Activities

Developing a standard with principles and criteria is only a first step – to become effective, it needs to be implemented. The FairWild Standard is being used in a number of contexts in countries worldwide.

Expore the map below to find out more.

 
View FairWild activities in a larger map

FairWild in the Caucasus

The FairWild Standard and certification system is currently being implemented in the Caucasus region, to assist with sustainable management of natural resources in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Poverty is widespread among rural populations of this region, and local collectors are forced to exploit the wild collected plant resources above sustainable levels. Wild collection is not seen as a profession but as seasonal work although for many people the generated income is the main or only source of income throughout the year. In most cases wild collectors do not work with contracts and are not embedded in social security systems. These conditions lead to a low esteem of wild collected products and their natural habitats, especially outside of protected areas.

The international market for wild collected plants is growing steadily and can potentially open up alternative marketing possibilities for products from the Caucasus. GIZ (formerly GTZ) and the Institute for Marketecology (IMO) are supporting the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to implement the programme.

The programme component on wild plant collection, carried out between March 2010 and May 2011, focussed on the following:

The project identified stakeholder groups in the region and delivered valuable training to 340 collectors and 17 collection companies. Management plans, specific to local areas and the plant types that were identified in consultation with resource users, were developed.  National stakeholders were supported in developing adapted standards which will regulate and institutionalize the collection of wild plants, and core areas of focus were identified for future work. The central role of the FairWild Standard in the project led to the identification of 12 companies and 16 plant species as eligible for FairWild certification. The project will continue in the region for a further 4 years as part of the GIZ Project Sustainable management of the biodiversity in protected areas and forests, South Caucasus.

For further details, download an information sheet (PDF, 400 KB).

Contact:

Heiko Schindler (IMO), hs@imo.ch
FairWild Foundation Secretariat: secretariat@FairWild.org

FairWild: Saving Lives that Save Livelihoods

The former ecological module of the FairWild Standard (ISSC-MAP, now incorporated in FairWild Standard version 2.0) was trialled by WWF, TRAFFIC, IUCN, FairWild Foundation and their partners in six wild collection projects world-wide.

Within these projects the implementation of the standard was 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.

Financial support was provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and a wide range of partners were involved, including local NGOs, governments, collector groups, and the private sector.

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)

A report on the project, including its lasting benefits, lessons learned and recommendations, was published by TRAFFIC.

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 the FairWild Standard. The project focused 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 was initiated in Prek Tnoat Community Protected Area to provide a model project.

In the Tropical Amazon Region

The partner for the project implementation in Brazil was 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 was 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 aimed 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 explored 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:

Anastasiya Timoshyna
Email: anastasiya.timoshyna@wwf.hu