108 - Adapting traditional medicine to achieve social and environmental sustainability
108 - Adapting traditional medicine to achieve social and environmental sustainability
RECOGNISING that Traditional Medicine (TM) is a recognised medicinal system in many societies;
NOTING that use of wildlife species in TM, when sustainable and contributing to local livelihoods, supports conservation of species in their natural habitats, but when sustainable harvest and use of wildlife species cannot be guaranteed, their use should be avoided in TM products;
ALSO NOTING that TM species have an important cultural and medicinal role in some countries and regions;
ACKNOWLEDGING that the eleventh revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11) includes a supplementary chapter on Traditional Medicine Conditions;
CAUTIONING that the use of wildlife in TM has the capacity to damage biodiversity, in particular those species that are known to be endangered in the IUCN Red List;
NOTING that the trade in many species used in TM is poorly regulated and is putting pressures on wildlife populations in many countries and regions, which may also prevent the sustainable use of TM;
ACKNOWLEDGING that the well-regulated use of wild-harvested products based on scientifically-sound standards is advantageous for human safety, local livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation; and
NOTING that precedent exists for removing wildlife that is threatened by trade from national pharmacopoeia due to concerns regarding over-harvesting and illegal trade;
1. REQUESTS Commissions and the Secretariat to help in the development of standards for the sustainable production of TM ingredients;
2. CALLS ON Members to support the prevention of the use in TM of threatened species of wildlife assessed in IUCN Red List categories Endangered or higher, or which are considered Data Deficient;
3. FURTHER CALLS ON Members to assist in the development of sustainable alternatives to the use of wildlife in TM to protect wildlife populations and achieve sustainability;
4. ALSO CALLS ON Members to take strong measures to reduce the demand for the use of known endangered species in TM within their countries, or to implement rigorous requirements for sustainable wild harvest, including through education and communication programmes to train practitioners in sustainable alternatives and the promotion of sustainable use of wildlife species in TM across society; and
5. FURTHER REQUESTS Members to comply strictly with relevant CITES regulations on international trade in traditional medicine products made from specimens of CITES Appendix-listed species and/or in specimens of these species.
