Medicinal plant preserved by Co Tu people in Nam Dong district (Hue)

In early 2023, The project “Promoting ethnic minorities (EM) participation in medicinal plant conservation” in Thuong Lo commune, Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue province was launched. During 6 months of operation, the project has contributed to helping the Co Tu ethnic minority community raise awareness about the role and importance of biodiversity conservation as well as preserving traditional medicinal plant resources. This project is co-funded  by the European Union (EU) Delegation to Vietnam through the “Conservation Fund” project implemented by the GreenViet (Vietnam)- the lead, Gustav-Stresemann-Institut (GSI, Germany), and Center for Central Region Agricultural Development (CRD).

Representative of the project “Conservation Fund” visited and took photos with the Co Tu community at the Traditional Medicine Plant Nursery

Through training sessions, surveying and collecting traditional medicinal plants, the Co Tu community received technical advice and instructions on identifying traditional medicinal plants such as: Myxopyrum smilacifolium, Morinda officinalis How, Coscinium fenestratum, etc. These are precious traditional medicinal plants whose value the Co Tu people had never known before. In particular, the Community Nursery group has participated in collecting rare and endangered traditional medicinal species such as: Ardisia Sylvestris Pitard, Fibraurea tinctoria, Coscinium fenestratum, Gomphandra mollis Merr, Taccaceae….

Taccaceae- a rare type of herbal medicine collected and bred at the nursery

To date, the Community Nursery has planted and propagated over 300 seedlings of 10 species of traditional medicinal plants. Periodically, CRD staff will supervise and provide technical guidance on caring for these plants.

After growing healthily, traditional medicinal plants are going to be planted in the forest by the Nursery Community Group to ensure biodiversity.

With the aim of promoting the effectiveness and value of the Traditional Medicinal Plant Nursery, the group will approach and apply breeding techniques for traditional medicinal plants. Community nurseries not only produce native forestry seedlings but can also produce traditional medicinal seedlings to serve forest planting and enrichment activities, contributing to biodiversity conservation.