In June 2020, a consortium of FSI members and partners including Coloríginz (a Dutch Flower Group Company), Westland Bloemen Export B.V., Adomex International B.V. and Greenflor Aalsmeer & Rijnsburg (a Floral Trade Group company), started a project with IDH funding to analyse the risks in the supply chains of wild harvested products to identify a roadmap for reducing the sustainability risks in these supply chains and to examine the role of assurance programs in promoting sustainable wild harvest.

In the first phase of the project, the research has proven that the wild harvested foliage industry is economically significant for a number of countries and that is an important contributor to livelihoods in marginal areas. It has also shown that wild harvested foliage is an important component of bouquets, aesthetically and economically, having a low production footprint compared to other cultivated flower products.However, there is room for improvement in creating meaningful levels of assurance across the industry, including social concerns and transparency of the supply chain.

Based on these learnings, the project members will focus on a roadmap approach to a continuous improvement model, starting with some pilots in less complex products/regions, aiming for transparency. 

The project will further translate the findings into a framework of best practices or requirements which in the long term can be linked to the FSI basket of standards. This will be the potential second and third phase of the project and it is going to be evaluated by IDH and further formalized.