The Medicinal Plant Specialist Group(MPSG) is a global voluntary network of experts contributing within their own institutions and in their own regions to the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. The MPSG was founded in 1994, under the auspices of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN - the World Conservation Union, to increase global awareness of conservation threats to medicinal plants, and to promote conservation action. The membership is made up of scientists, field researchers, government officials, and conservation leaders.
The overall aim is to support and promote efforts leading to medicinal plant conservation and rational, sustainable use. The approach is to provide information, tools, and strategy coordination that builds on the efforts of local, national, regional, and global partners to conserve and use medicinal plants sustainably, focusing particularly on actions that reduce threats to endangered species and habitats.
The programme has, among others, the following objectives: