Wild harvesting of foliage or decorative greens is currently out of scope within the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) sustainable sourcing guidelines, because none of the approved certification schemes makes allowance for wild harvesting practices. That is why a consortium of FSI members and partners, comprising leading company ColorÍginz (part of Dutch Flower Group), Westland Bloemen Export (WBE), Adomex International and Floral Trade Group, have started a focused project to research the possibility of developing a mutual scheme for wild harvesting of foliage.
The aims of the study are to analyse the risks in the supply chains of wild-picked green products, identify a roadmap to reduce sustainability risks in the chain and ensure the promotion of sustainable wild-picked products.
This will bring benefits to the ornamental plant sector, as better harvesting methods can also make an important contribution to the preservation of fragile landscapes. It can also have a positive impact on climate change through natural carbon sequestration, and it can contribute to providing livelihood security in rural areas where wild harvesting takes place.
The research is led by Associate Prof David Bek who is co-lead of the Sustainable Production and Consumption cluster in the Centre for Business of Society at Coventry University, in the UK. He has experience in research that specifically focuses on sustainability within agricultural value chains. In addition, the project is co-funded by IDH.
The working group will carry out a sector mapping to identify and quantify key areas and relevant product groups, conduct due diligence to identify the scale and structure of the wild harvest supply chain, map what is already being done in terms of sustainability and what the desired outcome looks like (a gap analysis). Based on these findings, the project group will engage with market parties and industry stakeholders (including certification schemes) to come closer together and draw up a roadmap for further implementation.
All parties look forward to developing a solution to this challenge. The project will run for three years with an evaluation of the research at the end of the first year to determine the way forward.