On Sustainability and Medicinal Plants

You hear an increasing amount of talk these days about sustainability. But what does it mean? In a sustainable system, all parts or members thrive and prosper. As this applies to medicinal plants, it means that users of the plants get good, viable remedies, the natural environment is enhanced and protected in the course of utilizing or trading in those plants, and people who work with the plants are able to flourish. Basic principles of sustainability are embodied in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This treaty, created in 1992, establishes guidelines for protecting environmental resources and sharing benefits with native people, as a result of utilizing biological resources from various countries.

According to the Convention On Biological Diversity, if you develop a product from a biological resource such as a traditional herb, then you have an obligation to engage in practices and programs which protect the environment and the natural habitat of that plant, and an equal obligation to provide benefits to any native people whose traditional knowledge and expertise have helped to make such a product possible. CBD is a groundbreaking treaty, signed by 168 governments, but not the United States. The Convention recognizes that biological diversity is about more than plants, animals and micro organisms and their ecosystems – it is about people and our need for food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter, and a clean and healthy environment in which to live.

At Medicine Hunter we work with many projects that comply with the broadest definitions of well-being and sustainability. Specifically, this means that we are employing all reasonable means at our disposal to ensure that the cultivation and harvesting of botanicals, and the subsequent processing of them, is performed in a manner which does no harm to the environment, and causes no damage to the supply of various species used. Furthermore, our compliance with CBD means that we promote fair wage programs for the native people who work with these plants, as well as sharing benefits with those people upon sales. Hopefully in the future we will see a great increase in sustainably produced medicinal plant products.

It is entirely possible to sell profitable products, and still implement fair wages, protect environmental resources, and share benefits with native people. As time goes on, we will further communicate the specifics of our ongoing sustainability program, and how our programs and activities benefit traditional people and the natural environment.

Three Dimensions of Sustainability

There are three dimensions of sustainability concerning medicinal plants. The first has to do with improving human health. A great many pharmaceutical drugs are toxic, can cause grave side effects, and produce fatalities. As many as 300,000 Americans die each year from the proper use of over-the–counter and prescription drugs. So a first and most critical aspect of sustainability has to do with providing safe, effective, natural plant medicines that can be used in place of more dangerous drugs.

Ayurvedic Nursery: Outside of Bangalore, India, this nursery is a joint project of Bangalore University and the Indian government. Over 100 acres of medicinal plant seedlings are available for farmers and small growers to take for cultivation. Many Indian medicinal plants are in danger of extinction due to over-harvesting in the wild. This nursery, and other projects like it, helps to supply plants for cultivation, thereby offering an alternative to destructive wild-harvesting.

Plant medicines are used around the world to help sustain human health, because they work. Despite extremely well-funded propaganda that disparages plant medicines, they are highly beneficial, largely safe, and increasingly well studied. A second dimension of sustainability concerns the environmental impact of medicinal plants. Harvesting of wild species, and cultivation of species, can be performed in ways that do not degrade the natural environment and may in fact improve soil fertility and other parameters of environmental health. Organic farming practices, de facto organic activities, and properly planned methods of harvesting can keep the natural environment diverse, healthy and thriving.

A third dimension of sustainability and medicinal plants concerns native people and traditional cultures. Around the world we are losing cultural, linguistic and cognitive diversity as these people are displaced, absorbed, killed off or “assimilated” into general humanity against their will. When fair wages are paid to native and traditional people, it provides them with economic power. This can help people to maintain custom and culture, to support themselves by engaging in activities consistent with their heritage, and better able to defend themselves against encroachment and adversarial practices on the part of mining, petroleum, agricultural and other industrial entities. Humane practices can help these people to flourish.
 

Brazilian Acai Harvesters: These people live in the Brazilian Amazon, where they harvest acai berries (Euterpe oleraceae). As part of a program implemented by Sambazon Acai, these harvesters receive a better wage than other acai harvesters, and they also implement methods of natural forest management to keep the land, trees, and other life healthy. The Sambazon program emplys thousands of people, and helps to preserve precious Amazon rainforest.

Chris with Charlie the Capybara: Chris relaxes with Charlie, a capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeri), also known as the giant water guinea pig. The Capybara is the world’s largest rodent, achieving a weight of up to 160 pounds. Charlie lives in the forest near the ExplorNapo Lodge on the Sucusari River in the Peruvian Amazon. He likes to cadge snacks from visitors to the area, and enjoys having the backs of his ears scratched. He is free to come and go as he pleases, and bathes regularly in the river.

Chris with Giant Ceiba Tree: The majestic tree Ceiba pentandra was so highly revered by the ancient Maya that they believed that the tree resided at the center of the earth, connecting the celestial and terrestrial worlds. Due to rampant deforestation, giant Ceiba trees are now rare. This magnificent Ceiba grows along the Amazon River in Peru, and is on protected conservation land.


Zoe Helene Hikes in the Amazon: Following native guide Segundo Inuma, Zoe Helene hikes through virgin Amazon rainforest near the Sucusari River in the Peruvian Amazon. Zoe Helene is married to medicine hunter Chris Kilham, and is keenly interested in all dimensions of environmental and cultural sustainability. Zoe and Chris travel and work together around the world.

Chris with Pentecost Natives: Chris stands with villagers in a remote part of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, South Pacific. Many of these people had never been previously photographed. The name and location of the village are being withheld to protect these people. Native groups are threatened by mining, oil exploration, timber cutting, and other industrial activities that destroy the land, displace people, and pollute the natural environment.