As 60–90% of medicinal plants in trade are wild-harvested, sustainable sourcing is vital to protect wild populations and harvesting communities. This article shares the important work of FairWild.
Wild ingredients have the potential to connect us physically, emotionally, and spiritually to our living planet. However, how can we be sure that plants harvested from the wild are done so responsibly with sustainable offtakes and care for natural habitats? How can we be sure that those undertaking the harvesting — often from remote and marginal communities — are treated with respect, and have a fair stake in the value chains emanating from their harvests?
FairWild is a standard and certification scheme dedicated to ensuring that the harvesting and use of wild plants is good for nature and good for people, notably the harvesters. FairWild believes in the interconnectedness of nature and people in one complex ecosystem, and the fundamental connections between biodiversity health and well-being, and human health and well-being. It speaks to a vision of a world in which:
- The sustainable harvesting of plants actively and inherently supports not only the species being harvested, but also the ecosystem in which it lives, helping to protect it from conversion
- The people who undertake the harvesting are treated with respect and dignity and protected from abuse, traditional practices and knowledge are acknowledged and valued, and the harvesters are fairly compensated
- Business practices are fair and responsible, addressing asymmetries of power and providing assurances of traceability, quality and fairness to stakeholders. The team at FairWild headed up by Deborah Vorhies, here share some of their back story and talk about how they are making efforts to enable the power of the wild to enrich the herbal medicines sector.
How did FairWild get started?
Some of the consequences of the Balkan War in the late 1990s, were widespread economic collapse, including collapse of agricultural and wild harvesting sectors, large scale migration and depopulation of the countryside. Governments and key NGO players collaborated to form multistakeholder initiatives to revitalise the herbal industry. Two of these merged at the 2008 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona to form the FairWild Foundation. In 2010 the FairWild Standard 2.0, combining the best of these approaches, was launched in order provide a global voluntary standard and certification system, uniquely focused on wild harvested plant species.
Fast forward to 2024 and the FairWild Foundation has released Version 3.0 of the Standard and is now operating with a small, distributed, and dedicated team focusing on broadening the adoption of the standard in key sectors such as herbal medicines to promote the sustainable harvesting and use of wild plants for human benefit.
What problem exactly is FairWild seeking to address?
The fundamental problem FairWild is seeking to address is the challenge to the future of our planet, our nature, as a complex system including the human dimension of nature. We see ourselves as enabling a reverse of biodiversity decline, enabling conservation of species and the prevention of landscape conversion through sustainable economic endeavour, and a positive support to enable respect and dignified livelihoods for those who do the harvesting.
Most standards for the responsible use of plants focus either on cultivated crops or are extensions of that approach, applied to wild harvesting, for example incorporating Fairtrade practices.
Wild harvesting, however, is fundamentally different to cultivation. For example, while organic processes seek to limit or obviate damage to the environment, both noble and essential objectives, wild harvesting can offer so much more, by contributing to the conservation of both the species being harvested and the conservation of landscapes, reducing the likelihood of habitat destruction and landscape conversion by creating economic livelihood opportunities through wild harvesting. From a socio-economic perspective, the differences are even more stark. Agricultural workers tend to have some form of protection in most countries, through labour laws and standards, national and global. Wild harvesters, however, enjoy no such protections, and are often members of extremely poor, marginalised communities, and such individuals often the subject of abuse and modern slavery. Even Fairtrade solutions can sometimes be complicated in wild harvest circumstances where there may or may not be well-defined community practices and where individuals are self-organising and self-employed. The relationship between the wild resource and the harvester and indeed between the landscape and local livelihoods are key factors for wild harvesting that are not easily addressed by organic standards.
The FairWild system, based on a detailed understanding of those dynamics, provides solid answers to questions from stakeholders — consumers, customers, traders, investors, regulators, international conventions, and so on — concerning ethical and responsible supply chains for wild harvested ingredients.
What is the role of FairWild in sustainable herb sourcing?
FairWild certification ensures that the sourcing of wild herbs is sustainable, legal, and beneficial to people and the broader environment. It further assures the stakeholders in the value chains from harvesters to the consumers that this is the case.
We work with all players in wild plant supply chains, supporting operators to develop sustainable and resilient business that generate conservation, asocial and economically just outcomes. We work with traders, processors and brands to ensure that their supply chains are compliant with the FairWild Standard, and provide assurance thereof to all stakeholders in these value chains. We also work with these players to help them find each, to bring connections and efficiency into the markets for FairWild certified products.
Herbs have been wild harvested for thousands of years. They are a cornerstone of health, nutrition, and social and economic wellbeing. FairWild certification confirms that harvesting is ecologically, socially, and commercially responsible.
What is the FairWild certification process?
The first step is the beginning of the relationship between FairWild and the operator FairWild will support and accompany the operator to prepare for an audit and, as needed, to develop the sustainability and resilience of their business. We provide a suite of tools, starting from a Management Plan template, supported by a number of additional templates, such as a Species Risk Assessment, a Sustainable Harvesting Protocol, a Social Risk Assessment, and a Business Risk Assessment. Clients can either use these tools to development their Management Plans themselves if they need them, or are assisted by the FairWild team if they wish. The use of these tools is not mandatory, they exist to help the operators as needed.
A next step, if requested, is a pre-audit assessment to ensure that the business is ready for audit. This assessment can identify any outstanding issues in advance. It is not a requirement but is a further element of support from the FairWild team.
With a Management Plan in place, the business then needs to undergo a third-party audit by a FairWild-accredited independent certification body. If the audit is successful, an audit certificate is issued if the business is FairWild certified.
What distinguishes FairWild certifications from other certification schemes?
A key distinguishing feature of the FairWild certification process is the ability of the FairWild team to work on the ground and support businesses with a global network of experts. FairWild’s approach is flexible, seeking bespoke solutions to specific challenges. Further, the FairWild certification audit can be undertaken jointly with other audits for other certifications such as Organic, Wildlife Friendly, or Fairtrade.
Is FairWild certification only for endangered plants? What about common plants?
Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi) is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), while nettle (Urtica dioica) is not. Does certification differ for these plants and is it even necessary for nettle?
The certification process will be quite different. This is why a Risk Assessment is an important early step in the process. The assessment helps to develop a sustainable harvesting protocol. For an endangered species such as jatamansi, it will be more comprehensive in its review of both the local and the global situation and trade dynamics. For a common species, like nettle, the assessment will reflect a much lower risk regarding conservation of the species.
For both endangered and common species, however, the risk assessment will also address the impacts of wild harvesting on conserving the broader landscape. Further, for both species, the assessment addresses the social and business dimensions of wild harvesting. Common plants — as they are abundant — can deliver significant social and business outcomes.
What are FairWild’s more recent developments that are important for the herbs?
Version 3.0 of the FairWild Standard was released at the end of last year. It is now clearer and more accessible, as well as being up-to-date in responding to current policy and industry best practice demands.
Our approach is evolving, too. As well as offering a window to the opportunities offered by sustainable wild harvesting, we have developed a more in-depth approach to risk. Risk in our sector, whether ecological or social, is so closely connected to both the geographic, botanical and modes of harvest, as well as being specific to the social and cultural dimensions, requires a very specific approach. Thus, as a small, specialised organisation, we can support our clients across value chains, to identify, understand and mitigate all sorts of supply chain risks.
Finally, with respect to wild harvesting operators, we have pivoted our approach in working with them to support and accompany them to build sustainability and resilience in their business. Our revised Management Plan approach and supporting tools puts those businesses at the centre of the certification process. The third-party audit then assures stakeholders of what the business is already doing.
To further support business, we have enhanced our audit capacity with more approved certification bodies, more intensive training of auditors, integration of the management plans into the audit process, and as appropriate and strategic, joint audits with other schemes.
How can our readers find FairWild ingredients?
Many of our currently available ingredients are listed on the FairWild website. Currently our certified wild herbs include well-known items such as arjuna, bear’s garlic, dandelion, elder, jatamansi, liquorice, marshmallow, meadowsweet, sea buckthorn, and yarrow, as well as many more. However, there are many more already certified, and we are able to respond positively to requests for new product certifications promptly, thanks to our global team of experts.
FairWild ingredients and products can be found at the following:
- Pukka Herbs
- Organic Herb Trading
- Traditional Medicinals
- Aduna
- Banyan Botanicals
- Neal’s Yard Remedies
- Herb Pharm
Always keep an eye out for our FairWild logo. You can also follow us on social media and get in touch with us via email with any queries.
