FairWild Week: FairWild businesses celebrate the Power Of Wild

Eighty-two businesses adhering to the FairWild Standard principles celebrate FairWild Week by highlighting their positive impacts on biodiversity conservation, fair treatment of wild collectors, and maintaining 100% traceable supply chains. This annual event, taking place from June 24-28, underscores how these companies exceed sustainability norms by following the seven FairWild Principles, promoting a business model where the planet, people, and enterprises flourish together.

FairWild Week is an opportunity for participants to demonstrate the importance of Sustainable Wild Harvesting in preserving our planet's wild landscapes while providing dignified livelihoods to indigenous communities, the true stewards of our biodiversity.

As the demand for sustainable and equitable products grows globally, interest in FairWild has surged in recent years. Renowned brands such as Pukka Herbs, Evonik, Traditional Medicinals, Robertet, and Aduna have pioneered this movement, showcasing their commitment to going beyond sustainability.

The latest FairWild Report reveals impressive progress: 59 certified species, over 23,000 people benefiting from the FairWild Premium, and 1.7 million hectares under FairWild-certified harvest management.

“At FairWild, we firmly believe that enabling ethical and sustainable wild harvesting is the pathway to collective prosperity and a resilient society - one that harmonizes the relationship between communities, enterprise, and our living natural planet,” said Deborah Vorhies, FairWild CEO.

Nick Salter, Co-founder of Aduna, emphasized, “The key reason Aduna sought FairWild certification is for evidencing and transparency so that consumers know it is an ethical supply chain. It's not just words; there's an independent, audited traceable process that allows us to confidently back up our claims.”

Anastasiya Timoshyna, Programme Office Director at TRAFFIC, added, “Preserving the land as it is and ensuring sustainable wild harvesting is probably the best conservation tool you can use to ensure long-term biodiversity conservation.”

FairWild invites everyone to participate in FairWild Week by asking brands about the use of wild ingredients in their products and ensuring they are traceable and sustainably harvested.

For more information, visit FairWild.org and follow them on social media.

Why is it important to demand and celebrate sustainable wild harvesting?

For Nature: There are 300-400k plant species around the world, and from this, around 30k have well-documented medicine or aromatic uses - 60- 90% of medicinal and aromatic plants in trade are wild collected.

Only 7% of medicinal and romantic plant species have been assessed against criteria, 1 in 5 of those are treated with extinction in the wild. The increasing and widespread demand for wild plant ingredients is placing a major strain on individual species, ecosystems and harvesting communities worldwide (Wildcheck Report, 2022).

By following the FairWild Standard, you are promoting positive relationships between nature and people, preserving unique cultures and the sustainable use of unique landscapes, while ensuring dignity and a fair income for the people who rely on them.

For People: A lot of wild collectors are marginalized - often children or elderly, and mostly women. Typically they have few other opportunities to earn income. In many cases, they come from ethnic minorities or Indigenous Peoples and Local Community groups. Often, the art of wild harvest is linked to traditional knowledge of what parts can be collected, when, how much, and how often. The cost of the herbs in a long supply chain is often quite cheap at the source.

If people can make a dignified livelihood from the wild collection, they will not leave the rural areas or do activities that negatively impact the environment and key ancient knowledge about plants will be preserved.

For Businesses: When we buy a product we will consume, we want it to work and be healthy. We want proof that the claims on the packaging are accurate regarding benefits, components and sustainability statements without space for greenwashing or dubious information. We want the best quality from the plants used, sustainable conservation of landscapes, respect for everyone involved in the supply chain, and feel empowered as consumers.

By following a standard like FairWild, you are ensuring the quality, source and transparency of the products you are trading. Plus, you are giving the power back to the consumer to choose products aligned with their values.

We will provide a toolkit for everyone to use on their social media platforms or reshare FairWild posts on LinkedIn or Instagram. By spreading the message about the power of the wild and the importance of sustainable wild harvesting, we can collectively make a difference.

Together, let us harness the power of the wild to protect our natural heritage, support communities, and preserve the knowledge and resources for generations to come.