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Link Three weeks ago one of Asia's leading environmental activists was gunned down in Cambodia. Chut Wutty had been documenting illegal logging in the protected Cardamom Forest, one of the last remaining pristine areas in south-east Asia. What it was that he found and who killed him is clouded in mystery, within a day of Wutty being killed David O'Shea was flying into Cambodia to pick up on the trail of Wutty's execution. Interesting to see the concern over berberine and the rapid conclusion made by the biologist... big pharma has/wants something similar in their pipeline, rather than being ecologically inclined? '...[all the] extraction effort and the plant product itself disappears. It’s secretive and it’s taking place under armed guard in the recesses of the forest' says McDonald... 'Several species that may be threatened directly by unsustainable harvesting include the widely distributed plant Yellow vine Coscinium spp. from which the chemical ‘berberine’ is extracted, and used traditionally for stomach upsets. This species have been over-harvested in Viet Nam to such an extent that plants are now rarely found and commercial use is now restricted under national legislation (Nguyen Tap pers. com. 2007). Coscinium spp. are now harvested from Laos and Cambodia to supply enough berberine for demand both from Viet Nam and the large Chinese traditional medicine market. The development of sustainable harvesting guidelines for this species may not only assist in preventing the further decline of the species throughout the region (and an increase in Vietnamese populations) but may also provide a potentially steady source of income for local people as well as steady supply of product for the international market.' [1] '...yellow vine, known in Cambodia as Voer Romiet Coscinium sp. Yellow vine is found throughout Asia but is heavily exploited for medicinal use throughout its range. Well-known for its anti-diarrhoea and astringent properties, yellow vine has been extracted to the point of extinction (Outey Mea, IKH, pers. comm., Oct 2004) from south-western Cambodia, particularly from the Cardamom mountains and Bokor areas. The processing of the plant and its export is banned under Article 29 of the Forestry Law (Suon Phalla, pers. comm., Oct 2004). However, there is recent evidence that the vine is still collected from south-western Cambodia and used for medicinal purposes both in Cambodia and Viet Nam (Outey Mea, IKH, pers. comm., Oct 2004).' [2]