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 School of Geography and the Environment

Medicinal Plant Collection

Sustainable Harvesting Methods for Medicinal Plants in India and Nepal

Using a process known as adaptive management, we aim to produce biometrically rigorous methods to determine whether levels of harvesting are sustainable. By working in collaboration with local communities and using participatory approaches, the project will combine scientific and local knowledge, and make these methods accessible and usable by at a local level. If current harvesting levels are found to be unsustainable, the communities involved will decide whether they need to change these levels, and if and how they will enforce the change. The entire village should make this decision, as every individual could be affected by the change, and participatory approaches should aid this process.

The study sites in India are both in the state of Karnataka, one in the Western Ghats, and the other close to Bangalore in a dry region; and in Nepal one site is in the hilly region, and the other in the foothills of the Terai. It appears that a multitude of factors contribute to the communities' reception of the project and these will be analysed, along with the success in different sites, later in the project.

Sarah has had two field trips to date, one in November 2003 to India, and one to both countries in February / March 2004. In the second trip, she was joined by the project statistician, James Keirstead. In both countries, activities are going well, and experimental plots are being set out, enumerated and even harvested in one site. So far the communities seem to be receptive to the introduction of scientifically rigorous methods, but time will tell if they decide to adopt them for regular use.

October will hold the mid-term workshop, when Sarah, Anna and James will travel out to both sites again to discuss with collaborators the progress of the project, and future action.

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