Address by Dr. R.C. Sharma, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Department of Forests, Chhattisgarh.

Dr. R.C. Sharma, in his welcome address informed the august house that in view of the extremely rich faunal and floral biodiversity of the state encompassing a sizable amount of non-wood forest produce including medicinal, aromatic and dye plants, Chhattisgarh has been declared Herbal State of the country almost one and a half years ago. However, with the ever-increasing commercialization without any concern for conservation, there has been a threat of massive resource depletion arising from destructive harvesting. This has necessitated a new paradigm of sustainable harvesting regimes with appropriate methodologies for post harvest technologies and marketing of the NWFPs. Certification is such a market based tool but we do not want any bureaucratization of certification. The process of certification shall be a decentralized one and it should include stakeholders from associated fields including local community, NGOs, R&D, pharmacy, producer, different departments, Universities etc. Dr. Sharma emphasized on the fact that the process of certification needs to be ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. He also laid stress on mutual acceptance by different stakeholders i.e from producer to the pharmacy. Dr. Sharma reiterated the need for making the certification process proactive and addressing the interests of the community as well as improving the quality standards of the produce. 

Address by Dr. K.K. Chakravarty, Principal Secretary (Forest), Chhattisgarh.

In his address Dr. K.K. Chakravarty, Principal Secretary, Forest Department, Chhattisgarh stated that the process of certification is market driven and it is to produce the opportunities in the context of Chhattisgarh, so that no homogenization occur causing irretrievable harm to local attributes. 

He began with posing questions, which are critical to adoption of certification of non-wood forest produce including medicinal, aromatic and dye plants in the state. The questions put forth by Dr. Chakravarty are as follows: 

• What is the scope for bio-prospecting and intellectual property rights (IPR) in the certification process? 

• He stated that we talk of chemical modifications but do not talk of biological or natural modifications. Therefore, what should be the bio-safety protocol with regard to chemical interventions in a natural process?

• What are we certifying? Are we certifying adaptation of the natural process to uniform standards of packaging or shipping? Do we only have to make the packaging attractive or do we talk of toxic validation? Homogenization becomes important for marketability. Thus, how should pristine hygiene and quality be taken care of in process of certification? 

• Do we want to certify diversification of products or commodities or the variety of seeds and cultivation processes?