United Plant Savers
Native species, plants that have very specific habitat requirements that are very slow growing, like root crops, perennials, are very specific about where they want to grow. They are not like nettle, dandelion, or burdock that can grow in a wide range of areas, and they are also very slow in maturing and developing seeds. Often times that seed is not really viable—it takes a lot to get the seed to grow—and those are the plants that we are most concerned about right now. Plants like ginseng and goldenseal are the most in demand with pharmaceutical companies and herbal companies. Some of these plants are very slow to mature, they can grow for 40, 50, 60 years. Black Cohosh Root can grow 30 or 40 years old. You know, we laugh sometimes—a wildcrafter goes out to pick these plants, and are younger than these plants are. They don’t realize that this plant is an elder and has been growing for 20, 30, 40 years. They just take it out, chop it up and make medicine out of it, and it may be the seed supplier for future generations.
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This consciousness is growing and it needs to grow a lot more. We always like to say that herbalists have the least amount of impact on this; there is not a lot of over-harvesting. Some plants, yes, but mostly it is habitat destruction, overpopulation, which is probably the number one concern for all environmental organizations, but the reason that we target herbalists is because when you love something, you will defend it, you will make change, you will fight for it.
Herbalists have the great opportunity to be a voice here, and we were a big voice in changing the face of American health care, you know by introducing alternatives again. We made a lot of noise about the very grass roots, organic way, and we have the same responsibility now that we have restored herbalism in this culture, we have maybe a greater responsibility to ensure that those plants have the tradition that it’s based on. We say it is for future generations of plant lovers but truthfully it is for the great web of life, it really has only a little to do with people and more to do with the web of life.
Rosemary Gladstar, Herbalist
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