Commercial wild collection of medicinal plants in Germany

Abstract

German importation of medicinal plants ranks fourth on the global scale, while exportation comes in third. Medicinal plants for the herbal market are sourced from either farmed or wild collections. Germany´s wild collection plays a small role in comparison to other countries, with only 500 species of plants and mushroms gathered from their natural environment. Many South-Eastern European countries including Albania, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria as well as Non-European countries such as India and China have a much larger wild collections industry. Despite Germany´s small role on the global scale, it is important to look at an industrial nation with a high level of land consumption, such as Germany, to evaluate the importance of wild collection as a ecosystemservice. In Germany commercial wild collections are regulated by the Federal Nature Conservation Act (§39 Abs. 4 BNatSchG). This states that for every form of commercial wild collection a permit is needed. These permits are distributed by The Lower Nature Conservation Agency of every German district or district free city. German wild collection differs greatly between each federal state, for example, Baden- Württemberg and Bavaria see much more collection than states such as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Niedersachsen. In the last three years 128 permits for commercial wild collection have been granted. These permits are needed for many different purposes, primarily for seed-mixtures, food production and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. A particular varity of species is needed for the commercial wild collection of manufacturing pharmaceuticals or cosmetics. The three most comonly gathered spiecies are: Petasites hybridus, Allium ursinum and Viscum album.