Medicinal Plants for Forest Conservation and Health Care
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07#)) 1 0\ WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS 11 Medicinal plants for forest conservation and healthcare Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations \0\ -WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS 11 Medicinal plants for forest conservation and healthcare Edited by Gerard Bodeker Chair, GIFTS of Health Green College, University of Oxford, UK K.K.S. Bhat GIFTS of Health Green College, University of Oxford, UK Jeffrey Burley Director, Oxford Forestry Institute University of Oxford, UK Paul Vantomme Forestry Officer FAO GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS (GIFTS) OF HEALTH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 1997 This paper discusses both traditional and contemporary medicinal uses of plant products and includes an overview of issues dealing with their promotion and development. The designations employed and the materials presented in this publication do not imply any endorsement or the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the use of the plants described or the opinions expressed by the contributing authors. The use of the described plant products is not recommended unless carried out under the care and guidance of a qualified physician. Reprinted 1999, 2003 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ISBN 92-5-104063-X Allrightsreserved.Reproduction and disseminationofmaterialinthis information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes isprohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected] 0 FAO 1997 Foreword The World Health Organization estimated that 80% of the population of developing countries rely on traditional medicines, mostly plant drugs, for their primary health care needs. Also, modern pharmacopoeia still contain at least 25% drugs derived from plants and many others which are synthetic analogues builton prototype compounds isolated from plants. Demand for medicinal plants is increasing in both developing and developed countries, and surprisingly, the bulk of the material traded is still from wild harvested sources on forest lands and only a very small number of species are cultivated. The expanding trade in medicinal plants has serious implications on the survival of several plant species, with many under serious threat to become extinct. This volume brings together a most useful collection of papers bysome experts in medicinal plants.It draws attention in a sensitive way to the huge contribution of medicinal plants to traditional and modern health care systems, but also alert the readers on the many problems and challenges facing their sustainable development, such as: assessment and management of the resource base; best harvesting and processing practices; trade issues and aspects dealing with the intellectual property rights on traditional medicine by indigenous peoples. The prospective audience includes not only foresters, rural development workers and policy makers, but also all those whoare involved in one way or another with traditional medicine. The use of this document will help raise the awareness on medicinal plants as an important forest resource, and will help ensure that medicinal plants are adequately included in forest conservation and utilization programmes. The present study was developed jointly by the Global Initiative for Traditional Systems (GIFTS) of Health (a UK based NGO) and FAO. The document is basedon contributions made by many experts on medicinal plants, and has benefited from the detailed comments of several colleagues within GIFTS and FAO. Final editing of this publication was done by Gerry Bodeker and Paul Vantomme. I wish toexpress my thanks to all of them. I have great pleasure to release this document, in the hope that it willserve as a useful reference for all concerned with the sustainable development of medicinal plants from forests. Karl Hermann Schmincke Director Forest Products Division Preface Having lived amongst several of the groups of indigenous peoples of Amazonia, I have observed both the quantity of medicinal plants which they use and the efficacy of many of their cures. I have been treated by these people for intestinal upsets, parasites, cuts and bruises, headaches and other minor ailments and have personally experienced the healing powers of the rainforest plants. Since so many of our modern medicines were also derived from plants and such a small percentage have been accurately analysed chemically, it is certain that there are many more to be discovered. Whether a wonder medicine is developed from a plant or a local herbal remedy is harvested from the forest, there are many problems that need to be resolved. Historically indigenous peoples or even the countries in which they reside have benefited little from the development of medicines from their plant resources. When a herbal medicine becomes popular it can be over-exploited and the very resource threatened with extinction as is clearly shown in this volume for some Chinese medicinal plants by He and Sheng and for African plants by Cunningham. On the other hand the development of both pharmaceutical products and the harvesting of local non-timber forest products could be of great benefit to local peoples and to developing countries when properly controlled. This volume brings together a most useful collection of papers by some of the real experts in medicinal plants and on the issues of their exploitation. It draws attention to the problems involved in a sensitive way and reflects well the new attitudes of contemporary ethnobotany which seeks both to protect the rights of indigenous peoples and to conserve their botanical heritage. At the same time, however, this does not exclude the sustainable use of these plants. I am impressed by the wide geographical coverage that we have here and that the authors are well balanced between those from the developed and the developing world. This is a volume of interest to many people far beyond those directly working with medicinal plants. It raises issues of concern for conservationists, developers, forest managers, researchers and legislators. It is a most valuable contribution and FAO is to be congratulated on including a book of such topical concern in its series on the use of non-wood forest products. Anyone interested in the exploitation of forest medicines should read the chapters in this book before embarking on any project. Professor Sir Ghillean Prance FRS Director Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Contents Foreword Preface iv Sir Ghillean Prance, Director, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. Introduction G.C. Bodeker, Chairman, Global Initiative for Traditional Systems of Health. Part I: General Articles covering Global Issues Forest based medicines in traditional and cosmopolitan health care 5 A.P. van Seters Ethnobotanical research and traditional health care in developing countries 12 Balick and P. A. Cox Between a rock and a hard place: Indigenous peoples, nation states 24 and the multinationals G. Dutfield Industrial utilisation of medicinal plants in developing countries 34 T. de Silva Trade in Medicinal Plants 45 S.E. Kuipers Medicinal plant information databases 60 K.K.S. Bhat Part II: Articles on Regional Aspects of Medicinal Plants Use Biodiversity - People Interface in Nepal 78 Bhattarai Beyond the Biodiversity Convention - the challenges facing 87 the bio-cultural heritage of Indias medicinal plants D. Shankar and B. Majumdar A biocultural medicinal plants conservation project in Sri Lanka 100 L. de Alwis Utilisation and conservation of medicinal plants in China with special 109 reference to Atractylides lancea S-A. He and N. Sheng An Africa-wide overview of medicinal plant harvesting, conservation 116 and health care A.B. Cunningham Biodiversity conservation and the application of Amazonian medicinal 130 plants in the control of malaria. W. Milliken Bulgarian model for regulating the trade in plant material for 135 medicinal and other purposes D. Lange and M. Mladenova Phytomedicinal forest harvest in the United States 147 J. A. Duke Introduction Gerard C. Bodeker Global Initiative For Traditional Systems (GIFTS) of Health. Health Services Research Unit Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oxford, UK fax: + +44 1865 226711 Email:[email protected] FAO's Non-Wood Forest Products Series addresses the use of forest resources by local communities in the context of conserving biodiversity and promoting local economic self- sufficiency. This volume on medicinal plants links together the physical environments of local communities and their use of plants in promoting and maintaining their health. Medicinal plants form the basis of traditional or indigenous health systems used, in the estimate of the World Health Organization, by the majority of the population of most developing countries.