Medicinal Plant Working Group Sustainable Production Committee

Chair:

Ed Fletcher

Objective:

To promote sustainable production of native medicinal plant products.

Action Items:

• Promote research of commercial-scale cultivation and propagation of native medicinals, and encourage sustainable alternative cultivation and propagation techniques.
• Develop a short list of endangered, medicinal plants with ongoing traditional and/or alternative cultivation/propagation research, and current high consumer demand (using work started by other organizations, such as United Plant Savers).
• Compile information about the research and production of these plants to be presented via links and other mechanisms on the PCA web site.
• Develop a pilot research grant mechanism to encourage alternative production practices that allow natural ecologies to be reclaimed as sources of economic value to communities, and to provide a mechanism for farmers to find sustainable economic alternatives to large monocrops such as tobacco and wheat.
• Identify and promote market-based incentives for consumption of products from sustainable sources.
• Develop a short list of ways in which the organic industry built consensus for their value-added approach to marketing products.
• Approach dietary supplement manufacturers, commodity brokers and retailers about how to create added value through sustainably produced bulk medicinal plant material.
• Develop list of individuals/groups interested in promoting sustainable production of medicinals.
• Identify target audiences and partners for information sharing (e.g., farmers and rural development experts).
• Identify potential partners for the creation of a pilot medicinal plant production cooperative (i.e., university research facilities, extension agents, growers, manufacturers).
• Identify the inherent hurdles to cooperative information sharing and production:
• what are the incentives that would pull together varied community institutions;
• who are the target audiences that would be interested in these market driven incentives; and
• what are the problems that would stop involvement?
• Identify community development grants available for a pilot project.