Guide to native herbal plants to go digital

HERBAL remedy enthusiasts can look out for the digital publication of the newly-launched Field Guide of Selected Native and Exotic Medicinal and Edible Plants of TT.

The guide is a project of the Ministry of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development with components being excuted by the EMA, Namdevco and CANARI.

The EMA's (Environmental Management Authority) Bioreach Project collaborated with The UWI’s National Herbarium.

The guide seeks to preserve and promote traditional knowledge, while encouraging conservation and development of value chains for plants facing threats from declines in biodiversity, habitat access and public awareness.

Accompanied by a high-quality photographic guide of 30 species of edible and medicinal plants, the publication will detail preparation methods for herbal remedies through boiling, crushing and fermentation of different parts of various plant species.

The publication is a component of Bioreach’s biodiversity conservation and agroecological land restoration project which has seen the employment of over 60 people in farming communities across TT. They engage in activities such as reforestation, sustainable land management and conservation of environmentally sensitive species.

“The medicinal plant guide is a reminder of the deep connection between biodiversity and human health. Many of our most trusted medicines are derived from plants, some growing wild in our forests, others cultivated through traditional practices. Our rich ethno-botanical knowledge is a national treasure, handed down through generations," said Satee Boodoo, deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development.

“By documenting, protecting and sustainably using medicinal plants, we are not only preserving culture and tradition but also opening doors to innovation in health, wellness and bio-economy development,” she added.

Boodoo spoke on behalf of an absent Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh at the launch of the Meliponini Management Guidelines, Pollinator Protocols and Medicinal Plant Guide on May 26 at the UWI's Inn and Conference Centre, St Augustine campus.

The event highlighted the importance of pollinators, especially bees, to local and global ecosystems.

Pollinating over 65 per cent of all plant species, animal pollinators are vital to the ecosystem, especially in preventing food and nutrition shortages.

But the ministry's biodiversity specialist Dr Lena Dempewolf sounded a warning, saying a lack of compiled information on local pollinators contributes to what some scientists refer to as a world pollination crisis.

“Species are disappearing and we don’t even know who, what or where they are. We don’t have a sufficient record in the English-speaking Caribbean. Pollination is not accounted for in national economy systems in most countries and are vastly undervalued regionally,” she said.

“Generally, we’re lacking information on who our species are and what their trends are in terms of pollination and as a consequence there’s a reduction in pollinators and decline in biodiversity.”

This is where the digital publication on Guidelines for Sustainable Meliponini (non-stinging bees) Management in TT, and the TT Pollinator Community Science Monitoring Guide, can play a vital role. These publications seek to bring easier access to the population on the critical need to improve the conservation of pollinators through enhanced education tools and support.

The public's mindset that pollinators, in the case of bees, are only good for honey and their extinction is no big issue must change, it was pointed out, since a reduction in biodiversity has many knock-on effects including food variety and food security.

Adapted to the context of TT’s 170 native bee species, these guides provide standardised methods for the collection of bee data for land managers seeking to increase the number of pollinators.

The guides are intended for use by people of all ages and educational backgrounds, from school children seeking general education to bee scientists seeking to conduct critical surveys. Information on the launch of the digital publications and how to access them will be given in the near future.