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Review
A must-have for all of us who say that we worship the ground we walk on. -- Barbara Ardinger, PanGaia: Earthwise Spirituality, Winter 2001-02
Exceptional. -- Today's Books, February 8, 2001
The book draws on the experience not only of its two editors but also many other respected herbalists. -- Pearly Baker Best, Magical Blend's Natural Beauty & Health, Summer 2002
Book Description
Addressing one of the most urgent issues for environmentalists, America's most respected and well-known herbalists share in-depth information on saving 30 popular at-risk herbs. * Includes color photos of 30 medicinal plants and explains how to use and grow them. * Provides mail order resources for hard-to-find seeds. * Offers consumers suggestions for making eco-friendly purchases and using other herbs with similar actions as alternatives. * Edited by Rosemary Gladstar, author of the bestselling Herbal Healing for Women
While the renaissance in the U.S. botanical market is positive in many respects, medicinal plant populations are suffering from loss of habitat and overharvesting, and many popular medicinal herbs are now at risk, including echinacea, American ginseng, goldenseal, Hawaiian wild kava, peyote, and wild yam. Planting the Future shows us how land stewardship, habitat protection, and sustainable cultivation are of critical importance to ensure an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for future generations. The authors share their extensive experience with using and growing these popular herbs and include suggestions for creating your own private herbal sanctuary, using herbal analogues--other medicinal herbs that provide the same benefits and exist in plentiful amounts--for at-risk plants, and making your herbal purchases a vote for sustainability.
All author royalties will be used for replanting native medicinal herbs on a 380-acre botanical sanctuary in Ohio.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Appendix 2 Concern for European Medicinal Plants Cascade Anderson Geller
Medicinal plants around the globe are at risk due to many complicated factors. Though United Plant Savers is stepping up to speak regarding North American herbs, other organizations are beginning to bring similar concerns to the forefront in their own regions. The indigenous European herbs, which have had a long history of use in Europe, North America, and all other European-colonized areas, have been experiencing pressure from overharvest and loss of habitat for many years now. The fact that some of these famous species, such as yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea or Arnica montana), are still found in mountain meadows of Europe at all is quite amazing onsidering the many centuries these plants have been used in the herbal pharmacy. The diminishing reserves of these herbs in Europe can cause further harvest pressure on related wild American species. Protection of native stands worldwide coupled with continued efforts at domestication and cultivation are therefore of paramount importance.
A special report prepared by TRAFFIC, a branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), known in Europe as the World Wide Fund for Nature, and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) that monitors wildlife trade, has laid out specific goals for countries both in and outside of the European Union. Their goal is to establish the Medicinal Plant Task Group, which will create a database for monitoring species in trade and allow dialogue among specialists. Their plans also include efforts to aid more sustainable cultivation, as well as the creation of refuges for medicinal plants, seed storage banks, guidelines for sustainable harvest, and monitoring programs by every European nation involved in the trade of wild medicinal plants. TRAFFIC supports strict adherence to the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) treaty.
In June 1998 TRAFFIC hosted the First International Symposium on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants in Trade in Europe at Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. The special reports with lovely photographs of their top fifteen species of concern are on the Web. Interesting to note is the inclusion of such commonly used herbs as uva-ursi (Arctostaphylos spp.), all species of thyme (Thymus spp.), and licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra). The UpS list and TRAFFIC's list contain some of the same genuses, such as Drosera, Arnica, and Gentian. Both organizations are concerned about various species of orchids. TRAFFIC is particularly interested in removing salep, a mucilaginous blend of various species of orchid tubers, from the required ingredients list for the manufacture of ice cream in Turkey.
Though we face a new millennium full of major environmental challenges, we can find some solace in the fact that people in every nation are challenging old assumptions that the earth is here for the sole purpose of administering to the needs of human beings over and above all other species. As United Plant Saver herbalists, we join the ever growing circle of those endeavoring to better understand and preserve life in all its glorious forms.TRAFFIC has a host of sites, all of them very interesting; this one features lovely color photos along with monographs on most of the species below. If you have trouble with the address, try searching for TRAFFIC sites.
TRAFFIC's Current Species of Concern Adonis spp. Arctostaphylos spp. Arnica montana Cetraria spp. Drosera spp. Gentiana spp. Glycyrrhiza glabra Gypsophila spp. Menyanthes spp. Orchids (various) Paeonia spp. Primula spp. Ruscus spp. Sideritus spp. Thymus spp.
