Sustainable Herbal Harvest in Bulgaria Project LIFE12 INF BG 000105 Co-funded by the Information and Communication component of the European Commission’s Financial Instrument for the Environment – LIFE+ www.susherbsbg.eu This is the first Bulgarian project to be funded through this component and one of the nine to be selected for funding from the whole of the European Union in the 2012 call. Coordinating Foundation Information and Nature Conservation beneficiary www.ecologybg.com Associated Bulgarian National Radio www.bnr.bg and beneficiaries EcoLogic Consultancy www.ecologybg.com Duration 30 months (October 1, 2013 – March 31, 2016) Budget 292, 920 Euro Region For the Bulgarian National Radio campaign and other national and regional media – the whole country. For all other project actions – Plovdiv region (18 municipalities, over 750 000 residents – 10% of the population of the country) Steering Committee (a committee overseeing the implementation of the project): Representatives of: The Bulgarian National Radio; The National Agricultural Advisory Service; South Central State Forestry Enterprise; Directorate of Central Balkan National Park; Plovdiv Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water; Stara Zagora Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water; Plovdiv Regional Agriculture Directorate; the Plovdiv Province Municipal Administration; the Agricultural University in Plovdiv; the Laboratory for Biologically Active Substances of the Institute for Organic Chemistry of the Bulgarian Academy of Science; the Bulgarian Association of Herb and Mushroom Traders, producers of seed and propagation material and other stakeholders. 2 The Steering The Steering Committee carried out a series of 5 formal and over 20 Committee carried informal meetings. We discussed not only topics directly related to the out a series of execution of the project, but specific significant problems in the herb sector. The members of the Steering Committee participated in the creation and 5 dissemination of the matierials and products of the project. They helped formal and over to: organise the trainings and Mobile Information and Consultation Center, create the radio broadcasts and execute the Bulgarian Herb Fair. 20 informal The activities and products of the Project meetings. are meant for: • Local communities • Herb collectors • Farmers • Herb traders, buyers and processors • Local authorities • District administrations • Regional authorities of the Ministry of Environment and Water • Regional authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food • NGOs • Academic and Scientific organisations • Journalists and media • The general public www.susherbsbg.eu I 3 WE HAVE A HERB FOR EVERY ACHE! There are countries which possess gold deposits, others have oil reserves. Bulgaria has sufficient stocks of neither gold nor oil, however our land has been blessed with extraordinairy biodiversity, which gives us an abundance of medicinal plants. Experts claim that a quarter of our population could make a living from herbs. This is why we must preserve their natural habitats. They are our medicinal gold! Bulgaria’s gold mines! The Bulgarian fl ora includes over 4100 species of higher plants (twice 770 the number included in the English fl ora), 770 of them are medicinal. 250 of medicinal plants them are used in tradiƟ onal and convenƟ onal medicine. Around 17 000 tons of dried or frozen herbs are exported from Bulgaria annually. They are sold on the internaƟ onal market for over 25 million euro. We are a leader in herb export volumes in Europe and are among the top 3 exporters in the world. Medicinal plants provide livelihood to local communiƟ es living in close proximity to their habitats. Even today, over 300 000 people rely on the in- come generated through the collecƟ on, culƟ vaƟ on, processing and trade of herbs in Bulgaria. Herbs are whole plants or parts of them like their fruit, seeds, that are used fresh or dry for the treatment and prevenƟ on of diseases, as well as for the producƟ on of medicine, food, cosmeƟ cs and technical substances. Medicinal and aromatic are the plants containing healing (biologically active) substances. 4 WHY AN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION PROJECT? The research and surveys of the opinions of interested par es and the general 85% public, which we conducted during the prepara on of the project proposal (in of those polled 2011) and in the beginning of the execu on of the project (in 2013–14) showed use herbs in their that 85% of those polled have an interest toward herbs and almost all of them daily life use herbs in their daily life. Despite this fact, knowledge about their sustainable use and the livelihood opportuni es they off er was almost nonexistent. Such informa on was absent from the media and our educa onal system and was not even known by the specialists, responsible for the management of herb resources. Most of the threats medicinal plants face are a consequence of human ac vity. They lead to a reduc on of the exploitable resources of certain species. For this reason some of them become rare and ex nct. Harves ng must be done by trained collectors in accordance with harves ng rules. It is important for the protec on and management of habitats to be conducted in such a way as to allow for medicinal plant renewal and long-term use. This can happen only if those working in the sector are well-informed and trained, and the general public knows, values and par cipates in the protec on of this invaluable treasure – the medicinal gold of Bulgaria. Most of the herbs, which are bought, traded and processed in the country are collected from the wild. Nature is very generous toward us, but it is not an inexhaus ble resource! Even the most widespread medicinal plant species can quickly decline and even become ex nct if exploited recklessly. There is no country in the world, which can conserve wild plants through control and sanc ons alone! Not even the wealthiest! This can happen only with the help of local people and all stakeholders. This is why it is necessary to make a focused and consistent eff ort to create reliable sources of popular informa on about medicinal plants, to improve the level of knowledge of everyone working in the sector and to create eff ec- ve collabora on between them. The project made a good start in this direc on by crea ng, dissemina ng and popularising informa on materials for all stakeholders and making them available for use at: www.susherbsbg.eu www.susherbsbg.eu I 5 OUR GOALS • Popularising sustainable herb harvesting in Bulgaria. • Creation of a positive mind and skill set for the protection of the rich medicinal plant resources of Bulgaria, including through the establishment of sustainable enterprises. During the project we created: A database with popular information about medicinal plants Containing print and electronic publications, photographs, video and audio materials about the protection, management, cultivation and processing of medicinal plants. On the project website you can find useful, popular information about: • Medicinal plant species in Bulgaria. Protected and rare species. Threats to medicinal plants. • Protection and use of medicinal plant species in Plovdiv province (2011– 2013) • Medicinal plant cultivation – Suitable regions for the different species – Criteria for choosing species – Technologies for the cultivation of 12 medicinal plant cultivars – Use of medicinal plants for underplanting – Contact information of companies, offering suitable agricultural equipment • Medicinal plant use. General rules for the collection of quality herbs and the protection of plant species and their habitats. • A gallery of medicinal plant photographs. 6 Bulgaria is the The Act was adopted in 2000. According to it, municipal ecology experts, only country in the specialists from regional administra ons and game and forestry units issue European Union, which permits for the collec on of herbs for commercial purposes. For over 15 years has a specialised they had not received specialised training for the execu on of this ac vity, Medicinal Plant Act, which is crucially important for the protec on of wild medicinal plant habitats. because we are the There was also no available literature to help them in the performance of this only ones who collect responsible task. medicinal plants from This is why we created a training programme, a set of training materials the wild in massive and presenta ons and a manual, which we applied during the project and quantities. disseminated througout the country. This is a useful and reliable informa on base, which can aid in the work of experts responsible for the conserva on of medicinal plant habitats and the use of the rich resources they provide. We trained all 60 experts from municipal administraƟ ons, the district administraƟ on and naƟ onal game and forestry units in Plovdiv, who issue permits for the collecƟ on of herbs, according to the Medicinal Plant Act. The programme included visits to habitats for a personal acquaintance with the plants. All experts unanimously stated that the training had fi lled-in their knowledge gaps regarding: • Specialised legislature and its applica on • Medicinal plant species – habitats, economic and conserva onal value • Field iden fi ca on guide, photos of the most used species • Methods of resource assessment – how to determine the quan es of herbs, permited for exploita on 1 – Sopot 2 – Stamboliiski • Threats to the habitats and measures for their protec on and the improve- 3 – Perushtica 4 – Krichim ment of their condi on • Rules and requirements regarding the collec on of quality herbs with good value • Good prac ces for medicinal plant processing and value addi on • Yield of fresh/dry herbs for the diff erent species • Signs for dis nguishing cul vated herbs from those of wild origin. www.susherbsbg.eu I 7 The presenta ons, programme and photos from the trainings can be downloaded from the project website.