Here's to a beautiful FairWild world
The global concern
Around 30,000 of Mother Nature’s plant species are used for consumables and wellbeing products.
Between 60 - 90% of those plants used in global trading are wild collected, with the value of global trade in medicinal or aromatic plants valued at $3bn in 2015.
With one in five wild plant species under threat from over-harvesting and habitat loss, the need for change has never been greater. As consumers, we globally know surprisingly little about where the ingredients in our products come from.
There is also little in the way of industry-wide standards and regulations when it comes to wild-harvested ingredients.
What can be done?
The FairWild Foundation was established to provide best practice guidelines and certification schemes for harvesters, operators and producers involved in the trade in wild plant ingredients.
The FairWild certification is about protecting the magic of wild plant species and the beauty of their natural habitats, whilst respecting deeply rooted traditions and cultures and helping support the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them.
Pukka Herbs buys around 50% of all the FairWild certified herbs harvested in the world and has the largest FairWild range of any company.
Not only do we want to be leaders in sustainable wild harvesting, we want the whole herbal community to adopt this respectful approach.
Encouraging regeneration
Under the FairWild certification, a collector is required to leave enough of the plant in the ground, to allow it to grow again the following year.
The collectors are also incentivised by FairWild to leave some of the population untouched, allowing the remaining plants to mature and naturally regenerate.
Paying fairly
To reflect and respect the extra effort and time that FairWild sustainable herb collection requires, individual FairWild collectors are paid a premium price.
We also pay an additional amount - known as the FairWild premium – to the collectors’ cooperative, to be spent on social and environmental projects for the local community.
Don’t just take our word for it, here is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall talking about our FairWild project in India.