Conservation of Medicinal Plants in Central America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The issues of medical plant conservation have been the focus of many formal and informal discussions at national and international forums, seminars, workshops, conferences and congresses in the last 10 years. Caribbean and Central American countries are adopting common policies on medicinal plant conservation and establishing collaborative projects and appropriate agreements for research programs in order to achieve a new status for the protection of medicinal plant diversity. This paper for the most part reports on the the TRAMIL Program (Scientific Research on Medicinal Plants in the Caribbean Basin) coordinated since 1982. TRAMIL has focused on conserving traditional community knowledge of folk remedies, and providing scientific validation of safety and efficacy needed to encourage national health policies that include traditional medicine in primary health care programs.