The Sami-Sabinsa Group’s ambitious 10-year reforestation program of Pterocarpus Marsupium trees in India has been chosen as one of two finalists in the NutraIngredients-USA Editors Award for Industry Initiative of the Year. The winner will be announced at an event in Chicago on July 16, 2018.

This reforestation program is the first of its kind in the herbal industry: proactively addressing future supply shortfall of a medicinal tree. Anticipating future demand as research confirms traditional Ayurvedic use for diabetes, Sami-Sabinsa learned that the Indian Kino tree population is threatened. Sami-Sabinsa developed and funded a collaborative program to plant 166,600 trees on 250 forest acres over ten years, the first conservation program for this high value threatened tree species in India. Sami-Sabinsa is conceived and funded the initiative, with cultivation managed by the reforestation organization Madhya Pradesh Rajya Van Vikas Nigam Limited on land provided by the forest department of the State of Madhya Pradesh.

Based on International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria, India’s Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions evaluated the Indian Kino tree populations in various states in India and put the species in categories ranging from ‘Critically endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’ depending upon region.

“We are honored that our reforestation program has been recognized as significant by the respected industry publication NutraIngredients-USA,” said Shaheen Majeed, Sabinsa’s worldwide president. “We hope that this innovative program will serve as a model for the industry to take a proactive, longer-term view of the botanical ingredients supply chain.”

Sabinsa’s proprietary ingredient extracts obtained from Pterocarpus Marsupium, and based upon licensed patents, are sold under the brand names, Silbinol^® and pTeroSol^®.