TRAFFIC promotes ISSC-MAP at International Summit

The Summit brought together cultivators, traders and manufacturers of medicinal and aromatic plants and spices to showcase continental, regional and local competence in this field and to promote worldwide the upcoming business of herbals and spices. Principal guest was Smt. Panabaaka Lakshmi, Honourable Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. 

TRAFFIC India used the Summit as an opportunity to introduce the ISSC-MAP standard to a large national and international audience. The ISSC-MAP standard aims to promote conservation and sustainable use of wild-collected medicinal and aromatic plant species. 

Dr G A Kinhal of the Bangalore-based Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) spoke of the protocols that govern the export and import of medicinal and aromatic plants and the need for standardizing sustainable harvesting procedures. He then introduced ISSC-MAP and urged all stakeholders to implement it in their respective States. In India, the standards are being implemented by TRAFFIC in partnership with FRLHT. 

Present at the Summit were representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) and the National Medicinal Plants Board. 

The ISSC-MAP standard was developed by WWF-Germany, the IUCN/SSC Species Survival Commission Medicinal Plant Specialist Group (MPSG), TRAFFIC and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. TRAFFIC's and FRLHT's participation in the summit was made possible thanks to funding from BMZ, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.