When I met the gatherers who are members of the AFC (the French association of wild plant gathering professionals), they made me aware of the fragility of nature and of their profession.

Degradation of biodiversity, increased demand for limited resources, changes in the governance of natural spaces, all issues that led to the creation of the AFC in 2011. The main objectives of the AFC are the recognition of the profession in its diversity and the construction of a professional ethic of gathering based, among other things, on the provision of tools to facilitate the adoption of good practices by professionals in the profession and the various stakeholders in the sectors using wild plants.

The AFC initiated a participatory research project called FloreS (University of Lausanne). Through this initiative, professionals worked with researchers and members of various partner institutions to develop a charter setting out the profession's values ​​and principles, a guide to good practices, and a methodology for co-constructing the content of technical booklets. Following this initiative, a project for an economic and ecological observatory of harvesting is now under consideration and should make it possible to consider the regulation of commercial harvesting at different territorial scales.

On The Wild Side is proud to contribute in its own way to supporting the AFC for responsible and sustainable harvesting.