Ongoing Activities
The ecological module of the FairWild Standard published in 2007, is currently being implemented by WWF, TRAFFIC, IUCN, FairWild Foundation and their partners in six wild collection projects world-wide.
Within these projects the implementation of the standard is developed to demonstrate effective management and sustainable use of wild-collected plants, ensuring thereby the long-term survival of the natural populations and contributing substantially to local livelihoods.
Developing a standard with principles and criteria is only a first step – to become effective, it needs to be implemented.
With financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), WWF, TRAFFIC, IUCN, and partners from local NGOs, governments, collector groups, and the private sector we have started implementing the ecological module of the FairWild Standard in selected projects in six countries and regions worldwide.
Factsheets about the projects are available: Brazil (PDF, 1.3 MB), Cambodia (PDF, 550 KB), India (PDF, 1.3 MB), Nepal (PDF, 830 KB), Lesotho (PDF, 1.1 MB), and Bosnia-Herzegovina (PDF, 1.6 MB)
In the Himalayas
Nepal, with its amazing variety of ecosystems from the Terai lowlands in the south to the world's highest peaks in the north, is home to an astounding plant diversity, with more than 1,500 plant species used for medicinal purposes. Like in India, community forest management structures are often already in place, which is a good starting point for implementing FairWild Standards. The project focuses on two regions: The community managed Kangchenjunga Conservation Area and the Langtang National Park area and Buffer Zone.
In the Greater Mekong Region
In Cambodia, the MAP sector is still underdeveloped. Little is known about the structures of the MAP sector and levels of collection and trade. It is obvious, however, that traders from China have recently expanded their activities into Cambodia, which increases the pressure on the country's natural resources. There is keen interest to implement the FairWild Standard on the political level in Cambodia, but this requires more in-depth research on the Cambodian MAP sector and trade structures. The implementation of the FairWild Module will be initiated in a selected area to provide a model project.
In the Tropical Amazon Region
Partner for the project implementation in Brazil is AVIVE (Associação Vida Verde da Amazônia), a group of women committed to research and sustainable harvest of native MAP species. The improvement of livelihoods creates incentives for habitat conservation. The project is located in the area around Silves, Amazonas state. Brazil is an economically emerging country with an increasing domestic demand for products based on plants which originate from eco-friendly production or sustainable harvesting.
In Southern Asia
India is among the world's largest producer (and, increasingly, also consumer) countries of MAP sourced from the wild. In remote areas, MAP collection provides an essential portion of family incomes and plays an important role for health care. India is very advanced in establishing community-based management structures for the use of natural resources. There is strong political support for applying FairWild as a tool to make collection practices sustainable. The project is being implemented in two states: Uttarakhand in the Western Himalayas and Karnataka in the Western Ghats.
In Southern Africa
The project in Lesotho (and bordering South African provinces) targets one species: Pelargonium sidoides. As tiny and unimpressive as they appear, these plants have been highly valued for their healing power, not only in the region but also abroad e.g. in Germany, where products containing extracts of P. sidoides are top-selling medicines for fighting cold and other 'winter' infections.
Although a large industry depends on this plant, little is known about the impact of harvest on the survival of the species and no efficient management schemes are in place. Due to the slow recovering of the tuber after collection harvesters might re-harvest too soon and thus start destroying plants.
The project aims to introduce FairWild as a tool to develop a regional management system to ensure the sustainable harvesting of P. sidoides in Lesotho and South Africa.
The project also explores how FairWild can be used as a tool for CITES non-Detriment Findings. Government authorities, collectors, NGOs, and the private sector are key partners.
In South-East Europe
South East Europe is the main European source region for MAP collected from the wild. Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) is of particular interest, because the country is still in the process of being reconstructed after the end of the civil war in 1995. Recently built private structures focusing on MAP trade and a modern legal framework offer favourable conditions to promote the sustainable harvesting and use of MAP in BiH; the project envisages creating, in close cooperation with resource authorities and industry, a model that can be replicated elsewhere in the region.
For more information please contact:
FairWild Secretariat
Anastasiya Timoshyna
Email: anastasiya.timoshyna@wwf.hu