Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: How do they contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals compliance?

Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants is a “hot topic,” which can have socio-economic impacts. The United Nations (UN) has defined seventeen “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) with the aim of ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring peace. These 17 goals are currently the standard for structuring sustainability measures across sectors and stakeholders. Given that the SDGs are also used in reporting on sustainability in the medicinal plant industry, assessing how the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants may contribute to these is necessary [ 1 ] [ 2 ]. Along the entire value chain, measures potentially impacting the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants were captured in a matrix compared to the sustainability goals. Using a Delphi approach, SDGs were ranked according to their influence on them. Our results show that the SDGs most strongly influenced by the measures were Life on Land (SDG15), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG12), and Quality Education (SDG4) in ranks 1, 2, and 3, respectively. This is in line with the type of these measures, including wild harvesting, agricultural production, processing, and quality control of medicinal plants. Our approach has indicated the SDGs that are most significantly influenced by measures taken, e.g., their inclusion in the sustainability reports of medicinal plant industries. However, initiatives cannot focus on specific SDGs, as a sustainable approach in the field needs also to address other SDGs, e.g., Gender equality (SDG5) or Peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG16), to build the basis of a bright future for the use of medicinal plants. Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany