Beijing, Nov.1 (WWF) -- Chinese officials pledged to work with international conservationists to ensure a sustainable trade in wild plants and animals used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the conservation organization WWF announced.

The historic pledge comes at a critical time as China is modernizing its traditional medicine industry in the hope of cornering the fast-growing world market for natural medicines.

The pledge culminated a three-day international conference in Beijing, the first of its kind to be organized by the government of China in collaboration with WWF.

"Healthy People, Healthy Planet: An International Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine and Endangered Wildlife Conservation", held 30 October - 1 November, was organized by the State Administration for Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Centre of Traditional Chinese Medicine. WWF and the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine were joint organizers.

"If TCM is to develop, we must get past the problem of endangered species," Dequan Ren, Vice General Director of the State Administration and Management for Medicinal Products, told the more than 120 delegates as the conference opened. "Our collective feeling is that there is no contradiction between TCM and conservation. For TCM to progress, it must take a sustainable course."

TCM, the world's most widely used traditional medicine system, uses an array of plants and animal species, making a balance between TCM and conservation efforts critical. TCM is more than 5,000 years old and is practiced by Asian communities worldwide. It's also attracting an increasing number of westerners, both as practitioners and consumers.

Some species traditionally used in TCM such as tiger, rhino and Asian ginseng are already at grave risk in the wild.

Trade in tiger and rhino products is banned and China banned the manufacturing and export of such products in 1993, but tens of thousands of products claiming to contain these ingredients and labelled as manufactured in China continue to be found in countries around the world.

The meeting was marked by clear messages from WWF and other conservationists that without a collaborative effort, the tiger and other endangered species used in medicines would not survive, nor would TCM prosper. They also stressed that tiger farming or reintroduction of tigers from zoos into the wild are not viable options to save wild tigers, which now probably number fewer than 6,000.

China representatives emphasized their own conservation efforts, from cultivation of medicinal plants to research on alternatives to endangered wildlife ingredients. One spoke of the need for "green" standards in TCM, while another suggested that China restrict the use of natural products from some wild species, such as musk deer. Musk is an important ingredient in more than 300 traditional Chinese medicines. Its popularity is of concern, as some musk deer populations are in dramatic decline.

"This new partnership will be an enormous success for wildlife in the 21st century," said Ginette Hemley, Vice President for Species Conservation at WWF-US. "These collaborative efforts give us realistic hope for both healthy people and a healthy planet."

SOURCE: World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF)