Background Factors threatening the future of Bulgaria's Medicinal Aromatic Plants (MAPs) include: a lack of proficient collection practices, information campaigns or training over the last 20 years; and a lack of expertise among the municipalities responsible for issuing the collection permits. Another problem is caused by poor communication between stakeholders, in particular a serious gap in the knowledge of individual responsibilities resulting in ineffective measures to encourage sustainable use. In addition, the general public is unaware of the employment and economic development opportunities offered by the country’s medicinal and aromatic plants. Objectives The objective of the SusHerb LIFE 2012 project was to address the commercial over-exploitation of wild populations of MAP in Bulgaria. This over-exploitation had led in recent years to the harvesting of herbs of poor quality, an increase in the risk of damage to the herbs’ habitats and a decline in the population of even the more widespread species of MAP. This unsustainable state of affairs was due to the fact that: 1) for the past 20 years there were no information campaigns on good collection practises and no training activities; 2) the municipal experts issuing collection permits lacked both plants knowledge and law enforcement skills; 3) communication between stakeholders was poor and there was a serious gap in the knowledge of each other’s responsibility leading to an ineffective use of sustainable MAP measures; 4) the general public was unaware of the opportunities provided by MAP in terms of livelihood and economic development. The overall aim of the SusHerb LIFE 2012 project was to enforce the LIFE theme of “resource efficiency” and the sub-theme “sustainable consumption and production” as well as the ideas developed in the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Results The SusHerb LIFE 2012 project successfully increased awareness among the key stakeholders on the need to move towards sustainable herb harvesting practises and, through 197 programmes aired on the Bulgarian National Radio, the MAP Fair held, the video film that was showed more than 11 times on the National TV and all other activities of the project, gained the support of a wide section of the Bulgarian population. Thanks to the project, the general public has become more intolerant towards the destruction of MAP and their improper collection. This was demonstrated by an increase in the number of complaints (by 300% in the last year of the project compared to the first year) addressed to the responsible institutions (including municipality experts and forestry units). The project also worked with 36 experts from 18 municipalities in the Plovdiv District, 22 regional forestry and game experts and 30 trainers of collectors to increase their knowledge and improve their MAP sustainable use skills. It is expected that this training will lead to improvements in the management and conservation status of the targeted species in the long term. In addition, SUSHERB developed training materials to be used to improve the sector. As a result of the project, over 50 buyers and processing facilities managers in the project area, 72 in the neighbouring districts as well as 8 400 farmers and 80% of MAP collectors in the project area agreed to commit to ensure that MAP resources and habitats were substantially improved. Thanks to a new and effective control system in the Plovdiv District, there was a 30% decrease in the number of detected cases of improperly collected plant material in the last collection season of the project compared to the first. The project also noted a 20% increase in the interest for MAP cultivation in the Plovdiv district. The project ensured that for the first time the administration responsible for MAP and the businesses collecting and trading MAP came together. Valuable collaborations were established among MAP users. The project also provided opportunities for cooperation between companies, cultivation farms and owners of facilities for the collection and processing of MAP. Together they worked on better production, management, use and marketing of MAP and related products. Similarly the project facilitated the interaction between specialised NGOs and the institutions responsible for MAP conservation and sustainable management. It also helped improve communication between all institutions with responsibilities for MAP so that they gained a much better understanding and appreciation of each other’s duties. The impact of the project was not limited to MAP. Indeed MAP share habitats with many other plant and animal species and a substantial number of birds and animals depend on them for their livelihood. They all, therefore, benefited directly and indirectly from the project and the better management of MAP. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).