Report of a Working Group on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants First Meeting, 12–14 September 2002, Gozd Martuljek, Slovenia D. Baricevic,v v J. Bernáth, L. Maggioni and E. Lipman, compilers <www.futureharvest.org> IPGRI is a Future Harvest Centre supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Report of a Working Resources Networks ECP GR Group on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants First Meeting, 12–14 September 2002, Gozd Martuljek, Slovenia D. Baricevic,v v J. Bernáth, L. Maggioni and E. Lipman, compilers ii WORKING GROUP ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: FIRST MEETING The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to advance the conservation and use of plant genetic diversity for the well-being of present and future generations. It is one of 15 Future Harvest Centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. IPGRI has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The Institute operates through three programmes: (1) the Plant Genetic Resources Programme, (2) the CGIAR Genetic Resources Support Programme and (3) the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP). The international status of IPGRI is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2003, had been signed by the Governments of Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda and Ukraine. Financial support for IPGRI’s research is provided by more than 150 donors, including governments, private foundations and international organizations. For details of donors and research activities please see IPGRI’s Annual Reports, which are available in printed form on request from ipgri- [email protected] or from IPGRI’s Web site (www.ipgri.cgiar.org). The European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR) is a collaborative programme including most European countries aimed at facilitating the long-term conservation and the increased utilization of plant genetic resources in Europe. The Programme, which is entirely financed by the member countries and coordinated by IPGRI, is overseen by a Steering Committee composed of National Coordinators nominated by the participating countries and a number of relevant international bodies. The Programme operates through ten networks in which activities are carried out through a number of permanent working groups or through ad hoc actions. The ECP/GR networks deal with either groups of crops (cereals, forages, vegetables, grain legumes, fruit, minor crops, industrial crops and potato) or general themes related to plant genetic resources (documentation and information, in situ and on-farm conservation, inter-regional cooperation). Members of the working groups and other scientists from participating countries carry out an agreed workplan with their own resources as inputs in kind to the Programme. The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IPGRI or the CGIAR concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the texts and taxonomic definitions in these proceedings reflect the views of the respective authors and not necessarily those of the compilers or their institutions. Mention of a proprietary name does not constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for information. Citation: Baričevič, D., J. Bernáth, L. Maggioni and E. Lipman, compilers. 2004. Report of a Working Group on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. First meeting, 12-14 September 2002, Gozd Martuljek, Slovenia. International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy. ISBN 92-9043-633-6 IPGRI Via dei Tre Denari 472/a 00057 Maccarese, Rome, Italy © International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, 2004 CONTENTS iii CONTENTS PART I. SUMMARY REPORT OF THE MEETING 1 Introduction 1 Opening of the meeting / Welcome addresses 1 Adoption of the agenda and selection of the Chairperson for the meeting 3 Presentations 3 Conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) – needs and strategy 3 Country reports 6 Documentation and databases 6 Methodological approaches in MAP conservation and evaluation 7 Discussion and recommendations 8 Conclusion 11 PART II. PRESENTED PAPERS 13 General papers 14 Conservation strategies for medicinal and aromatic plants 14 Peter Skoberne Sustainable use of medicinal and aromatic plants in Europe 19 Susanne F. Schmitt and Susanne Honnef The origin of medicinal plants in Central Europe – an ecological approach 21 Ernst Schneider Country reports 25 Medicinal and aromatic plants in Austria 25 Wolfgang Kainz Medicinal and aromatic plant diversity in Bulgaria – protection, collection, study, use and conservation 27 Kana Varbanova Legal protection, conservation and cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants in Croatia 34 Zlatko Šatović Genetic resources of medicinal and aromatic plants in Cyprus with emphasis on the selection, evaluation and management of Origanum dubium 39 Demetrios Droushiotis and Athena Della Current status of the collection of aromatic, culinary and medicinal plants in the Czech Gene Bank in Olomouc 42 Karel Dušek Medicinal and aromatic plants in Estonia 44 Ulve Pihlik Perspectives and achievements in genetic conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants in Hungary 46 Jenő Bernáth and Éva Németh Medicinal and aromatic plants in the Israeli Gene Bank (IGB) 57 Eli Putievsky Conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants in Italy 63 Carla Vender and Pietro Fusani Medicinal and aromatic plants in Latvia 70 Ieva Zukauska iv WORKING GROUP ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: FIRST MEETING Conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants in Lithuania 73 Jolita Radušienė Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in the Republic of Macedonia F.Y.R. 82 Gjoshe Stefkov and Svetlana Kulevanova Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in Malta 85 Everaldo Attard Medicinal and aromatic plants in the Nordic Countries 88 Katarina Wedelsbäck Bladh Medicinal and aromatic plants in Finland 91 Bertalan Galambosi The status of medicinal and aromatic plants in Poland 96 Zenon Węglarz and Anna Geszprych Medicinal and aromatic plants in Portugal – a survey 106 Rena Martins Farias Status of the Romanian medicinal and aromatic plant collection 109 Danela Murariu, Silvia Strajeru, Constantin Milica and Steluta Radu Conservation of medicinal and aromatic plant genetic resources in Slovenia 114 Dea Baričevič, Alenka Zupančič, Anita Železnik-Kušar and Janko Rode Current status of medicinal and aromatic plants in Spain 118 Roser Cristóbal Cabau, Astrid van Ginkel and Federico Varela Activities on medicinal and aromatic plants at the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute 121 Ali Osman Sari and Bilgin Oguz Medicinal and aromatic plant production in the United Kingdom 128 Rosemary Cole Genetic resources of medicinal and aromatic plants of Yugoslavia – current situation and further prospects 130 Zora Dajić Documentation and databases 143 The Central Database of the Slovene Plant Gene Bank 143 Vladimir Meglič Research 146 Molecular tools for determining genetic variability 146 Branka Javornik Genetic variability of native populations of oregano in Slovenia 147 Jelka Šuštar-Vozlič APPENDICES 151 Appendix I. List of priority species/genera 151 Appendix II. Abbreviations and acronyms 152 Appendix III. Agenda 154 Appendix IV. List of participants 156 INDEX OF AUTHORS 161 SUMMARY REPORT OF THE MEETING 1 PART I. SUMMARY REPORT OF THE MEETING Introduction The newly established Working Group on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR) met for the first time in Gozd Martuljek, Slovenia, 12-14 September 2002. The meeting brought together 18 members representing 20 European countries and 12 observers, including Slovenian officials and scientists, representatives from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-UK and WWF-TRAFFIC Europe) and a private consultant from Germany (see list of participants in Appendix IV). Opening of the meeting / Welcome addresses Mihaela Černe, National Coordinator for ECP/GR in Slovenia welcomed the participants with the following address: Dear Members of the Working Group on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, distinguished guests from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MAFF) and Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, and observers, As National Coordinator for Slovenia I am glad that a new ECP/GR Working Group on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants was established and that Slovenia was chosen to host its first meeting. This is also the first time that Slovenia hosts an ECP/GR Working Group meeting. Slovenia was invited to join the ECP/GR in 1993 and after 5 years of efforts,