TRRAFIC India chooses K'taka for herbs conservation

New Delhi, Aug 5 (UNI) TRAFFIC India, an organisation working for conservation of wildlife, has intensified its efforts for sustainable collection of medicinal and aromatic plants by extending its work to Karnataka, which is rich in such plants.

The NGO is helping implementation of the International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP), which promotes appropriate management of wild plant population to ensure those used in medicines and cosmetics are not over exploited.

Following the successful launch of ISSC-MAP in Dehradun in the hill state of Uttarakhand in February, the standard has been introduced in Karnataka too, says a bulletin issued by the NGO.

The ISSAC-MAP wild collection satndard was drawn up after consultation with plant experts and the herbal products industry.

In India, ISSAC-MAP is being implemented by TRAFFIC India in cooperation with the Foundation for Revialisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT).

The National Medicinal Plants Board is supporting the implementation. The project is funded by the German Government's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

FRLHT is leading the ISSC-MAP initiative in the southern state of Karnataka, which has been identified as one of the first five target areas for implementation of the project. The others are Uttarakhand in India, Nepal (Eastern Himalayan Region), Cambodia (Greater Mekong Region), Brazil (Amazon region) and Lesotho (South Africa).

Two sites have been selected in the state and two species identified at each site for implementation of ISSC-MAP.

UNI NAZ ATI HT1452