from the global partnership for plant conservation

Convention on Biological DiversityPlant Conservation Report Page 34TARGET 12:THIRTY PER CENT OF PLANT-BASED PRODUCTS DERIVEDFROM SOURCES THAT ARE SUSTAINABLY MANAGEDIntroductionPlants and their derivates provide a range ofproducts including amongst other thingsfuel, food, shelter, clothing and medicines.Such plants or plant products may be harvestedfrom wild or semi-natural conditions, or cultivated.This target requires a coordinated approach thatapplies across all sectors of international, nationaland local production and trade of plant products.In the case of plant material collected from wildor semi-natural ecosystems, harvesting must bebelow replacement rates to be sustainable, and theprocess of harvesting should not cause signiicantdamage to other components of the ecosystem.Sustainable management of plants and theirproducts relates to environmental as well as socialissues, including fair trade, equitable sharing ofbeneits and participation of indigenous and localcommunities.enthusiastic response in many countries anddemand for FSC-certified products outstripssupply. Major retail outlets in the UK and USAfor example are committed to stocking as muchFSC as they can and several governments havedeveloped timber procurement policies thatrequire them to seek certified products.ProgressIndicators of progress towards this targetinclude the percentage of products derivedfrom independently certiied production areas,including forest certiication and organicproduction, as well as from sources withsustainable harvesting plans in place.The organic sector is growing rapidly with globalsales of organic food and drink increasing byaround $5 billion over the last six years to nearly$40 billion in 2006 38 . In Europe, the organic shareof the total food market varies from approximately6% of total food sales in Switzerland and Austria,4.5% in Denmark, to 3% in Germany and 1.6%in the UK 39 . In the USA, the organic food marketcurrently has a 3 % share of total food sales andgrew by 21 % in 2006 according to the OrganicTrade Association (OTA).With regard to sustainable forest production,in December 2006, a total of nearly 300million hectares were reported to be undercertification, 40 of which 84.2 million hectareswere certified under the Forest StewardshipCouncil (FSC) scheme. FSC has met with an38 Institute of Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth Univesity, Wales39 Soil Association Market Report, 200740 www.forestrycertiication.infoBark of Warburgia ugandensis, in high demand forlocal traditional medicine (Photo: National Museums ofKenya).FAO has facilitated the collection, analysesand dissemination of national, regional andinternational statistics on all aspects of forestresources, forest products and their trade andother important socio-economic variables atregular intervals. FAO also provides support tothe United Nations Forum on Forests as well asto regional criteria and indicators processes formonitoring progress towards sustainable forestmanagement. Moreover, FAO provides supportto countries to implement sustainable forestmanagement practices.FAO also works towards the enhancement offorests and forest products and their contributionto poverty alleviation while ensuringenvironmental sustainability, by inter alia:• Identifying the potential of non-woodforest products (NWFPs), improvedharvesting and production methods, andwide dissemination of related knowledgeat all levels;