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7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: MEDICINAL PLANTS CONSERVATION CENTRE, India
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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
India
MEDICINAL PLANTSCONSERVATION CENTRE
Empowered live
Resilient nation
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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years
the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran
Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe
Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,
Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu
DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa
Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Medicinal Plants Conservation Centre (MPCC), and in particular the guida
and inputs o Govindaswamy Hariramamurthi, FRLHT. All photo credits courtesy o Rural Communes, MPCC, and Tiany Franke/Equa
Initiative. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Medicinal Plants Conservation Centre, India. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. N
York, NY.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdf7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: MEDICINAL PLANTS CONSERVATION CENTRE, India
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PROJECT SUMMARY
Medicinal Plants Conservation Centre encourages
conservation, supports local livelihoods and improves the
health o rural communities in the Indian state o Maharashtra,
ocusing on the revitalization o traditional health practices
and use o medicinal plants. In cooperation with the state
Forest Department, and with local communities in the lead,
MPCC uses nurseries and commercial herbal production
centers to sell sustainably cultivated medicinal plants.
The organization oversees a network o 13 medicinal plant
conservation areas, which cover an area o over 200 ha.Local management committees have ormed to manage
nurseries, and seed unds are provided to initiate production
o herbal drugs as a local enterprise. The establishment o
nurseries, demonstration plots, nature trails, and ecotourism
sites has helped restore traditional health knowledge and
olk traditions associated with medicinal plants.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2002
FOUNDED: 1999
LOCATION: Maharashtra, India
BENEFICIARIES: 310 members
BIODIVERSITY: 26 threatened plant species
3
MEDICINAL PLANTS CONSERVATIONCENTREIndia
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 5
Biodiversity Impacts 6
Socioeconomic Impacts 7
Sustainability 8
Replication 8
Partners 9
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4
Medicinal plants serve the primary healthcare needs o up to 80
er cent o people in developing countries, where there is an
ncreasing awareness o and demand or medicinal plants or
ealthcare and dietary supplements that oten help to save lives. A
ignicant number o modern pharmaceutical drugs are based on
r derived rom medicinal plants, the majority o which grow wild.
As natural habitats across the world are degraded, overexploited
nd destroyed, however, many medicinal plant species ace threats
o their survival. The role o local communities in conserving these
pecies and preserving traditional knowledge o their uses is vital.
n the Indian state o Maharashtra, many people rely on plants or
ood, medicine and shelter. The Medicinal Plants ConservationCentre (MPCC) in Pune, the states cultural capital, aims to encourage
onservation and development by revitalising traditional health
ractices. In co-operation with local communities, the State
Government Forest Department, and local non-governmental
rganisations, the initiative uses nurseries and commercial herbal
roduction centres to sell sustainably cultivated medicinal plants to
widespread rural audience.
A diverse partnership or medicinal plants conservation
nitially supported by the United Nations Development Programme
UNDP), the MPCC combines scientic research, community
evelopment, and environmental education with sustainablencome generation and the revitalization o traditional medicinal
ractices. The initiative is promoted by the Foundation or
evitalisation o Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) in Bangalore, and
s part o a wider plant conservation network covering ve Indian
tates in more than 50 conservation sites. As a result o their eorts,
round 1,500 varieties o medicinal plants are being conserved,
ncluding 76 highlighted as endangered.
The Medicinal Plant Conservation Centre uses a collabor
approach. The initiative was ocially launched on 31 Decem
1999, with project activities commencing in Maharashtr
February 2002. From the outset, local communities have joined
scientists and local government to gain a better understandin
the status o medicinal plant species in rural Maharashtra. The
o the Centre has allowed tribal communities, previously exclu
rom conservation work, the opportunity to participate in e
to conserve their botanical heritage while reaping the ben
o income generation and improved access to plants needed
healthcare. Collaborative mapping and botanical inventory exer
have laid the oundations or urther conservation work in the s
Today, the MPCC works through a network o thirteen Med
Plant Conservation Areas (MPCAs) throughout Maharashtra S
averaging between 250-400 hectares in size. These sites
cultivated some 50,000 plant specimens across more than
dierent species, including 26 species threatened with extinc
Documentation has been conducted through participa
approaches such as the bareoot botanist programme, Conserv
Assessment and Management Plans, local healers conventions
scientic assessments conducted by eld botanists. The centre
also worked through its network o local healers, scientists, and F
Department sta in Maharashtra to document and disseminate
knowledge o medicinal plants. The MPCAs created through t
projects have been legally recognised by the Maharashtra state department as priority areas or conservation, and have insp
replication in other states. Finally, the centre has also suppo
the establishment o local management committees (LMCs)
womens sel-help groups (SHGs) to enhance the equitable spre
benets rom sustainable commercial herbal production.
Background and Context
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Key Activities and Innovations
he MPCC initiative is implemented through Rural Communes,
n NGO operating a range o initiatives in several states in India
ocussing on conservation, traditional knowledge, and the rights
o tribal communities. In Maharashtra, Rural Communes works
losely with the states Forest Department in promoting local
ntrepreneurial initiatives based on conservation o medicinal
plants. The Centres programme team coordinates all aspects o
dentication, protection, training and promotion concerning
medicinal plants production in Maharashtra State, working through
ts network o MPCAs. These our stages comprise the ollowing:
dentifcation
Around 1,600 fowering plants used in various Indian medicinalystems have been identied and documented. On average, 200 to
00 species have been identied in each MPCA by inormally trained
botanists.
ProtectionThirteen orest areas, each more than 200 hectares in size,
been designated MPCAs containing threatened species o valu
medicine. Within these orest areas, nurseries are used to grow
plants. To date, over 50,000 specimens o 50 dierent species
been cultivated, including 26 threatened species. Local Manage
Committees have been ormed within each conservation are
prevent res, grazing, or other destructive activities and to ma
the nurseries.
TrainingSel-help uses o medicinal plants and processing technique
production o herbal medicines are taught by the MPCC to management committees, particularly ocussing on women
villages in the conservation areas.
PromotionState-wide workshops eaturing scientists, teachers, olk he
and suppliers have led to the identication o 26 medicinal p
species at high risk o extinction. Packages o 10-15 impo
medicinal plants have been distributed to thousands o househ
or domestic healthcare use, encouraging their ex-situ conserv
by rural amilies.
Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas are selected thro
consultations with the Forest Department, local communities
available scientic literature. In general, the sites are relat
undisturbed orest areas representing dierent bioclimatic zo
are rich in biological diversity; are oten micro-watershed
otherwise contain natural sources o water; and are locally kn
or harbouring medicinal plants. In this way, designation o t
areas has been partly driven by local knowledge on their biolo
richness, tapping a traditional source o knowledge on ge
diversity and its uses. These sites have then subsequently
legally recognised by Maharashtra state.
Fig. 1: Rural Communes Project Sites
Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas in green. Source: Rural Communes
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6
Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS
The MPCC project was initiated with the primary goal o in-situ
onservation o medicinal plants in Medicinal Plant Conservation
Areas. Since these thirteen MPCAs have been designated as
ustainable local use areas, however, they have played an important
ole in the conservation o other fora and auna, eectively
preserving the integrity o entire local ecosystems.
Ater the initial success o conservation within MPCAs, the centre
has pioneered ex-situ conservation o medicinal plants, encouraging
ocal armers to conduct trials o locale-specic medicinal plants.
chool and village herbal gardens are also evolving, engagingchool communities and village communities on a wider scale or
ultivation o medicinal plants.
The main conservation achievements o the project in its early
years included the creation o its network o MPCAs, including
high degrees o foral and medicinal plants diversity within their
boundaries. Over 1,200 botanical surveys covering 45% o these
MPCAs were completed, leading to the production o herba
records or 804 species. Systematic data on medicinal prope
and local uses were also documented on 326 plants; a unique ill
specic database o more than 265 plants has been developed b
on these data. Documentation o medicinal plants has also ena
targeted conservation o threatened species. Using the IUCN
List categories, 26 species were classied as critically endang
endangered, or vulnerable.
One o the critical elements in eectively saeguarding the sp
ound within MPCAs has been raising environmental awarene
local communities, who have also played an active role in monito
biological diversity and disseminating inormation on key speFor example, 60 percent o MPCAs have put in place signs and
trails to educate the local population. Eleven demonstration gar
have also assisted in this task, while ten MPCAs have been equi
with basic interpretation centres displaying exhibits on medi
plants. Local healers and village botanists have been supplied
herbarium records; in some cases, these have been displaye
village schools.
Table 1: MPCAs contributions to medicinal plant conservation in Maharashtra State.
IndicatorReported in
Maharashtra
Found in
MPCAs% of total reported in Maharashtra
# o fowering
plant amilies187 115 61.5
# o fowering
plant genera1081 500 46.3
# o fowering
plant species3025 850 28
# o medicinal
plants2100 470 22.4
The table illustrates the extent to which MPCAs constitute a signifcant gene pool o plant diversity in Maharashtra. Source: Shukla, S. 2004
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SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
Social and economic benets can be seen most clearly in two broad
categories. Firstly, the project has had a signicant impact on the
welare o rural households through popularising low-cost alternative
healthcare options. This has led to signicant improvements in the
health and nutrition o poor rural populations.
A second, indirect benet o the centres work has been themprovement o livelihood options in socially-disadvantaged
communities, leading to some economic improvements or local
communities in Maharashtra. For instance, local management
committees have been provided with loans o 50,000 rupees rom a
evolving und to initiate production o herbal drugs. Local enterprise
development has also been boosted by technical assistance and
capacity building activities, including market inormation surveys
or selected plants and their products, training programs or SHGs
on costing or nished products, hands-on demonstrations on
abelling o herbal products, and supply o equipment or ecient
drying and storage o medicinal plants, or instance. In one MPCA,
an ecotourism enterprise has been initiated by the LMC members,
who operate as eco-guides using the trails within the orested area.
A ocus on women producers
Womens sel-help groups were also given seed unding o Rs. 5,000
or developing income-generating activities. In some cases this has
allowed the groups to establish credibility to borrow larger unds
rom local banks to scale up their activities. Greater economic sel-
eliance or the women o these groups is one outstanding result
o the work o the MPCC. The status o more than three hundred
women in these MPCAs has been improved through various
capacity building initiatives organized or the empowerment o
SHGs. These groups have also benetted rom knowledge exchange
within the MPCA network. Members have had the opportunity to
participate in training visits to other LMC and SHG sites, ena
them to witness the innovative experiments being carried ou
ellow communities. More than 50 LMC and 310 members o S
have beneted rom cross-MPCA exchanges. Best practice c
have also been recognised and had their innovations showcase
the MPCC.
The project has substantially contributed to the improveme
health care or the poorest o poor regions o Maharashtra Swhere access to modern medical acilities is either non-existe
inadequate. The establishment o nurseries, demo garden, na
trails, ecotourism and other innovative activities by sel-
groups and local management committees has helped restore
traditional health knowledge and olk traditions associated
local health improvement. The savings generated by the availa
o improved local health options has also contributed to impro
the wellbeing o poor and socioeconomically disadvant
communities in and around MPCAs.
7
Table 2: Womens self-help groups
Name of MPCA # of SHGs # of womeGadmauli 4 40
Bhaskaracharya 2 35
Sawarna 1 41
Amboli 7 57
Navaja 4 40
Vasai 1 18
Honyakoli 2 30
Amba 5 >60
Toranmaal 2 40
Source: Shukla, S. 2004
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8
Sustainability and Replication
SUSTAINABILITYhe initiative has generated new co-management possibilities
hrough its eects in empowering rural communities. For example,
he community at Amboli stopped the illegal extraction o the Narkya
lant (Nothopodytes nimmoniana) an endangered species by
utside traders. In another case, the local management committee
ncouraged the village community o Bhaskaracharya MPCA to cease
legal cutting o the highly valuable sandalwood tree (Santalum spp.)
rom the MPCA. The Gullarghat MPCA has successully controlled
xcessive grazing o the orested area by villagers and outside
erders. Finally, the local management committee in Sawarna MPCA
mobilised community members to conduct night patrols to protecthe areas valuable medicinal plants and wildlie.
hese community-driven initiatives have laid the oundation or
artnerships with the Forest Department in sustainable management
orest biodiversity and ecosystems. The organization o village
women in the orm o a sel-sustained network o SHGs has also
rovided a strong example or the governments rural development
gencies that women can be mobilized through linking conservation
nd development.
he inormal network o village botanists across the MPCA network
as been used in scientic monitoring exercises such as Conservation
Assessment and Management Plans, while individuals have beenecognized by the state orest department as useul resources or
nowledge-based conservation. The capacity-building and learning
pportunities created by the initiative at the village, district and
tate levels have given the project a high degree o resilience and
nternal momentum, making it an adaptable and sel-sustaining
olution to broader challenges o conservation and development
n Maharashtra. The Forest Department is planning to expand the
oncept o MPCAs in other regions o the state, and ultimately
hrough other Indian states.
REPLICATIONThe initiative itsel emerged rom a process o replication within I
based on the idea o expanding an earlier project o the Found
or Revitalization o Public Health Traditions (FRLHT) with
support o Rural Communes and the state orest department a
regional level. Trainings and capacity building in project areas
provided by local and outside experts to community members
government agents at various stages o the project implementa
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99
he project was based on FRLHTs earlier work in Kerala, Karnataka
nd Tamil Nadu states, begun in 1993. FRLHT established three MPCAs
n Maharashtra through partnership with the orest department
etween 1997 and 2000 with unding support rom a local NGO, the
ir Dorabji Tata Trust. The NGO had developed and demonstrated
he potential o their model o community health improvement and
velihood generation through the conservation and sustainable use
medicinal plants. The organisations expansion plan through the
MPCC, backed by unding support rom UNDP, created the platormor the partnership initiative. A series o workshops at the state level
etween partnering NGOs and the state Forest Department was
eld to prepare and nalize action plans. The criteria or identiying
MPCA were jointly decided in these meetings.
he project also benetted rom the experience o senior orest
epartment ocials who had previously worked with FRLHT, and
heir amiliarity with community-based conservation activities. The
onviction and commitment o orest department ocials was an
mportant stimulus or the projects conception, allied to a strong
evel o buy-in rom local communities.
PARTNERS
he state Forest Department supplied inrastructure and sta
upport or the project in the beginning through their eld oces
t the sub-district levels. The existing sta o Rural Communes
Mumbai oce also helped in initially mobilising communities, w
FRLHT and other agencies helped to support early capacity buil
activities.
The local eld sta o the Forest Department identied suit
training NGOs; state agencies including the District R
Development Agency and local NGOs such as Swayamsid
and Shrmajivi Sangathan provided partial voluntary suppo
organizing trainings or the local village management commitand sel-help group members.
Local orest ocials and orest guards, meanwhile, have he
to establish demo gardens at select MPCAs. Individuals rom
orest department and retired ocials rom the state departme
science and technology helped in proposal writing. At the local l
individuals volunteered in helping to register local managem
committees as cooperatives.
There were no direct pre-existing relationships between t
dierent actors, while only some o the individuals had
experience o, or exposure to community development activ
Rural Communes had developed a working relationship
government departments through its earlier health, child
gender work, however, and FRLHT had also developed a st
partnership with state orest departments in southern India, ma
these two innovative civil society organizations suitable candid
or developing similar partnerships in Maharashtra.
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Equator Initiative
Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 646 781 4023
www.equatorinitiative.org
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change
onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.
The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati
o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
2012 by Equator Initiative
All rights reserved
FURTHER REFERENCE
Shukla, S. 2004. Lessons rom the Equator Initiative: Rural Communes Medicinal Plant Conservation Center, Pune, India. IDRC and U
Berkes, F. and Seixas, C. S. 2004. Lessons rom Community Sel-Organization and Cross-Scale Linkages in Four Equator Initiative Proj
IDRC and UNDP.
MPCC PhotoStory (Vimeo) vimeo.com/15671395 (English) vimeo.com/15671644 (Marathi)
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