Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

106
WORKING GROUP ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: FIRST MEETING
Medicinal and aromatic plants in Portugal – a survey
Rena Martins Farias
Banco Português de Germoplasma Vegetal (BPGV) / Direcção Regional de Agricultura de Entre
Douro e Minho (DRAEDM), Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária (INIA), Braga, Portugal
Introduction
A set of questions was submitted to 43 institutions about research and other activities
concerning medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). The topics defined were: collecting,
conservation, characterization, preliminary evaluation, further evaluation and utilization.
Twenty-three institutions replied to the questionnaire. Some replies arrived too late to be
included in this survey, but the work done at the institutions concerned will be taken into
account in future publications.
Conservation
• In situ conservation
Since 1999 the Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICN) that oversees one National
Park, ten Natural Parks, six Natural Reserves and two Protected Landscapes, started a 5-year
integrated project based on four main objectives: survey of medicinal and aromatic plant
species; ethnobotany survey; environmental education programmes and public awareness;
correct management and promotion of sustainable utilization of MAPs.
Table 1 lists the research activities carried out for this project in the various protected
areas.
Table 1. List of protected areas in Portugal and their activities
Protected areas
Reserva Natural da Serra da Malcata
Reserva Natural das Dunas de S. Jacinto
Parque Natural do Douro Internacional
Parque Natural da Serra da Arrábida
Parque Natural do Alvão
Reserva Natural do Estuário do Tejo
Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês
Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela
Área de Paisagem Protegida da Serra do Açor
Parque Natural de Sintra Cascais
Species
survey
Ethnobotany
survey
Environmental
education
programme
Sustainable
management
• Ex situ conservation
In order to conserve, evaluate and use MAP species, different Portuguese institutions such as
universities, polytechnic schools, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and
Fisheries and foundations all over the country have been developing research in this area.
Since 1990, the Banco Português de Germoplasma Vegetal (BPGV) – Ministry of
Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, has been conducting, all over Portugal, a
systematic collection of Allium sativum L., Allium cepa L., Allium spp., Petroselinum crispum
(Mill.) Nym. ex AW Hill, Coriandrum sativum L., Humulus lupulus L., Thymus spp., Origanum
vulgare L. and Mentha spp. This material is conserved in long-term storage conditions at
-20ºC, in medium-term storage conditions (0-5ºC) and as a field collection.