais also the source of the alkaloidresperine, which revolutionized thetreatment of hypertension in the 1950sand is still commonly prescribed today.Chemically similar to serotonin,resperine was also used to treat severemental illnesses due to its powerfulsedative properties.

Once found in most of tropical India,by 1998 it was confined to a range ofless that 5,000km2; with an area of wildpopulation occupancy said to be lessthan 500km2 (Mamgain et al. 1998).Export was banned by the IndianMinistry of Commerce in 1994, and inNepal in 2001 (Aryal, no date) andtrade is now less than it was in past

decades (CITES, 2005).However the rapiddecline and isolatednature of snakerootpopulations means thatwild genetic stock isseverely depleted.

On a small scale India has successfullycultivated snakeroot for many decades,for example in hospital gardens, andcontinues to invest in this area. It isnot clear how successful this has beenhowever, given that the speciesrequires at least two years beforebearing marketable product. Furtherexperiments have shown that netreturns are higher when Rauvolfia isinter-cropped than when grown alone,in this way yielding a year roundharvest and down-playing the slowearly growth of the species(Maheshwari, 1985).

Rauvolfia serpentina is recorded incultivation in 22 botanic gardens(PlantSearch database). However, littleis known about the genetic diversity ofsuch cultivated stock and accessionsin genebanks. A genetic study of theplants in botanic garden collections willbe encouraged by BGCI with a view todeveloping a strategy for therestoration of wild populations.

Rauvolfia serpentina

allow medicinal plant products to beengineered to a consistent and highstandard, infinitely more appropriate forstandardised pharmaceutical use.The cultivation, management andenrichment planting of high value plantsis therefore an important strategy to meetconsumer demands and reduce theimpacts of markets on biodiversity.

However, cultivation often requires majorinputs for a far-off return in a fluctuatingmarket characterised by ‘fads’. Thoughseveral medicinal plants are cultivated ona large scale (Arnica montana, Hamamelisvirginiana, Panax quinquefolius andCatharanthus roseus to name a few) it isnot economically feasible to commerciallycultivate all of the medicinal plants thatare threatened in the wild. (It should benoted that, despite cultivation, several ofthese species were also considered aspriorities for further conservation attentionin the wild, see Annex 5). There is littleincentive to bring into cultivation speciesthat are required in relatively smallvolumes, are slow growing, are believedto be more potent in their wild form or donot command sufficiently high prices.

Moreover, there are social, economic andecological benefits to wild harvest. Asmentioned, since wild collection is mostlycarried out in low-wage countries and bylow-income, underprivileged groups it’s achance for the poorest of people to get atleast some income, despite having no land.

Wild harvest also gives an economic valueto ecosystems and habitats and thusprovides an incentive for the protection ofsomething much larger than just themedicinal plant. Though theconsequences of collecting activity are stillvery little understood, the involvement oflocal people in sustainable managementpractices increases both their desire andability to protect wild populations fromover-exploitation. Of course, theassumption here is that stocks aresufficient, demand will remain constantand the structures and dynamics withinlocal communities will remain stable.

It should be noted that both large-scalecultivation and unsustainable wild harvestlead to genetic erosion. When cultivated,artificial changes (to intensify theconcentration of certain compounds)often occur very quickly, unlike in nature.In the short term the desired results areachieved but, in terms of geneticdiversity, there may be long term negativeconsequences. It is a diverse gene poolthat contributes to the ability of speciesor populations to maintain resistance todiseases and to adapt to a changingclimate. Environmental conditions atevery level are constantly changing, andonly diversity can ensure that someindividuals will be able to adapt to thesechanges.

CITES and medicinal plants

The Convention on International Trade inEndangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora (CITES) provides varying degrees ofprotection to more than 33,000 plantspecies. Of these, about 240 are

medicinal (Schippmann, 2001) eventhough only approximately 30 have beenlisted specifically because of concernover their trade as medicine. Theintention of CITES is to promote asustainable trade in listed species.


Harvesting Prunus africana.

Hoodia spp. are slow-growing, perennial,spiny succulent plants.They occur in a widerange of arid habitatsin southern Africa,typically on arid gravelplains. Detailedinformation on thedistribution andpopulation status ofindividual taxa is

limited but ten of the16 taxa assessedhave been classified as threatenedaccording to IUCN Red List categories,with four taxa classified as Vulnerablein 2002.

Traditionally used by the San bushmenof South Africa, strong, globalcommercial interest in the genus hasresulted from the isolation andpatenting of an active ingredient (P57)

CITES regulates international tradebetween signatory countries. It is notapplicable to domestic or non-signatorytraffic. Monitoring of the trade under theterms and conditions of the Convention iscomplex and only partially successful.It is thought that a huge amount of tradein medicinal plants goes unrecorded andunregulated, for example that withinChina or between Nepal and India.

Even trade movements covered by CITESare poorly understood, hampered byidentification problems, under-resourcedenforcement and inconsistent nationalinterpretations of the international statute.Most medicinal plant species are nottraded under their scientific name, andcome in a variety of parts and derivatives.Aquilaria malaccensis, for example, has atleast 50 trade names (Lange and

Schippmann, 1999); an import ofwoodchips can be listed as ‘bark’ withno species name.

“It is indisputable that monitoring thetrade in wild collected plants is onlyuseful if carried out at species level andthat without such, analysis of the tradeand its impact on populations cannot becarried out effectively”

(Schippman, 1994).

However, CITES is an importantmechanism for trade regulation and tohighlight critical issues. Botanic gardenscan be involved in the success of CITESin a number of ways.

For more information on CITES andbotanic gardens go to www.bgci.org/citesor see A CITES manual for botanicgardens (Oldfield and McGough, 2007).

The IUCN Red List of ThreatenedSpecies

Policy frameworks and legislation areinformed by essential data such as theendangerment assessments made by theSpecies Survival Commission (SSC) ofthe IUCN, which produces a Red List ofThreatened Species. Using a network ofthousands of scientists the Red Listprovides taxonomic, conservation statusand distribution information on globallyevaluated species according to specificcategories and criteria (Annex 6).

It is essentially a framework forclassifying species according to theirextinction risk. So far, almost 40,000species have been assessed, of whichsome 12,000 are plants. It is difficult tospecify what proportion of threatenedmedicinal plant species have beenevaluated using the IUCN Red Listcategories and criteria but it is generallyrecognised to be a low proportion.

For more information on the IUCN SSCand the IUCN SSC Medicinal PlantsSpecialist Group (MPSG) go towww.iucn.org/themes/ssc/ andwww.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/mpsg/.


Species No. of botanicgarden collections

Hoodia bainii 2Hoodia barklyii 2Hoodia currori 1Hoodia dregei 5Hoodia gibbosa 1Hoodia gordonii 10Hoodia juttae 3Hoodia langii 1Hoodia macrantha 7Hoodia parviflora 1Hoodia pilfera 4Hoodia pillansii 1Hoodia ruschii 3

There is significant commercial attentionon this genera, given the lucrative natureof its promise. The species should onlybe grown or collected with a permit andplantations have been in developmentfor several years. Demand however,remains a threat to certain populations.As a suggested species for priorityconservation action, Hoodia will beincluded in BGCI’s wider medicinal plantconservation programme.

which acts as an appetite suppressantand is claimed to help weight loss;“Amazing, most effective safe weightloss with no side effects advancedappetite suppressant available!”“HoodiThin™ - Feel full faster andstay full longer!” “Hoodia diet pillsare guaranteed to work for you or itcosts absolutely nothing!”

The active ingredient has been isolatedfrom H. gordonii which only occurs inNamibia and South Africa. This speciesis considered to be abundant andwidespread. However, some of theother taxa in the genus exist infragmented populations (some with asfew as 250 individuals) and cannoteasily be distinguished from H. gordonii.These species are therefore under threatfrom over-collection for trade. AllHoodia species were listed on CITESAppendix II in 2005, but illegal trade isknown to occur.

Seized cycads, said to have variousmedicinal qualities and one of the mostendangered living things on the planet.

Hoodia spp.

These days, there are over 2,500 botanicgardens in 150 countries around theworld, holding over six million accessionsof living plants representing around80,000 species. They are therefore majorrepositories of species diversity andcollectively represent many, many yearsof learning.

As institutions, their work remit occupiesseveral spheres; from scientific researchto education to informing legislation torunning community-based projects – andit’s a remit that’s widening in both scopeand importance alongside globalpopulation increase, rapid urbanisationand relentless pressure on our collectivewild resources. Increasingly, botanicgardens are more than just ‘prettyplaces’.

Whilst conservation has not been atraditional garden activity, it is becomingmore so, as demonstrated by theInternational Agenda for Botanic Gardensin Conservation (Wyse Jackson andSutherland, 2000) launched in 2000 toprovide a common global framework forgarden policies and signed by 432botanic gardens so far, as well as theinvolvement of botanic gardens in thedevelopment of the GSPC.

Botanic gardens have a long-standingconnection to medicinal plants inparticular, since the sole purpose of allearly botanic gardens was to grow andstudy medicinal plants. They areinherently well-placed to respond to thevery specific local conservation needs ofmedicinal plants and the people who relyon them for health and livelihood in aparticular region. Moreover, they areprobably the most important agencies forthe conservation of native medicinalplants, since plants are not often thepriority of other conservation bodies andgovernment agencies related toagriculture pay little attention to thosespecies of undetermined economic use.

Using botanical and cultivationknowledge there are a number of keyways in which botanic gardens cancontribute towards medicinal plantconservation and sustainable use.


6. Medicinal plants and botanic gardens

Some 5,000 years ago, a botanicgarden said to have astounded theSpanish conquistadores existed in thecity of Texcoco, the second mostimportant city in the once majesticAztec empire. Approximately 370species of plants still grow there in aconfined geographical area, thoughthe city and the civilisation have longsince disappeared. Researchconducted at the sight has resulted inthe identification of all the plants thatwould have been cultivated in thegarden, all of which have eithermedicinal properties or othereconomic uses (Montúfar, 2007).

The Botanical Garden of Padua,founded in 1545 and one of the oldestbotanic gardens in the world, wascreated by the Vatican Republicpurposely for the cultivation ofmedicinal herbs. The institutionenabled students to use the garden tolearn how to distinguish between anduse medicinal plants, improving bothlocal healthcare and scientificunderstanding. Similarly, the ChelseaPhysic Garden was founded inEngland in 1673 by the WorshipfulSociety of Apothecaries to trainapprentices to identify plants and tohelp in the cultivation of exotic plantsfor medicine. These gardens thus meta research, economic and health goal.

Questionnaire responses illustrated thewide range of areas in which botanicgardens are involved with medicinalplant conservation, the positive effectsof this work and the linkages betweenbotanic gardens and otherconservation agencies.

Ex situ conservation

Ex situ conservation remains the main remitand area of expertise of botanic gardens.It provides an important ‘insurance’ againstthe loss of plant genetic resources, with akey role to play in terms of preservationand species re-introduction programmes,education and research.

This role has been defined by theGSPC, specifically Target 8, which callsfor 60% of threatened plant species inaccessible ex situ collections,preferably in the country of origin, and10% of them included in recovery andrestoration programmes.

Living collections

The conservation of plant resources canbe achieved through different methodssuch as seed banks, in vitro storagemethods, pollen banks and DNA banksas well as the maintenance of living

collections. This is particularly importantwith threatened medicinal plants whereprotection in the wild may not be realisticin the short-term, or where ex situ workcannot yet be directly linked to in situ.The resources provided by thesecollections are important for in siturecovery programmes.

Target 9 of the GSPC calls for 70% ofthe genetic diversity of the majorsocio-economically important plantsconserved.

Plant records

An essential, defining feature of a botanicgarden is the maintenance of plantrecords on the living collection. Eachrecord typically records the scientificname of the plant and its origin (whetherof known wild origin or cultivated source).Many botanic gardens hold collections ofmedicinal plants – see for example theBGCI Directory of Medicinal PlantCollections in Botanic Gardens (WyseJackson and Dennis, 1998) but the valueof these has never been fully assessed.

BGCI maintains the PlantSearch databasewhich records data on plants in botanicgarden collections. As of August 2007 thePlantSearch database held details on over2,540 botanic gardens, 681 of which haveuploaded their species data, totalling505,000 records of approximately 140,000different taxa. The database is availablefor public use, although garden addressesare only accessible after requesting furtherinformation from the garden itself, due tothe valuable nature of some of the plantsheld.

As part of the ‘Safety Nets for MedicinalPlants’ project, BGCI has updatedPlantSearch to include information onsome 3,000 medicinal plants species aswell as all plants listed on CITES. We haveobtained over 40 lists of key speciesincluding almost 1,000 species threatenedin the wild due to unsustainableharvesting and habitat destruction (seeAnnex 2). Work is currently underway ona detailed gap analysis of key medicinalplant species in botanic gardencollections and the conservation workbeing done with them, if any.

Since botanic gardens hold the largestassemblage of plants outside ofnature, it makes sense to worktowards a global inventory of medicinalplants held in botanic gardens.BGCI is working towards this aim.

Research

Botanic gardens provide a permanentlocation around which an infrastructurecan develop. Around the world, theyhave become centres for the researchand study of disciplines as diverse astaxonomy, ecology, agronomy,horticulture, ethnobotany and habitatrestoration, all of which inform medicinalplant conservation.

Wuhan Botanic Garden, China hasdeveloped a medicinal plant gardenwith over 800 species for education,research and preservation (Z. Jiang,pers.comm.).

A medicinal plant seed bank andherbarium has been developed atAl-Quds University Botanic Gardenin Palestine, to preserve wild nativemedicinal plants (K. Sawalha,pers.comm.).

In China, the Shangri-La AlpineBotanical Garden in Yunnan provinceis designing a Tibetan Medicinal PlantsGarden, collecting those species mostcommonly used (Liu, pers.comm.).

Chicago Botanic Garden maintainsboth an outdoor collection and a seedbank of local medicinal plant species,for detailed evaluation of active plantcompounds. The identification ofuseful medicinal compounds shouldnot only promote public health butalso underscore the importance ofprotecting native flora.

Jardin Botanico de Bahia Blanca inArgentina maintains a display ofmedicinal plant species used on alocal scale (Villamil, pers.comm.).


Education

Rightly hailed as a way of inspiring andmotivating action and public support,education about medicinal plants takesmany forms; from educating endconsumers about the sources of theirmedicines to educating farmers and herbgatherers about the value of sustainable

harvest. Botanic gardens have a key roleto play in educating the public about thevalue and conservation needs ofmedicinal plants.

Target 14 of the GSPC calls foreducation and awareness about plantdiversity to be promoted.

Xishuangbanna Tropical BotanicGarden in China has begun a researchprogramme into the propagation andre-introduction of local Dendrobiumspecies, used extensively in TCM.This will include field work to assessthe status of populations in the wildand research into cultivation techniques(Y.Shouhua, pers.comm.).

Leiden Botanic Garden in theNetherlands has begun researchingways of distinguishing between legallyproduced and illegally wild harvestedagarwood (Aquilaria and Gyrinops spp.)using DNA markers in plantation crops(van Uffelen, pers.comm.). Thisresearch work aims to assist the controlof illegal wild harvest and trade inthreatened medicinal plants.

In 2006, the Pfizer Plant Laboratorywas opened in New York BotanicGarden, systematically screening plants

in the search for active medicinalcompounds, and studying the efficacyof these compounds. This is not assimple as it sounds. Normally, allmedicinal plants have one or twoprimary compounds and a number ofsecondary compounds. The efficacy ofthe plants in medicinal use depends onthe interaction of all roughage,secondary and mucous compoundswith the primary active compounds.If primary compounds are isolated, theymay have completely different effectsthan in combination with the cocktail ofsecondary compounds of the respectiveplant (WWF/TRAFFIC Germany, 2002).Efficacy also depends, to a certainextent, on abiotic factors of theenvironments and on collectionmethods. It differs from location tolocation (soil quality, mineral content,moisture content, temperature, intensityof light) and depends on the weatherconditions at the time of collection.

The Jodrell Laboratory at RBG, Kew in theUK is dedicated to ethnobotany and runsnumerous research projects into thechemistry, bioactivity and taxonomy ofmedicinal plants (Olwen, pers.comm.).This scientific research can be used toinform legislation and policy development.

Turpan Desert Botanic Garden hasconstructed an Ethnic Medicinal PlantGarden, researching the use of medicinalherbs used by the Uygur people ofXinjiang (Tan, pers.comm.).

At Reading University in the UK theFaculty of Pharmacy is developing aUniversity Botanic Garden for use as amedicinal plant resource (V. Heywood,pers.comm.). Work is also underway inaffiliation with the Foundation for theRevitalisation of Local Health Traditions(FRLHT) in India on developing DNAmarkers for medicinal plants. (J. Hawkins,pers.comm.).

Marie Selby Botanic Garden in Floridais creating information profiles for themedicinal plants in the garden, toinclude the conservation status of thespecies in the wild, geographicalinformation, botanical characteristicsand ecology, uses to humans and partsof plants used, chemical compounds,history and folklore, re-affirming thelinks between plants and people(Tieghem, pers.comm.).

Seven of the eight botanic gardens inthe South African National BiodiversityInstitute’s (SANBI) network of botanicgardens have demonstration gardensthat are used for education, display andresearch on indigenous traditional use(Xaba, pers.comm.).

Several botanic gardens in the US forexample, Denver, Brooklyn, NorthCarolina and New York as well as theRoyal Botanical Gardens in Canada offertraining courses in horticultural therapy.It has been well established that peoplerespond positively to green plants andcolorful flowers. Gardening offers relieffrom physical and cognitive limitations,reduces stress, gently exercises aging orarthritic joints, and stimulates memory.

Krishna Mahavidyalaya Botanic Garden inIndia grows approximately 130 species ofmedicinal plants in pots, emphasizingthose used in indigenous systems ofmedicine. The plants are accompaniedby display notes including the commonname in various languages as well as itsuse as medicine and scientific data.Since the plants are in pots, a mobileexhibit has traveled extensively, creating

awareness and educating people abouttheir shared medicinal plant resource(Salunkhe, pers.comm.).

The IB-UNAM Botanic Garden, Mexicoruns courses whereby ethnobotanistsshare their technical and botanicalexpertise while traditional healers sharetheir knowledge on the indigenous andritual use of plants. The information isdisseminated by the botanic garden toother healers, housewives, professionalsand alternative health practitioners.

In the UK, the Botanic Garden of Waleshas a ‘Physicians of the Myddfai’exhibition and displays traditionallyimportant medicinal plants whilst BristolZoological Gardens provides the localefor a series of courses and lectures onmedicinal plants.

Networking

No single sector, public or private, canundertake the conservation of medicinalplants alone and the neutral nature ofbotanic gardens puts them in a goodposition to act as intermediaries betweenvarious commercial and scientific interests.

The importance of enhancedcommunication and knowledge exchangebetween concerned parties has also beenrecognised by the GSPC, which statesthat networking can avoid duplication ofconservation effort, enable thedevelopment of common approaches,help strengthen links between differentsectors and ensure the co-ordination ofpolicy development at all levels.

Target 16 of the GSPC calls for theestablishment and strengthening ofplant conservation networks.

In situ conservation

As recognised by the CBD, in situconservation is the preferablemethodology, since ex situ conservationtends to take place outside the range stateof the target species. The preservation ofspecies in situ offers all the advantages ofallowing natural selection to act, whichcannot be recreated ex situ. Unless plantscan be conserved in their natural habitats,in variable breeding populations, they runthe risk of extinction.

Traditionally, in situ conservation hasinvolved the protection of species withintheir natural habitats in various forms ofland set aside as nature reserves or otherprotected areas. This approach cordonsoff certain areas and restricts their use.Though often hampered by weakenforcement capacity, protected areasare of critical importance since we haveyet to master the sustainable use ofmedicinal plant resources in the wild.

Botanic gardens are involved in themanagement of natural habitats in thisway, as well as carrying out field-work,such as wild population surveys.A priority for medicinal plant conservationis the carrying out of ecogeographicalsurveys, followed by proper targeted insitu species conservation with as manysamples of genetic (therefore chemical)variation as possible preserved(Heywood, pers.comm.).


Working with local authorities, OaxacaBotanic Garden in Mexico hasrecommended Guiacum coulteri beplanted in local parks and publicgardens, as well as making seedsavailable to local schools and communityorganizations (A.de Avila, pers.comm.).

The Tasmania Herbarium in Australiaused its living collections to supportscreening by a large pharmaceuticalcompany searching for active medicinalcompounds, in accordance with accessand benefit sharing regulations(Papworth, pers.comm.).

The Jardin Botânico da FundaçâoZoobotânica de Belo Horizonte in Brazilpartners with universities to study thechemical composition and biologicalactivites of local medicinal plants(Nogueira, pers.comm.).

The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide inAustralia, as well as developingeducation programs for schools basedaround indigenous knowledge and thetraditional uses of plants, work closelywith hospitals on harmful plants andtoxicology (Christensen, pers.comm.).

In reality, many species exist only aspart of ecosystems and cannotsurvive unless their ecosystems arepreserved along with as much aspossible of the biodiversity theycontain. Cistanche deserticola, forexample, an important plant in TCM,is dependent on two fungi; Mycenaosmundicola (to draw nutrients fromthe soil and allow seed germination)and Armillaria mellea (which must beincorporated into the tuber tomaintain growth to maturity).Similarly, Cistanche deserticola isparasitic to the roots of the desertshrub Haloxylon spp. The Haloxylongenus is notoriously difficult tocultivate, and is also know as ‘coal ofthe desert’ because of its firewoodproperties. The conservation of thesespecies cannot be removed from thehabitats they exist within.

Botanic garden display including various aloes, which are commonly used forskin conditions.

Community-based conservationwork

Botanic gardens are increasingly involvedin the development, implementation andsupport of local, community-basedprojects, for example using collections tosupport local initiatives in primaryhealthcare.

Medicinal plant conservation is aboutplant resources, hence emphasising theidea of conservation not for conservation’ssake but for the conservation of resourcesfor use (Hamilton, pers.comm.).Community-based conservationemphasises the things about these plantsthat give people drive to do somethingabout them i.e. concerns about health,money (income generation) and cultures(important religious elements, heritageprotection). Recent forestry research hasshown that, when their rights arerecognised, communities are moreeffective at protecting forests thannational parks (Rights and ResourcesInitiative, 2007).

However, response strategies designed toprovide incentives for biodiversityconservation by ensuring that local peoplebenefit from one or more component ofbiodiversity (such as products from asingle species) have proved very difficultto implement (MEA, 2005).

Community-based conservation musttherefore be integrated with developmentat every level; from village to region toworld. A wide range of stakeholdersmust be engaged from the start; fromscientists to traders to government and

NGO representatives but mostimportantly the rural populations ofpeople living near wild medicinal plantpopulations. Preferable methodologieswill improve the understanding of impactson the livelihoods of the poor of bothharvesting medicinal plants and ofmeasures to ensure the conservation andsustainable use of medicinal plants.


The Etnobotanica Paraguay project, runby the Conservatoire et JardinBotaniques de la Ville de Geneve, isresearching the use of local medicinalplants and running targeted educationcampaigns to encourage the use andprotection of appropriate species, aswell as setting up community gardensand looking at the best application ofthe plants.

Malabar Botanic Garden in India ispromoting the cultivation of the state’snative medicinal plants, by giving trainingin relevant techniques to local farmers.Guidance is given on the medicinalplants‘ cultivation, storage and trade.In the last two years over 200 farmershave been trained, and a farmer’s societyhas been formed to share knowledgeand to promote the mass cultivation andtrade of medicinal plants. This hasprovided a valuable opportunity for thesefarmers to expand and diversify theircrops, safeguarding their incomes.

At Nature Palace Botanic Garden inUganda the Poverty Alleviation andHealth Promotion through Conservationproject engaged 50 subsistencefarmers who are now cultivating raremedicinal plants for income generation.The farmers have formed anAssociation (the Kasanje Conservationand Development Association), which isnow engaged in a drive to recruit morefarmers (D. Nkwanga, pers.comm.).

North Carolina Botanic Garden andthe North Carolina Department ofAgriculture collaborated on a project tomark Dionea muscipula plants growingin the wild. Roots are painted with adye that glows under ultra-violet light,enabling the identification of wildharvested specimens. This is proving adeterrent to would-be poachers, whoplucked thousands of Venus fly-trapsfrom the protected Green Swamp areain a single afternoon in 2005 (NatureConservancy, 2006).

Aburi Botanical Garden in Ghana inpartnership with BGCI, the UNEPWorld Conservation Monitoring Centre,the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburghand the University of Ghana ran theConservation and Sustainable Use ofMedicinal plants in Ghana project. Thisproject aimed to improve communities’access to medicinal plants, and toencourage their sustainable use. It setup a 50 acre model Medicinal PlantGarden, based on community ethno-botanical surveys, which was plantedwith 1,361 medicinal plant seedlings,and also set up a plant nursery to hold5,000 medicinal plant seedlings fordistribution to herbalists.

The National Botanic Garden ofBelguim works closely with KisantuBotanic Garden in the Congo both oncommunity education and thepropagation of medicinal plants fordistribution (Rammello, pers.comm).

Lophophora williamsii, used ritually inMexico for thousands of years.

The questionnaire survey has provided awealth of information on the ways botanicgardens can support medicinal plantconservation. These echo the pointsmade in the previous section, in whichcase studies from questionnaireresponses have already been highlighted.A strong majority of respondentsemphasised the role that botanic gardensplay in conservation education, and thecontinued importance of raisingawareness about medicinal plantresources. Also particularly highlightedwas the role of research and the need forbotanic gardens to develop collaborativeventures, working with partner NGOs andlocal communities.

Prioritise species

Taking into account the sheer number ofmedicinal plant species around the world(c.70,000) and the number which may bethreatened (c.15,000) comprehensive andconsistent information on the threat statusof medicinal plants at a global level is notyet available. This limits the extent towhich a rational prioritisation can beundertaken for medicinal plantconservation.

Logically, the informationrequired for such aprioritisation exercise is:i) which species are mostthreatened; ii) which speciesare most valuable in terms ofhealthcare and of livelihoodsand iii) our ability to conservethe species in question.

Botanic gardens are wellplaced to define local

priorities. Globally, BGCI can assist byassessing the extent to which plants arealready in cultivation by botanic gardens,what their threat status is and (throughcollaboration with other organisations)what the priorities for practical action are.

Annex 5 lists all the species that weresuggested to us as priority species forconservation action over the next 5 years,as well as their IUCN and CITES status.In most cases the information providedreflects species of national concern asprovided by the respondents.

We have also indicated whether thesespecies are held in botanic gardencollections. Several species werementioned more than once, and these35 priority species are presented first.BGCI will pay particular attention to workwith its member gardens to conservethese species (See Section 8 andAnnex 7).

Prioritise actions

1. Research

It is widely recognised that medicinal plantconservation is hampered by a lack ofgood quality information. It is thereforeessential to collect accurate data regardingplant population density in the wild in thepast and present, the current commercialdemand and future projections, methods ofcollection and threats to these plants.Botanic gardens are well placed toundertake research to determine thetaxonomy, propagation and managementtechniques for medicinal plants.


7. Recommendations for medicinal plantconservation by botanic gardens

Encephalartos ghellinctii, vulnerable in thewild, slow-growing and rare in cultivation.

Rescuing Aloe castanea from granite mining.

Specifically, the following research areaswere highlighted in questionnaireresponses;

• Regionally up-to-date lists of speciesused for medicinal purposes wouldenhance the opportunity to use themsustainably.

• Locally used medicinal plants can thenbe categorised according to their use,value, ecological characteristics andmanagement, by way of prioritisingspecies for conservation action.

• Species-specific baseline data on thestatus of populations in the wild and onwhat entails a sustainable harvest limit,both culturally and commercially, isrequired for priority species (to includeharvesting techniques which aresuitable for village level use).

2. Educate

It has often been argued that a majorreason for our failure to conserve naturalecosystems is that we do not realise howvaluable they are. In fact, a country’secosystems and its ecosystem servicesrepresent a capital asset. The benefitsthat could be attained through bettermanagement of this asset are poorlyreflected by conventional economicindicators, so this must be clearly

demonstrated in different ways.For medicinal plants; why should wildharvest be curtailed when it will alwaysbe the easiest option? Why shouldconsumers re-visit their consumptionhabits and make a decision on whichproducts they will use and which theywon’t? An educated public can influenceboth the pattern of trade and,optimistically, governmental decisions.

Practical suggestions for educationalinitiatives included the following;

• Botanic gardens should be aware ofthe medicinal properties of plantswithin their collections. Interpretationpanels can illustrate both the valuesand vulnerability of medicinal plantsand promote an understanding ofmedicinal plant conservation, effectingan attitudinal change about the use ofnatural resources and medicinal plants.Botanic gardens can pro-activelyimprove people’s access to thisinformation.

• Model gardens can be created to bedemonstration areas for people livingnear to threatened species forconservation knowledge. Stakeholderscan be taught appropriate ex situmanagement techniques such asdomestication, management and value

adding. Booklets can be prepared andcirculated on the latest cultivationmethods and post-harvestingprocesses for key species.

• Targeted education campaigns canalso be linked to outreachprogrammes, for example to healthcare workers dealing with first linemedicinal aid, or with school botanicprojects. Mobile exhibits have beenshown to be particularly useful.

3. Collaborate

Much mentioned in questionnaireresponses was the need for acollaborative approach to medicinal plantconservation and the recognition thatbotanic gardens are well placed tofacilitate this and add both key botanicalknowledge and key knowledge aboutlocal people, industries and landscapes.

Key messages for botanic gardens were to:

• Joint plan rather than work in isolation,check who else is doing what beforedeciding priorities.

• Diversify working partners, for examplework with forestry, agriculture andhealth industries, as well as NGOs.

• Develop regional approaches to themanagement of species occurring inneighbouring countries.

• Develop joint outreach and extensionprogrammes and contribute to theseby bringing botanical expertise onspecific taxa.

• Inform legislation and policydevelopment and assist with nationalimplementation and interpretation ofinternational statutes. For example,training Customs officials on theidentification of CITES listed medicinalplant parts and derivatives.

• Encourage private sector support forsustainable and ethical sourcing.

Plants for life 21

4. Conserve

The role of plant and seed collections as aconservation resource was widelyacknowledged as an important piece ofthe conservation jigsaw puzzle. It wasemphasised that ex situ methods aremade more relevant when they feeddirectly and specifically into targeted insitu conservation, and that this shouldbecome a normal partnership. Seedbanking was frequently cited inquestionnaire responses as a vital back-up to other conservation methodologies,and one that should be supported andexpanded for medicinal plants specifically,since most efforts have been directed tocrops thus far. Further, climate changescience is turning its attention to thepredicted effects of temperature rise onindividual plant species. The alteration ofa species’ environmental niche will in turnaffect whole ecosystems; habitats willshift and their composition change.Ex situ collections that attempt to recreatehabitats become even more relevant inthis light.

Botanic gardens should therefore:

• Maintain and develop living collectionsof local medicinal plants and makethem available for teaching andresearch use.

• Set-up and maintain seed andgermplasm banks, specifically for localmedicinal plants and those criticallyendangered. Ensure that the best andmost current seed conservationtechnologies are used, to ensure long-term preservation.

• Foster ecological and floristic studies insites of origin of plants.

• Maintain familiarity and compliancewith regulations, for example CITES,and with the conservation status ofmedicinal plant holdings via, forexample, the IUCN Red List.

• Contribute to the development andtesting of conservation methodologies.

5. Preserve indigenous knowledge

In 2004 the United Nations Conferenceon Trade and Development (UNCTAD)warned that a biodiversity crisis is beingaccompanied by a cultural diversity crisisand the weakening of the customary lawsthat traditionally regulated the use ofnatural resources. The growingawareness of loss of indigenousknowledge and the implications of thiswas reflected in questionnaire responses.

• Target 13 of the GSPC calls for thedecline of plant resources andassociated indigenous knowledge thatsupport livelihoods to be halted, sinceboth physical habitat and ancientknowledge, once lost, will be goneforever.

• There are inherent conservation valuesin the way plants were collected fortraditional healing, many of which havenow fallen out of use. In Zimbabwe,for example, the collecting of bark,roots, branches etc. from a plant thatshowed signs of having been collectedfrom by another n’anga (traditionalhealer) was prohibited. It was believedthat when a n’anga used a plant totreat a patient, the patient’s diseasewas transferred into that plant.When another n’anga subsequentlyused the same plant to treat a patient,the disease of the previous patientwould be transferred to the newpatient. This belief ensured that theplant recovered from the effects ofcollection (Mavi and Shava, 1997).

• There have been clashes betweentraditional healers and externalorganisations, based around theownership of indigenous knowledge.Botanic gardens are likely to havedetailed specific knowledge about thelandscapes, people and flora of anarea and are well-placed to buildcommunity links and to help with thedocumentation of traditional knowledgeon medicinal plants that is available inthe public domain.

• There are simple ways botanic gardenscan collect and promote indigenousknowledge. For more information onthe collection of indigenous knowledgego to www.kew.org/ethnomedica/.

6. Develop alternatives to wild harvest,technology transfer

Another key questionnaire response,emphasised again and again, was therole of community involvement inconservation. This is imperative at allstages of project development andimplementation. At a local level botanicgardens can provide communities withvaluable horticultural expertise andmarket information. The transfer ofcultivation methodologies to farmers andother stakeholders via training initiativesshould be encouraged, as should thedevelopment of harvester organisationsand best practice horticultural knowledgeshared between these. Additionally,investments in technology transfer,research, training and capacity building,can make the private sector voluntarilyrespond to environmental management.

• A recent study of 150 traditional healersin South Africa found that 72% saidthey would appreciate proper trainingon how to domesticate frequently usedmedicinal plants (Manzini, 2005).

• During storage considerable amountsof medicinal plants are wasted due tohumidity, insect attacks, inappropriatestorage facilities and lack of awarenesson the part of collectors. (Hamuyan etal., 2006).


and protective folklore have thereforegiven way to market demand. Prunusafricana was listed on CITES AppendixII in 1995, is assessed as Vulnerable onthe IUCN Red List of ThreatenedSpecies and mentioned mostfrequently in questionnaire responses,despite being abundant in parts of itsrange, for example in South Africa (vanJaarsfeld, pers.comm.).

Cordoba Botanic Garden has producedguidelines for a Pygeum managementplan in Equitorial Guinea and LimbeBotanic Garden is involed in teachingtechniques for the sustainable harvestingof Prunus bark as well as providingseedlings for local nursery initiatives.

Prunus africana is recorded incultivation in only 3 botanic gardens(PlantSearch database). However, it islikely that this species is in fact beingcultivated much more widely. As partof our east African medicinal plantsprogramme, BGCI will gather furtherinformation on the distribution incultivation of this species and sharethis information with relevant partners.

• Micro enterprises that add valuethrough simple on-site techniques likedrying, cleaning, grading andpackaging can strengthen the positionin the market of collectors and farmers.

• Local, small-scale cultivation providesan alternative to wild harvest, thoughthere is a distinction betweencultivation for self-medication andcultivation for income generation.

• Medicinal plants in particular have veryspecific requirements concerning soiland environment that affect the activecompounds in the plants. They areoften more difficult to cultivate thanother crop species, thereforeinterventions are needed to reducecultivation risks and increase thedependability of inter-cropping as away to supplement the opportunitycost of wild harvest.

• Small home gardens where plants canbe cultivated for self-healing have beenshown to be successful and delivermultiple benefits.

7. Sustainable wild harvest

Wild collection is sustainable as long asthe amount of medicinal plant material ofa given species collected each year in acertain region does not exceed theannual, natural increase of the species inthe same location. If collection exceedsthe natural increase over severalconsecutive growing seasons the speciesmay become regionally threatened(WWF/TRAFFIC Germany, 2002).

The International Standard forSustainable Wild Collection of Medicinaland Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP) hasbeen developed by the IUCN/SSCMPSG. It has six principles and 18criteria, addressing ecological, social andeconomic requirements for sustainablewild collection of medicinal plants.

Compliance will maintain wild medicinalplant resources, prevent negativeenvironmental impacts, ensurecompliance with laws, regulations andagreements, respect customary laws andapply responsible management andbusiness.

Botanic gardens can play a valuable rolein promoting the ISSC-MAP.

Our survey showed the growingrecognition of the importance ofsustainable wild harvest as aconservation response.

• Data on the natural ecologicaldistribution of a species compared withgood data on volume harvested isneeded in order to develop sustainableuse regulations and managementmeasures, such as an annual harvestquota.

• Along the market chain, mechanismsmust be in place to ensure a betterprice for those who have observedsustainable harvest limits and goodcollection practice, such as certificationalong the lines of the FSC (ForestStewardship Council) and MSC (MarineStewardship Council) Standards.

For more information on the ISSC-MAPgo to www.floraweb.de/map-pro/.


Prunus africana

Prunus africana (Pygeum, Africancherry) is found in mountain tropicalforests in central and southern Africaand Madagascar and has been used forcenturies for its hard and durable timberas well as for the medicinal properties ofits bark, which is used to treat malaria,fevers, kidney disease, urinary tractinfections and more recently prostateenlargement (benign prostatichyperplasia). Overall, the medicinal retailtrade for P .africana is estimated to beUS$220 million/year (WWF, 2001).

As long as the tree is not completelygirdled it can bear repeated harvests.These limits should be relatively easy todetermine. After all, the tree has beenused sustainably for hundreds of years.Indigenous knowledge maintained that,post-harvest, bark grows back morequickly on the side of the tree that facesthe sunrise. Since the tree heals fasterthis side, medicine made from this east-facing bark will heal a patient faster.Thus only one side was stripped.

When harvested sustainably, eachbatch of bark amounts to about 55kgwhich currently returns US$10 - 20 tothe collector. When completelystripped, a large tree may yield up to ametric ton of bark worth US$200(Future Harvest, 2000). Harvest limits

Whatever the conservation action,projects must be appropriate tothe organisation and set realistic,achievable targets not removedfrom reality considering the areayou are working in.

Expect slow progress; an inherentproblem in conservation is that itis given low priority compared tothe day to day activities of peoplegoing about their lives.

However, considering the scaleand urgency of the problem thereis little room for reticence.

“You must be the change youwant to see in the world”

(Mahatma Ghandi).

The role of BGCI is to support and enablebotanic gardens to act on therecommendations made for medicinalplant conservation in the previous sectionof this report. The questionnaire surveyand consultation during this projectresulted in a very wide range ofsuggestions of activities BGCI couldundertake. These suggestions, togetherwith discussions between BGCI staff,member gardens and other medicinalplant conservation agencies have led tothe development of an action plan forBGCI’s medicinal plant conservation work,as well as the identification of key partnersfor future activities, such as TRAFFIC,

the IUCN/SSC MPSG and PlantlifeInternational, as well as various nationaland local organisations and stakeholders.

Activities at the global level

1. Information gathering andawareness raising for over 400suggested priority species (at Annex 5)

• Collect detailed information on the exsitu conservation status of these speciesand work towards ensuring that all aresecure in ex situ collections (at least 5botanic gardens), with well-documented,diverse genetic representation.

• Link this data to the PlantSearchdatabase and make available via aninformation portal. Continue todevelop PlantSearch as a means ofmonitoring and recording medicinalplants in botanic garden collections,as well as identifying regions where thisis a priority.

• Coordinate the collection of casestudies, analysis of best practice andsharing of lessons, helping to improveboth collection management andconservation practice.

Use the information available foreducational purposes (see below).

2. Provide education and trainingmaterials on medicinal plants and theirconservation

• Identify and publish case studies aboutsuccess in medicinal plant conservation.

• Provide information and educationalmaterials about relevant policy andscientific issues, for example the ISSC-MAP and CITES and ABSrequirements.

• Develop models and outreach materialsfor 35 priority species relevant to alllevels of botanic garden visitors, staffand volunteers, as well as for donorsand decision makers.

Develop education materials that informkey stakeholders about the need forbotanic gardens and their role inmedicinal plant conservation.

3. Promote the role of botanic gardensin CITES

Questionnaire responses to CITES issuesfavoured the promotion of appropriatecultivation of CITES listed species andlocal community participation in this,incentivising compliance andconservation without threateninglivelihoods. It was felt the focus ofcapacity building should be on


8. Towards an action plan for medicinalplant conservation by BGCI

developing countries, rich in biodiversitybut poor in resources, for whomimplementation of CITES is harder.There was also a strong case fordeveloping better identification andauthentification tools to enable bettertrade practice and enforcement.Education and training across allstakeholder levels was thoughtnecessary. BGCI will:

• Publish and distribute an updatedCITES Manual for botanic gardens,making this available in English,Spanish and Chinese.

• Distribute CITES information to allstakeholders. The PlantSearchdatabase now includes information onall CITES listed plants, so that botanicgardens can be aware of the CITESstatus of plants in their collections.Go to www.bgci.org/plant_search.php/.

• Help botanic gardens to developidentification and authentification toolsfor plant materials so that CITES canbe implemented effectively for thosespecies that are listed.

• Help botanic gardens to help localcommunities to build their capacity tocomply with CITES.

• Collect and compile information so thatlocal species that do fulfill listingcriteria can be included in CITES andto aid with the proper development ofnon-detriment findings.

Activities at the regional/nationallevel

BGCI’s action plan for medicinal plantconservation at regional and nationallevels draws on its ongoing work andglobal partnerships to secure plantdiversity.

In its initial phase (based on BGCI’s FiveYear Plan 2007-2012) the action planincludes the development andimplementation of a series of newprojects and programmes for selectedpriority medicinal plant species in theregions and countries where theynaturally occur, as identified in this report.

The action plan at regional and nationallevels (which also feeds information intoour global activities) pursues anintegrated, four-step approach of bothex situ and in situ conservation action:

1. Conservation status assessments

• Training and capacity building for redlisting on medicinal plants throughregional and national workshops andworking with IUCN/SSC MPSG.

2. National ex situ collection surveysand gap analysis

• Development of species-specific actionplans for botanic gardens, with focuson endemic medicinal species undersevere threat.

3. Enhancing ex situ cultivationmatching local needs

• Compiling and promoting localtraditional knowledge in medicinal plantmanagement for enhancing sustainableuse.

• Establishing community-basedmedicinal plant nurseries suitable foralternative income generation,including the development ofpropagation and harvesting techniqueswhich combine traditional and scientificknowledge.

4. In-situ conservation andreintroductions into the wild

• Enhancing in situ conservation throughthe establishment and protection ofimportant medicinal plant areasmanaged by local communities, as wellas reintroductions into the wild ofmedicinal plant species that are extinctin the wild, or critically endangered.

At Annex 7 is our tabular, project andspecies specific regional action plan formedicinal plant conservation.


This work has aimed to gatherinformation from a wide stakeholder baseto identify the issues to be addressed,viewing the problem from different anglesand priority perspectives.Typically of conservation debate, complexsustainability issues are at play, in thiscase surrounding a widely misunderstoodresource whose population and trade isnotoriously hard to measure.

The wide range of habitats and planttypes, as well as the variety of cultural,social and economic conditions whichaffect the use of medicinal plants presentsubstantial challenges to theirconservation.

Indeed, medicinal plants conservationcan be viewed as a microcosm for plantconservation as a whole;

“It speaks of supply, it speaks ofdemand, and it speaks of competitionand control. Humankind’s use of speciesand ecosystems is critically determinedby these variables”

(Murphree, 2003).

Against this backdrop, and in the face ofmultiple threats from trade, habitat lossand climate change, botanic gardenshave an important role to play in securingmedicinal plant diversity for people andplanet.


9. Conclusions

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ABS Access and benefit sharing

BG botanic garden

BGCI Botanic Gardens Conservation International

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity

CITES Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

FRLHT Foundation for the Revitalisation of Local

Health Traditions, India

FSC Forest Stewardship Council

GSPC Global Strategy for Plant Conservation

GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische

Zusammenarbeit

ISSC-MAP International Standard for the Sustainable Wild

Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

IUCN World Conservation Union

IUCN/SSC MPSG IUCN Medicinal Plants Specialist Group

IPEN International Plant Exchange Network

MDG Millennium Development Goals

MEA Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

MSC Marine Stewardship Council

NCARTT National Center for Agricultural Research and

Transfer of Technology, Jordan

NGO Non-government Organisation

PIINTEC Pyongyang International Information Center

for New Technology and Economy, Korea

PROTA Plant Resources of Tropical Africa

RGB Royal Botanic Garden

SANBI South Africa National Biodiversity Institute

SSC Species Survival Commission

spp. species

ssp. subspecies

TAM Traditional African Medicine

TCM Traditional Chinese Medicine

TRAFFIC Wildlife monitoring network, joint programme

of WWF and the IUCN

TRIPS Trade Related Aspects of International

Property Rights

UK United Kingdom

UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme

US United States of America

WHO World Health Organisation

WTO World Trade Organisation

WWF World Wildlife Fund

Aburi Botanic Garden, Ghana

Academy of Sciences, Republic of Uzbekistan

Adelaide Botanic Garden, Australia

Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania

Alice Springs Desert Park, Australia

Al-Quds University, Palestine

Bahia Blanca Botanic Garden, Argentina

National Botanic Garden of Belgium

Black Hills State University Herbarium, US

Bouganvillea, S.A, Costa Rica

Center for International Forestry Research,

Indonesia

Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and

Siddha, India

Natural Chemotherapetics Research Laboratory,

Museum of Kenya, Kenya

Chicago Botanic Garden, US

Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

CITES, Switzerland

Delft University Botanic Garden, Netherlands

Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand

Ethnobotanical Society of Nepal, Nepal

Fauna and Flora International, UK

Forest Research, Morocco

FRLHT, India

Guizhou Botanic Garden, China

IMPLAD, China

India Botanic Garden, India

Institute of Botany, Mongolian Academy of

Sciences, Mongolia

Institute of Ecology and Biology, Vietnam

Jardin Botanico de Fundacao Zoobotanica de

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Jodrell Laboratory, RBG, Kew, UK

Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous

Knowledge, Kenya

Komi Scientific Centre, Russian Academy of

Sciences, Russia

Krishna Botanic Garden, India

Las Palmas Botanic Garden, Canary Islands

Marie Selby Botanic Garden, US

Mediplant, Swiss Commission for the

Conservation of Cultivated Plants, Switzerland

Elisabth Carey Miller Botanic Garden, US

Ministry of Environment, Cambodia

Moonbranch Botanicals, US

Nanjing Botanic Garden, China

National Museums of Kenya, Kenya

National Resource Center for Medicinal and

Aromatic Plants, India

Nature Palace Botanic Garden, Uganda

NCARTT, Jordan

Nordic Gene Bank, Sweden

Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Pakistan

Philodassiki Botanic Garden, Greece

PIINTEC, Korea

Plantlife International, UK

PROTA, Kenya and the Netherlands

Quarshi Research International, Pakistan

Reading University, UK

Regenerations International Botanical Garden, US

Royal British Columbia Museum, Canada

SANBI, South Africa

Shangri-la Alpine Botanic Garden, China

Tciticin Botanic Garden of the Russian Academy

of Sciences, Russia

The Ministry of Environmental Affairs, Eygpt

TRAFFIC International, UK

TRAFFIC US, US

Tropical Research Institute Central America,

Costa Rica

Turpan Desert Botanic Garden, China

United States Fisheries and Wildlife Service, US

University Alfredo Perez Guerro, Ecuador

University Castilla-la Mancha, Spain

University of Gent, Belgium

University of Madrid, Spain

University of Otago, New Zealand

Virginia College of Natural Resources, US

Visva Bharati University, India

Wageningen University and Research Centre,

Netherlands

Wildlife Wing, Himachal Pradesh, India

Winrock International, Nepal

Wuhan Botanic Garden, China

And to the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation,

who generously supported this study.

Thanks are particularly due to Patricia de

Angelis, Alan Hamilton, Vernon Heywood, the

TRAFFIC team and additional speakers at the

medicinal plants session at the 3rd Global

Botanic Gardens Congress in Wuhan, China;

Danna Leaman and Zimian Ding.


AcknowledgementsAcronyms

BGCI is extremely grateful to all those who participated in the questionnaire survey:

A) Understanding and Documenting Plant Diversity

Targets in this theme are:

(i) A widely accessible working list of known plant species, as astep towards a complete world flora;

(ii) A preliminary assessment of the conservation status of allknown plant species, at national, regional and internationallevels;

(iii) Development of models with protocols for plant conservationand sustainable use, based on research and practicalexperience.

B) Conserving Plant Diversity


(iv) At least 10 per cent of each of the world’s ecological regionseffectively conserved;

(v) Protection of 50 per cent of the most important areas forplant diversity assured;

(vi) At least 30 per cent of production lands managed consistentwith the conservation of plant diversity;

(vii) 60 per cent of the world’s threatened species conserved insitu;

(viii) 60 per cent of threatened plant species in accessible ex situcollections, preferably in the country of origin, and 10 per centof them included in recovery and restoration programmes;

(ix) 70 per cent of the genetic diversity of crops and other majorsocioeconomically valuable plant species conserved, andassociated indigenous and local knowledge maintained;

(x) Management plans in place for at least 100 major alienspecies that threaten plants, plant communities and associatedhabitats and ecosystems.

(C) Using Plant Diversity Sustainably


(xi) No species of wild flora endangered by international trade;

(xii) 30 per cent of plant-based products derived from sourcesthat are sustainably managed.

(D) Promoting Education and Awareness About PlantDiversity

The target for this theme is:

(xiv) The importance of plant diversity and the need for itsconservation incorporated into communication, educational andpublic –awareness programmes.

(E) Building Capacity for the Conservation of Plant Diversity


(xv) The number of trained people working with appropriatefacilities in plant conservation increased, according to nationalneeds, to achieve the targets of this Strategy;

(xvi) Networks for plant conservation activities established orstrengthened at national, regional and international levels.


Annexes

Annex 1 – The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: 2010 Targets

Africa:

• Useful medicinal plants of Africa (494)Source: http://database.prota.org/search.htm

• Threatened South African medicinal plants (146)Source: Wendy Foden, SANBI

• Medicinal plants that are of common use in Africa andMadagascar (83)Source: Safowora, 1996.(www.conserveafrica.org.uk/herbal_industry.pdf)

• Medicinal plants used by majority of the population andfrequently cited by most traditional healers in Tanzania (10)Source: www.conserveafrica.org.uk/herbal_industry.pdf

• Commonly used African medicinal plants for which a standardwould be useful (53)Source: http://www.aamps.org/aamps%20specieslist.pdf

• Medicinal plants used in Uganda (7)Source: http://www.plantlife.org.uk/international/plantlife-med-plants-projects-allachy-uganda.htm

• Investigations on West African medicinal plants (8)Source: http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/1986/pdf/5805x0653.pdf

• Threatened Kenyan medicinal plants (96)Source: Stella Simiyu

• East and Southern Africa: TRAFFIC evaluation of priority plantspecies in the region (110)Source: Marshall, N.T. (1998) Searching for a Cure:Conservation of Medicinal Wildlife Resources

• Indigenous plants that are harvested as a source of activeingredients for export purposes (19)Source: Cunningham, A.B (1993) African Medicinal Plants

• Cameroon Medicinal Plants (62)Source: http://www.africaphyto.com/eng/plantes.htm

• Selected African Medicinal Plants (155)Source: Iwu, M.M (1993) Handbook of African MedicinalPlants

• Drug candidates from African Forests (12), African MedicinalPlants with Oral Health implications (12) and AfricanMedicinals on the World Market (8)Source: http://www.africanethnomedicines.net/i.elujobaetal.pdf

India:

• Medicinal plants of Northern Areas of Pakistan (109)Source: http://www.wwfpak.org/nap/dnap_medicinalplants_survey_na_ibrahim.php

• Medicinal plants that are easily cultivated (22)Source: State Forest Research Institute, Arunachal Pradesh,India (http://www.arunachalpradesh.nic.in/med-plant.htm)

• A-Z Catalogue of Indian Medicinal plants (500)Source: http://www.sbepl.com/medicinal-plants-10.html

• Ethno-medicinal Plants Used by Gond Tribe of Kukrakhapa,District Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, India (32)Source: (http://www.naturalhealthweb.com/articles/acharya1.html)

• Medicinal plants of India (39)Source: http://www.bsienvis.org/medi.htm

• Medicinal plants of South India (4)Source: http://www.rosneath.com.au/ipc6/ch02/brooks2/index.html

• Traditional use of medicinal plants among the tribalcommunities of Chhota Bangal, Western Himalaya (35)Source: www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1435742

• Medicinal plants of the Chamoli district, West India (11)Source: http://www.plantlife.org.uk/international/plantlife-med-plants-projects-allachy-India-Chamoli.htm

• Critically endangered and vulnerable species (110) List ofspecies banned from export (27)Source: Suma Taqadur, FRLHT

• FRLHT Red List (104)Source: http://envis.frlht.org/iucnlist.php

• FRLHT list of 7,637 Medicinal Plant Species• 930 Traded Plants of Conservation Concern

Source: http://envis.frlht.org/digital_herbarium_930.php

US:

• Threatened medicinal plants of the US (208)Source: Patricia de Angelis, Chair MPWG, PCA

• American Medicinal Plants of Commercial Importance (133)Source: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/HerbHunters/hhunters.html

• Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central NorthAmerica (500)Source: A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: OfEastern and Central North America (Duke, Foster, Peterson,2000)

• Medicinal plants of the South West (48)Source: http://medplant.nmsu.edu/plantindex.htm

• NatureServe list of US medicinal species and theirconservation status (538)

Europe:

• Europe’s threatened medicinal plant species (20)Source: http://www.traffic.org/plants/executive-summary.htmland http://www.traffic.org/plants/recommendations.html

• Cultivated Species of Bulgarian Wild Medicinal Plants (268)Source: http://www.worldwildlife.org/bsp/publications/europe/bulgaria/bulgaria20.html

• Main threatened Turkish medicinal plants (8)Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/Y4496E/Y4496E44.htm

• European Cooperative Programme for Plant GeneticResources Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Working Group: 10priority speciesSource: http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/Workgroups/Med_aromatic/AppendixI.doc

• 16 target species for SEED net MAP projectSource: http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/Workgroups/Med_aromatic/MAP2_draft_Jan2005.pdf

• Main European Medicinals (83)Source: http://www.phyto-lexikon.de/liste/liste.html

• Mediterranean Medicinal Plants (1404)Source:http://medusa.maich.gr/query1/?genus=&species=&use=medicine&Major_Parts=Any&Major_Chemistry=Any&country=Any


Annex 2 – Source data for list of medicinal plants included in BGCI’s PlantSearch database(number of species shown in brackets)

China:

• Medicinal Plants in China: List of 150 commonly usedspeciesSource: World Health Organisationhttp://www.wpro.who.int/internet/files/pub/69/toc.pdf

• Herbal Pharmacology of the People’s Republic of China (243)Source: The Southwest School of Botanical Medicinehttp://www.swsbm.com/Ephemera/China_herbs.pdf

South America:

• Amazon Medicinal Plants (233)Source: http://www.rain-tree.com/plistbot.htm (Tropical PlantDatabase)

• Important medicinal plants in Bolivia (8)Source: http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Herbal/lunny22.htm

• TRAFFIC priority species (2)Source: http://www.traffic.org/dispatches/archives/september98/medicinal-projects.html

• 10 South American plants screened for anti-viral properties (10)Source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/55001305/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

• Iracambi medicinal plants project in Minas Gerais (Brazil)and the international standard for sustainable wild collectionof medicinal and aromatic plants (ISSC-MAP). (12)Source: Gullia and Franz, IUCN/SSC MPSGNewsletter Vol. 11.

General:

• Medicinal and Aromatic Plants included in the CITESAppendices (229)Source: Schippman, U. (2001) Significant Trade study

• IUCN species where main threat is over-harvesting formedicinal use (26)Source: IUCN

• Plants for a Future Database of Medicinal plants (7,500)Source: http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/database/latinA.html


Safety Nets for Medicinal Plants ProjectQuestionnaire

Linking more than 800 botanic gardens in 118 countries BGCI(www.bgci.org) forms the world’s largest plant conservationnetwork, with a mission to mobilise botanic gardens and engagepartners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of peopleand the planet. One of the specific aims of our 5 year plan(2007 – 2012) is to enhance the conservation of threatenedmedicinal and nutritious plants to address human well-beingand livelihood issues as a contribution towards Targets 3 and 13of the GSPC.

To this end, we have begun to identify the threatened plantspecies held in botanic gardens according to the BGCIPlantSearch database and we are working to improve theinformation held so that it can be used as a planning tool. Wehave also identified several successful models of medicinal plantconservation work undertaken by botanic gardens. Theyinclude:

• Working with communities to document and use indigenousknowledge

• Educating on the value and used of sustainably harvestedmedicinal plants

• Collecting and developing gene pools of wild stock plants• Research to discover and investigate medicinal plant

properties• Using collections to support local initiatives in primary

healthcare, particularly in developing countries• Using collections to support screening programmes for

pharmaceutical companies, in accordance with guidelines onaccess and benefit sharing, and to assay the value and safetyof particular medicines

• Improving the agronomy of cultivated medicinal plants• Cultivating medicinal plants, to tackle unsustainable harvest

and improve ease of harvest• Practice of horticultural therapy, using plants and gardening

to treat mental and physical disorders• Educating end consumers and supporting standard setting for

medicinal plant production

Now, in order to successfully match medicinal plantconservation needs with the capabilities of gardens we wouldgreatly value your input. This will help to define priorities forboth in situ and ex situ conservation programmes and tofacilitate best practice and priority activities for implementation.

1. Out of the thousands of threatened medicinal plant species,which, in your opinion, are outstanding priority species forconservation action over the next 5 years?

2. In your opinion, what are the immediate priorities formedicinal plants in relation to CITES?

3. In your opinion, what are the priority methodologies formedicinal plant conservation?

4. How do you think botanic gardens can best complement themedicinal plant conservation being undertaken by otherNGOs or agencies?


Annex 3 – Medicinal plants questionnaire

5. We want to help botanic gardens help medicinal plants.Where do you think BGCI should focus our capacity buildingover the next 5 years?

There are a range of resources available on medicinal plants andconservation programmes but little specifically targeted atbotanic gardens. We want to maximise the potential for skill,best practice and knowledge sharing.

Your input will help focus conservation efforts and feed into theproduction of a new report and action plan containing casestudies and best practice to utilise the skills of botanic gardensin conserving threatened medicinal plant species.

Optional contact details:

Your name:

Your institution:

Email:

Does your institution currently run any projects withmedicinal plants? Please give brief details:

Many thanks for sparing the time to help! Please return anycomments to Belinda Hawkins at BGCI at:

[email protected]

BGCIDescanso House199 Kew RoadRichmondSurreyTW9 3BW

+44 (0)20 8332 5953

79 questionnaire responses were received from a wide range ofindividuals and organisations. The first three pie charts show therange of participants in the questionnaire survey, bygeographical region and by institution type.

The following pie charts and table relate to the suggestedpriority species; their status within botanic garden collectionsand whether they have been assessed using the IUCNcategories and criteria, either on the 1997 Red Data List or the2007 Red List of Threatened Species.

Number of species from priority 30 (discounting the 5 generasuggestions) that are held in botanic garden collections(according to PlantSearch)

Percentage of suggested species (out of total 428 speciesmentioned) that are either on the 1997 IUCN Red List ofThreatened Plants or the 2007 IUCN Red List of ThreatenedSpecies


Annex 4 – Analysis of questionnaire responses

Africa9%East Asia

14%

Europe33%

Canada and NorthAmerica13%

India7%

SouthwestAsia and North Afirca8%

Central and South America 7%

Australia andNew Zealand

5%

4 species(13%)

8 species(27% ofpriority 30)

11 species(37%)

3 species(10%)

4 species(13%)

Held in 0 BGcollections

Held in 1 to 5BG collections

Held in plus 35BG collections

Held in16 to 35BG collections

Held in 6 to 15BG collections

83%Do not appear on Red List

17%Appearon Red List

ResearchInstitutions18%

BotanicGarden34%Universities

20%

NGOs15%

GovernmentDepartments5%

Commercial4%

Other4%

DevelopingCountries53%

DevelopedCountries47%

Other species and IUCN Number of BG collectionsRed List status (PlantSearch)

Aloe – 21 spp. on 2007 Red List, 740 BG recordsAloe ballii (EN) 6A.ballyi (VU) 11A.erinacea (EN) 11A.helenae (CR) 9A.peglerae (EN) 32A.pillansii (CR) 16A.ramosissima (VU) 19A.squarrosa (VU) 17A.suzannae (CR) 34Aquilaria – 9 spp. on 2007 Red ListAquilaria banaensae (VU) 0A.beccariana (VU) 1A.crassna (CR) 1A.cumingiana (VU) 0A.hirta (VU) 2A.malaccensis (VU) 3A.microcarpa (VU) 0A.sinensis (VU) 6Cinchonas – 4 spp. on 2007 Red ListCinchona lucumifolia (VU) 0C.mutisii (EN) 0C.rugosa (VU) 0Hoodia spp. – 3 spp. on 2007 Red List 13 species held in 41 BG collections

(see Hoodia spp. box in section 5)Panax – 1 spp. on 2007 Red ListPanax zingiberensis (EN) 1P. quinquefolius (not assessed) 8 (see P. quinquefolius box in section 5)P. ginseng (not assessed) 13P. stipuleanatus (not assessed) 0P. vietnamensis (not included on 2006 Red List,EN on 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants) 0

Within the 35 priority list 5 genera were suggested: Aloe spp.,Aquilaria spp., Cinchona spp., Hoodia spp. and Panax spp.These have been discounted from the above graph and lookedat separately. For Aloes, Aquilarias and Cinchonas only thosespecies that have been assessed as CR, EN or VU on the 2007Red List of Threatened Species have been screened against thePlantSearch database. For Panax spp. we have used both the2007 Red Listed species and those specifically suggested to usas of conservation priority. Only 3 Hoodia spp. appear on the2007 Red List and all are classified as LC.


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EX – Extinct

A taxon is Extinct when there is noreasonable doubt that the last individualhas died. A taxon is presumed Extinctwhen exhaustive surveys in known and/orexpected habitat, at appropriate times(diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout itshistoric range have failed to record anindividual. Surveys should be over a timeframe appropriate to the taxon’s life cycleand life form.

EW – Extinct in the wild

A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it isknown only to survive in cultivation, incaptivity or as a naturalized population (orpopulations) well outside the past range.A taxon is presumed Extinct in the Wildwhen exhaustive surveys in known and/orexpected habitat, at appropriate times(diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout itshistoric range have failed to record anindividual. Surveys should be over a timeframe appropriate to the taxon’s life cycleand life form.

CR – Critically Endangered

A taxon is Critically Endangered when thebest available evidence indicates that itmeets any of the criteria for CriticallyEndangered and it is therefore consideredto be facing an extremely high risk ofextinction in the wild.

The structure of the categories (2001 Categories and Criteria, version 3.1)

Annex 6: The 2007 IUCN Red List of threatened species categories (basic definitions)

EN - Endangered

A taxon is Endangered when the bestavailable evidence indicates that it meetsany of the criteria for Endangered and itis therefore considered to be facing avery high risk of extinction in the wild.

VU - Vulnerable

A taxon is Vulnerable when the bestavailable evidence indicates that it meetsany of the criteria for Vulnerable, and it istherefore considered to be facing a highrisk of extinction in the wild.

NT – Near threatened

A taxon is Near Threatened when it hasbeen evaluated against the criteria butdoes not qualify for Critically Endangered,Endangered or Vulnerable now, but isclose to qualifying for or is likely to qualifyfor a threatened category in the nearfuture.

LR – Lower risk (from the 1994Categories and Criteria, version 2.3)

A taxon is Lower Risk when it has beenevaluated, does not satisfy the criteria forany of the categories CriticallyEndangered, Endangered or Vulnerable.Taxa included in the Lower Risk categorycan be separated into threesubcategories:

1. Conservation Dependent (cd). Taxawhich are the focus of a continuingtaxon-specific or habitat-specificconservation programme targetedtowards the taxon in question, thecessation of which would result in thetaxon qualifying for one of thethreatened categories above within aperiod of five years.

2. Near Threatened (nt). Taxa which donot qualify for ConservationDependent, but which are close toqualifying for Vulnerable.

3. Least Concern (lc). Taxa which do notqualify for Conservation Dependent orNear Threatened.

LC – Least concern

A taxon is Least Concern when it hasbeen evaluated against the criteria anddoes not qualify for Critically Endangered,Endangered, Vulnerable or NearThreatened. Widespread and abundanttaxa are included in this category.

DD – Data deficient

A taxon is Data Deficient when there isinadequate information to make a direct,or indirect, assessment of its risk ofextinction based on its distribution and/orpopulation status. A taxon in thiscategory may be well studied, and itsbiology well known, but appropriate dataon abundance and/or distribution arelacking. Data Deficient is therefore not acategory of threat. Listing of taxa in thiscategory indicates that more informationis required and acknowledges thepossibility that future research will showthat threatened classification isappropriate. It is important to makepositive use of whatever data areavailable. In many cases great careshould be exercised in choosing betweenDD and a threatened status. If the rangeof a taxon is suspected to be relativelycircumscribed, and a considerable periodof time has elapsed since the last recordof the taxon, threatened status may wellbe justified.

Extinct (EX)

Extinct in the Wild (EW)

Critically Endangered (CR)

Endangered (EN)

Vulnerable (VU)

Near Threatened (NT)

ThreatenedAdequate data

Least Concern (LC)

Data Deficient (DD)

Not Evaluated (NE)

Evaluated


EAST ASIA

• China

SOUTH EAST ASIA

• Vietnam, Laos,

Cambodia,

Indonesia

Chinese Academy of

Sciences

State Forestry

Administration

State Environmental

Protection

Administration

Global Trees

Campaign

Research Institute of

Science, Lao PDR

Hanoi University of

Pharmacy, Vietnam

Department of Nature

Conservation and

Protection, Ministry of

Environment,

Cambodia

Cibodas Botanic

Gardens, Indonesia

Medicinal plants are of immense

importance in China. Some 11,164

species are reported in China’s National

Strategy for Plant Conservation (CSPC,

2007) as used in TCM. The CSPC,

recently produced in response to the

GSPC, reflects the values and

conservation needs of native medicinal

plants.

The development and implementation of

BGCI’s medicinal plants conservation

activities in China is coordinated by its

office in Guangzhou, South China, and

supports a number of national targets,

particularly;

Target 3 – Research and exploration of

application models for plant conservation

and sustainable use.

Target 7 – In situ conservation of

threatened species

Target 8 – Ex situ conservation and

recovery plans for threatened species

Target 11 – No species of wild flora

endangered by international trade

Target 12 – Strengthening sustainable

use and management of plant-based

products

Target 13 – Halting the decline of plant

resources that support livelihoods and

associated traditional knowledge.

Taxa of primary attention for BGCI in this

region include Aquilaria spp., Cibotium

barometz, Stephania and Ardisia spp.

Over-harvesting in the wild has led to

serious declines of populations of

Cibotium barometz in Indonesia, and of

various species of Aquilaria, Stephania

and Ardisia in Vietnam, Laos and

Cambodia. The development of recovery

programmes for these taxa will serve as

BGCI pilot initiatives for reintroduction of

threatened medicinal plants in South

East Asia into their habitat of origin.

• Magnolia ex situ collection survey:

- gap analysis with special reference to

medicinal Magnolias (e.g. M. officinalis

and M. denudata)

- strengthen ex situ collections and

in situ conservation, and

- reintroduction into the original habitat.

• Undertake Quercus ex situ collection

surveys and explore the potential to

strengthen ex and in situ conservation

of threatened oaks. Examples of

Chinese oaks with medicinal properties

include: Quercus acutissima,

Q.dentata, Q.glauca, Q.semecarpifolia.

• Explore ex situ and in situ conservation

initiatives for other threatened species,

notably: Aristolochia tuberosa,

Eucommia ulmoides, Dactylorhiza

hatagirea, Cordyceps sinensis, Paris

polyphylla var. yunnanensis, Gastrodia

elata, Eremosparton songoricum and

Cinnamomum mairei.

• Pursue conservation assessments of

Rhododendrons in China to include

medicinal species such as

Rhododendron molle, R. aureum,

R. anthopogon and R. arboreum.

• The initial phase of the project

development will include:

a) Detailed target species and

population assessments;

b) Assessment of the potential for

conservation of remaining

populations in situ and identification

of suitable areas for reintroductions;

c) Ex situ conservation: collection of

plant propagation material, and

multiplication in botanic and home

gardens – involvement of local

communities;

d) Production of public awareness

materials and policy guidelines for

recovery of threatened medicinal

plants for decision makers;

e) Reintroduction into the original

habitat.

Annex 7: BGCI regional action plan for medicinal plant conservation

Region / Country General description Ongoing and planned activities Potential partners


SOUTH ASIA

• India, Sri Lanka

EAST AFRICA

• Kenya, Tanzania,

Uganda

SOUTHERN AFRICA

• Namibia

• Madagascar

FRLHT

PRAGYA

IUCN

National Botanic

Gardens, Sri Lanka

Ministry of

Environment and

Natural Resources,

Sri Lanka

Plantlife International

National Botanical

Research Institute,

Namibia

SANBI

University of

Antananarivo

Madagascar Plants

Specialist Group

IUCN

It is estimated that 10% of all plant species

in India are currently endangered (Pandey et

al., 2007). There are estimated to be 8,000

species of medicinal plants used in different

systems of Indian medicine. Some 930 of

these are known to be traded extensively,

with at least 100 of these Red Listed (FRLHT,

no date).

There is a gap of 40,000 tonnes in the

demand and supply of medicinal plants.

The major source is the forest, and about

90% are collected from the wild (Kala and

Sojwan, 2007).

BGCI has supported medicinal plant

conservation projects in India ranging from

awareness raising and environmental

education on medicinal plants in schools to

the establishment of medicinal plant gardens.

In Sri Lanka, BGCI is currently working jointly

with IUCN on the assessment and

conservation of Important Plant Areas.

Perhaps more than anywhere, Africa’s socio-

economic profile dictates reliance on

traditional medicine. Native plants are the

main constituent of traditional African

medicines (TAM) (Cunningham, 1993). Unlike

the systems of Ayurveda and TCM, TAM is

an oral tradition and there are few, if any,

written records of its methods and materials.

Estimates of the number of species used

and the number threatened within Africa as

a whole are therefore almost impossible.

BGCI is working with the National Museums

of Kenya and other partners from Kenya,

Tanzania and Uganda on conservation

assessments of and management plans for

medicinal plants in the region. A similar

assessment is proposed for Southern Africa,

in particular in collaboration with the

National Botanical Research Institute in

Namibia.

Madagascar possesses some 80% endemic

biodiversity and is known to contain a

wealth of medicinal plant species and

indigenous knowledge. However, over 70%

of its inhabitants live on less than US$1 a

day, making it one of the poorest countries

in the world. The natural wealth of the

island is therefore threatened by the extreme

poverty of the human population, and some

90% of the forest has now gone (Azafady,

2007).

As part of its joint initiative with IUCN – The

World Conservation Union, BGCI is working

on the assessment of Important Plant Areas

in Madagascar.

• Development of medicinal plant

conservation education programmes

(e.g. for high school students in

Karnataka).

• Enhancing the establishment of

community-based nurseries and

provision of training in nursery

management for selected medicinal

plant species.

• Focus attention on key medicinal

plant species such as: Aconitum

ferox, A.heterophyllum,

Nothapodytes nimmoniana,

Oroxylum indicum, Rauvolfia

serpentina, Saraca asoca, Swertia

chirayita and Coscinium fenestratum

and Cinnamomum spp. in Sri Lanka.

• Pursue conservation status

assessments.

• Development of village-specific

home herbal health kits and home

gardens with medicinal species for

self healing, to include plants both

of conservation concern and those

under no perceived threat.

• Develop ex situ and in situ

conservation initiatives for other

threatened species, notably: Aloe

spp., Hoodia spp., Osyris lanceolata,

Rhoicissus revoilii, Toddalia asiatica,

Warburgia salutaris, Withania

somnifera, Zanha africana and

Zanthoxylum chalybeum.

• Convene a series of stakeholder

workshops to identify project

interventions addressing immediate

ex and in situ conservation needs

building on the results of the IPA

assessment and focussing on

species such as: Aloe suzannae,

Asteropeia labatii, A.mcphersonii,

Euphorbia ambovombensis,

Leptolaena abrahamii, L.cuspidata,

L.multiflora, L.raymondii and

Sarcolaena delphinensis.


MESO AMERICA

• Mexico, Costa Rica

Mexican Association

of Botanic Gardens

INBio

The traditional medicinal systems of this

region are highly localised, with plant

species known to be of importance in

providing healthcare. There is little in the

way of an official catalogue of medicinal

plants. The IUCN MPSG is currently

working on a regional Red List of medicinal

plant species.

BGCI is supporting the establishment of the

Mexican Strategy for Plant Conservation. In

this framework, a number of issues for

medicinal plant conservation will be

addressed.

In Costa Rica, BGCI is currently working

jointly with IUCN on the assessment and

conservation of Important Plant Areas.

• Convene a series of stakeholder

workshops to identify project

interventions addressing immediate

ex and in situ conservation needs

and focussing on species such as:

Cinchona spp., Ariocarpus

bravoanus, A.kotschoubeyanus,

Centropogon pilalensis, Euphorbia

antisyphilitica, Guiacum spp.,

Obregonia denegrii and Opuntia

megarrhiza.

Botanic Gardens Conservation International is a worldwide membership organisation working on aninternational scale to safeguard tens of thousands of plant species from extinction. Its mission is to mobilisebotanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet.BGCI brings together the world’s botanic gardens, forming a community working in partnership to achieveconservation, education and development goals.

Enhancing the conservation of threatened medicinal plants to address human well-being and livlihood issuesis one of the aims of BGCI’s current 5-year plan. BGCI believes that the global network of botanic gardenscan play a key role in ensuring the sustainable use and protection of this vital resource. For more informationvisit www.bgci.org or email [email protected].

BGCI is an independent organization registered in the United Kingdom as a charity (Charity Reg No1098834) and a company limited by guarantee No 4673175. BGCI is a tax-exempt (502(c)(3)) non-profitorganization in the USA and is a registered charity in Russia.

For more information about BGCI and its activities, please contact: Botanic Gardens Conservation International,Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, UKTel: +44 (0)20 8332 5953, Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5956, email: [email protected], www.bgci.org

Photo creditsAll photographs are credited to BGCI except for the following: page 3, unknown (top), Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Geneva(bottom); page 7, Stock Exchange (pills and Digitalis); page 8, Ulf Liedén (Gentiana); page 9, Keira Bishop (ginseng); page 11, PaulAlan Cox and Patricia Stewart (bottom), Steven King (middle); Page 12, Gisela Royo (top), unknown (bottom); page 13, G. Ulutuncokand GTZ (Prunus), Ruth Butler (bottom), unknown (Rauvolfia); page 14, unknown (Hoodia), Peter Wyse Jackson (bottom); page 19http://mynkw.totosik.pl (Lophophora); page 22; Fiona Walsh and Desert Knowledge Cooperative Centre (top); page 23, DavidNkwanga (Prunus); page 25, Ruth Butler (top).

Design: John Morgan, Seascape. Email: [email protected]

Botanic GardensConservation International

Descanso House, 199 Kew Road,Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, U.K.

Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5953Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5956E-mail: [email protected]: www.bgci.org

This publication is supported by theRufford Maurice Laing Foundation

plants for life

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