2月16日起在德國紐倫堡展開的世界有機產品貿易展（Biofach）中，一項促進野生藥用及香氛植物之永續管理與貿易新標準，也開始同步執行。這項標準是為了確保使用於醫療及化妝美容的植物不會被過度開採。
努力推動這項新標準的單位，為世界自然保育聯盟（IUCN）物種存續委員會（Species Survival Commission）的藥用植物專家小組。該小組提出的報告指出，約有1萬5千種，相當於21%的藥用及香氛植物物種，面臨過度開採的危機。
每年進行買賣交易的藥用及香氛植物超過40萬公噸，其中自野外開採的物種就佔了8成，這裡面將近有7萬種植物，因採收過量及植區減少，多數面臨過度開採與瀕臨絕種的危機。例如在印度，有319種藥用植物被世界自然保育聯盟列在瀕絕名單上。
在厄瓜多，世上最知名的藥草之一——西印度苦香樹（Cascarilla cinchona pubescens），為治療瘧疾的藥物「奎寧」的來源。世界自然基金會（WWF）指出，西印度苦香樹也可能因過度開採而面臨絕種的威脅。目前此種藥草被應用於治療各種疼痛，從腸胃不適到免疫系統的問題等等。
A new standard to promote sustainable management and trade of wild medicinal and aromatic plants was launched Friday in Nuremberg at Biofach, the World Organic Trade Fair. The standard is needed to ensure plants used in medicine and cosmetics are not over-exploited.
About 15,000 species, or 21 percent of all medicinal and aromatic plant species are at risk, according to the report by the Medicinal Plant Specialist Group of the IUCN's Species Survival Commission that sets forth the new standard.
More than 400,000 metric tons of medicinal and aromatic plants are traded every year, and about 80 percent of these species are harvested from the wild. Almost 70,000 species are involved, many of them in danger of over-exploitation or extinction through over-harvesting and habitat loss. In India, for instance, 319 medicinal plants are listed as Threatened by IUCN-the World Conservation Union.
In Ecuador, one of the best known medical herbs in the world, Cascarilla cinchona pubescens - the original source of the anti-malarial drug quinine - may be threatened as a result of over-exploitation, according to the global conservation organization WWF. Today the herb is used to treat a variety of ailments, from upset stomach to immune system problems.
作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
