Side Event

‘Going Wise’: Mutual benefits for plant-based businesses and national policy makers

Organizer
TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, FairWild Foundation, IUCN/SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group (MPSG)

Date and Time
17 October 2012 18:15 - 19:45

Meeting
Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11)

Over 50,000 medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) species are used globally for health, food and cosmetics, providing an important source of income generation for many national economies and rural communities. At the same time, one-fifth of MAP species are threatened due to over-harvesting and land conversion. The FairWild Standard was developed as a practical solution to address this issue, providing principles of sustainable wild harvesting and trade of MAPs that can be applied by the private sector, indigeneous peoples and local communities, national governments and international agreements. This event aims to share the experiences of MAP’s business sector with national decision makers, particularly in Japan and India, in proposing and promoting the utilization of standard guidelines for the sustainable use of wild plant resources and the involvement of the private sector in wild plant harvest and conservation. The event will also highlight the opportunity that the FairWild Standard provides to bridge the gaps between the work of governmental agencies, development and conservation organizations, and markets on sustainably produced ingredients. Also highlighted will be the contribution of these efforts to the delivery on Target 4 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, Objective 3 of Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), and the principles of the Nagoya Protocol. Among the topics to be discussed are: 1. Successes and lessons learned from business sector involvement with sustainable medicinal plant management and conservation 2. Experiences of implementing sustainable harvesting practices at the harvesting site 3. Application of the FairWild Standard principles in national, regional and local policies and resource management strategies: the governmental view 4. The FairWild Standard: Examples of use from the context of community engagement, industry sustainability, national policies and international agreements. The event welcomes the participation of government agencies, private companies, IPLC, NGOs.