“Conclusions – Potential Strategies”:
“• Assessment methods to inventorize resources and knowledge used in health care – Conduct integrated assessments of biological resources and traditional health practices in an ecological and community context.
This would enable prioritizing conservation and development strategies and could capture details that may not figure into mainstream assessments. The inventorizing process would also entail identification, documentation, participatory and interdisciplinary assessment and promotion of relevant practices for rural community health and well-being, and strengthen conservation and sustainable harvest approaches.
• Knowledge validation, generation and use – Develop and promote appropriate integrative methodologies for assuring quality, safety and efficacy of traditional medical practices based on standards within and across medical systems.
• Capacity building for different stakeholders – Better recognize and integrate traditional healers through an appropriate and culturally sensitive accreditation process, coupled with efforts at revitalizing household health and food traditions. Capacity building is also required in management, collaboration, techniques/ skills for awareness building, research, marketing, etc., among communities, governments, traditional health practitioners as well as scientists.
• Cross-learning between different knowledge systems – Enhance traditional medical education and studies related to biological resources and management through formal, informal and non-formal learning processes. In addition to this, there is a need to strengthen policy-relevant research examining various intricacies in the resource–traditional knowledge–health–development domain.
• Development of mechanisms for protection of traditional resources and knowledge – Strengthen and promote existing tools, viz., databases and registers that are sensitive to community values, and at the same time allow innovation and promote good practices as active social traditions.ynergize efforts to achieve related policy goals. Linking with economic development objectives – It is no surprise that the various dimensions associated with community health relate to multiple sectors. Promoting enterprise development based on medicinal and nutritional resources and services, and development of new, appropriate and feasible technologies that could enhance productivity, would further complement conservation measures.
• Expansion of partnerships with different stakeholders – Increase partnerships at local, national, regional and global levels by supporting/facilitating enhanced networking among various stakeholders, such as in value chain partnerships, peer group/learning partnerships among and between peer groups.
• Effective communication strategies – There is a need for effective communication strategies to raise awareness of different stakeholders such as governments, research, industry, consumers and the public.” (p. 70/71)