Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

8
WORKING GROUP ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: FIRST MEETING
Discussion and recommendations
A summary of discussions and recommendations leading to the elaboration of the workplan
is presented below.
Scope of the Working Group's activities
• Preliminary definitions
What are MAPs?
The Group agreed that definitions were needed for “medicinal and aromatic plants” and the
following were approved temporarily:
- Medicinal plants are plants used in official and traditional medicine
- Aromatic plants are plants used for their aroma and flavour
Geographical origin of MAP species
The WG will consider autochthonous European species (of which the centre of origin is
located in Europe) and species which were domesticated in Europe or are well adapted to
European ecological conditions.
• Long-term tasks
Inventory of MAP genetic resources in Europe
Knowledge about available wild genetic resources is rather scarce. An inventory needs to be
prepared of MAP distribution and abundance at a European level.
Conservation of MAP genetic resources in Europe
According to the country reports presented, a very high proportion of European MAP
species on the market is gathered from the wild. The existing legislation at national and
European levels does not sufficiently prevent the unsustainable exploitation of MAP natural
resources. Only a limited number of species are officially protected but other important
MAP species may be endangered. These species must be identified, conserved (in situ
and/or ex situ) and proposed for official protection.
Characterization/evaluation of MAPs: development of descriptors at genus level
MAP species differ substantially from other crops (where descriptors are available) due to
their content and high variability of secondary metabolites in different environments. The
Group agreed that characterization is only possible when descriptors (at the genus level) are
defined and that it would be important to prepare a standard list of descriptors to harmonize
the data recording methodology, to increase reliability of recorded data and to eventually
facilitate data exchange.
Development of a central MAP database
The WG agreed that access to and sharing of information on European MAPs would be
greatly enhanced by the creation of a MAP database.
- Coverage
Given the large number of species concerned, it was agreed that if such a database were to be
created it would initially be restricted to only a few priority species identified as defined
below (section on short-term tasks).