Shoddy work
India's proposals to list Picrorhiza kurrooa (Kutki) and Nardostachys grandiflora (Jatamansi) in Appendix II of CITES provided some relief to tired delegates at Harare. And India made a laughing stock of itself. The proposals had been submitted twice before at previous CITES meets, and rejected both times for want of adequate information on the status of the species. Kutki, which grows in the Himalaya in India, Nepal and China, is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat asthma, epilepsy, bilious fever, worms and jaundice. Jatamansi, or spikenard, is used in drugs and in perfumes. Both are increasingly being used by the pharmaceuticals industry. With demand for herbal medicine growing in the US and Europe, the products are mostly exported. This has put a lot of pressure on these plant populations, which are dwindling.
When India put up the proposals this time, the Swiss delegation pointed out that the World Conservation Union had recently collected data on the two species, but it was not included in the information provided, despite repeated assurances by India in past COPs that it would update its information before presenting it. "But we will not oppose the proposal, because we are afraid that the Indian delegation will simply bring it back the next time round, without making any changes,' the Swiss said, much to the amusement of other delegates. Both proposals were passed with little opposition.