Rufford project site in China. Medicinal plant garden of Mr He Hong Shan, herbalist and expert botanist (on left) at Ludian.© Alan Hamilton
Discussing medicinal plant drying and processing at Bugombe village, Uganda. © Alan Hamilton
The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation provided a grant of £40,000 in 2007/08.
Plantlife International is a UK-based charity dedicated to the conservation of plants. The grant from The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation has been instrumental in enabling Plantlife to continue its work under its Plant Conservation and Livelihoods Programme. In particular, it has allowed work to progress on six village-based projects with partners in East Africa and the Himalayas, all striving to help local people achieve conservation of medicinal plants in conjunction with development of their livelihoods. Regular updates are posted on Plantlife’s website.
Together with its overseas partners, Plantlife is now writing up these and other experiences and undertaking an analysis of best practice. A report, anticipated for the autumn, will describe lessons learnt about how best to proceed at village level, and also for policy development (health, conservation, livelihoods). Funding is being sought for continuation and expansion of the work in East Africa and the Himalayas.
The project in Nepal is concerned with achieving sustainability in the commercial harvesting of wild medicinal plants, a very major business in Nepal (as well as other Himalayan countries). It is estimated that 2.5 million poor people in Nepal receive income from this activity. The conservation problem is unsustainable harvesting, with potentially devastating future consequences for conservation and livelihoods. Working with the Ethnobotanical Society of Nepal (ESON) and local cultural and forestry groups, Plantlife’s project at Rasuwa is managing to get to the core of some of the issues that have previously bedevilled finding solutions to this fundamental but difficult problem.
Plantlife has supported the development of a new international standard for the sustainable harvesting of wild medicinal plants, being led by IUCN with various partners. Our particular contribution has been a case-study in India, useful for providing realism in the evolution of the standard according to developing country conditions. The standard has now been finalised and is being promoted for uptake by industry and other stakeholders.
Visit the Plantlife International website.