36866 Conservation of Medicinal Plants in Central America and the Caribbean T he issues of medicinal plant efficacy needed to encourage national conservation have been the focus of health policies that include traditional many formal and informal discussions at medicine in primary health care national and international forums, semi- programs. The main objective of the nars, workshops, conferences and TRAMIL Program has been valida- congresses in the last 10 years. Many tion and evaluation of useful informa- actions are recommended in declarations Notes tion on of the local popular therapeutic and documents like the Guidelines on the traditions, through scientific studies Conservation of Medicinal Plants (1993). conducted by a network of collabora- From the global perspective, many tors in the Caribbean Basin. In questions relating to the conservation Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and status of medicinal plants still remain the Dominican Republic, four of the unanswered. It is certainly a long way countries in which the TRAMIL between the documents and the practical Program is currently well established KI implementation of the proposed actions. in local and national institutions, Various conservation methods were interest within govern-ment ministries mentioned in the past by many authors in linking sustainable use of and are being repeated at present. These biodiversity to other community methods include protection of wild benefits, such as public health, has species in-situ, cultivation in botanical been particularly encouraging. In gardens, collection of germplasm, for http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/default.htm these countries and with support of a establishment of germplasm banks, public GEF Medium Size Project GF/2713- information campaigns and others. Can 01-4356: "Biodiversity Conservation the efforts of institutions, the scientific and Integration of Traditional community and community based Knowledge on Medicinal Plants in projects have a real impact, toward the National Primary Health Care conservation of medicinal plants? In a Policy in Central America and pragmatic way, Caribbean and Central Caribbean" the TRAMIL Program American countries are adopting com- will add a forest ecosystem conserva- mon policies on medicinal plant conserva- tion component to the existing regional tion and establishing collaborative No. 93 applied research program on tradi- projects and appropriate agreements for tional remedies derived from medici- June 2006 research programs in order to achieve a new status for the protection of medicinal IK Notes reports periodically on plants diversity. Regional cooperation in Indigenous Knowledge (IK) initiatives ethnobotanical and, taxonomic studies, in Sub-Saharan Africa and occassionally on such initiatives scientific validation of the significant use outside the region. It is published by of medicinal plants and development of the Africa region's Results and conservation activities are being encour- Learning Center as part of an aged. An example of this cooperation is evolving K partnership between the the TRAMIL Program (Scientific World Bank, communities, NGOs, development institutions, and Research on Medicinal Plants in the multilateral organizations. The views Caribbean Basin) coordinated by enda- World Bank expressed in this article are those of caribe since 1982. TRAMIL has focused the authors and should not be on conserving traditional community attributed to the World Bank Group or its partners in this initiative. A knowledge of folk remedies, and provid- webpage on IK is available at: ing scientific validation of safety and //www.worldbank.org/afr/ik 2 nal plants. The project has been developed by enda-caribe biodiversity conservation and public health, public health (under responsibility of the regional office in Nicaragua), agencies, and local communities in an interdisciplinary with assistance and in-kind support from the Medicinal program of research on the ethnopharmacology and Plant Specialist Group (MPSG) of the IUCN. traditional health practices of communities in the Caribbean Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is currently Basin and Central America. TRAMIL also supports threatened in rural communities of the Caribbean Basin by dissemination projects at the community level, returning loss of traditional cultural systems and conversion of local remedy evaluations to promote the use of safe and effec- agricultural and forest ecosystems to other purposes. tive treatments that are in harmony with local traditions. Modifications of primary and secondary forest might affect In terms of research and application of the results, the principally the native species, consequently affecting also Pro-gram published the first edition of the Caribbean tradi-tional knowledge and cultural practices associated Pharmacopoeia (Farmacopea Vegetal Caribeña) in 1996 with the management of the wild, semi-wild and domesti- (Robineau 1996) as an important reference in the develop- cated species at the local level (Cardenal 1994). ment of community health education programs. The floristic diversity of the Caribbean, insular as well as TRAMIL is considered a network of networks, since the continental, presents a complex combination of elements of Program encourages the organization of medicinal plants the continental ecosystems of North and South America, networks at national level., this allows TRAMIL to find a exotic species, as well as endemic plants. Islands of broader audience for the application of the scientific results volcanic origin, like Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Repub- in health and conservation programs. lic represent bio-geographic areas with high numbers of endemic species (Cuba: almost 50% of endemic species) (WCMC 1992). Central America and the Caribbean are Contribution to the Conservation of Medicinal Plants geographical regions known for their biological and cultural The TRAMIL methodology has contributed to the imple- diversity. They are characterized by unique concentrations mentation of the recommended tasks agreed at the Chiang of plant species, and the tropical moist forests are classified Mai meeting (1988) and the guidelines on the conservation among those with greatest habitat diversity worldwide of medicinal plants published in 1993 (WHO/IUCN/WWF (Myers et al). 1993). Considering the importance of the deliberations within Attention is given to the establishment of homegardens and this international Symposium addressing the central issue agroecological demonstrative gardens, such as the "Biodiversity and Health", the purpose of this paper is to TRAMIL agroecological garden in Limon, Costa Rica share some lessons learned related to the issue of conser- (Valverde and Ocampo 1996). In Guatemala, Nicaragua vation of medicinal plants and their use in Central America and Honduras TRAMIL scientists have carried out studies and the Caribbean. The framework is provided by the 20 focused on the conservation status of TRAMIL-plants, years of ex-perience of the TRAMIL-Program (Scientific supported by the program (Lagos-Witte 1992; House at al. Research on Medicinal Plants in the Caribbean Basin) as 1995; Tercero 1996, Duro and López 1996; Giron et al. one of the ini-tiatives existing in the region establishing 1997). collaborative projects and appropriate agreements for In the Biosphere Reserve of Rio Platano, Honduras, research programs in order to achieve a new status for the TRAMIL started a community oriented ethnobotanical protection of medicinal plant diversity. Regional cooperation project (Lagos-Witte et al. 1995) that has become an in ethnobotanical and taxonomic studies, scientific valida- example of how local people can contribute to their own tion of the significant use of medicinal plants and develop- floristic inventory and conservation of medicinal plants ment of conservation activities are being encouraged. (Lagos-Witte 1997). The community of Las Marias, in Rio Platano has established a botanical garden in a mature The TRAMIL Network secondary forest of Cecropia trees. TRAMIL has been Since 1982 and coordinated by enda-caribe, the TRAMIL supported in all these conservation efforts in Central Program (Scientific Research on Medicinal Plants in the America by IDRC-Canada (since 1994) and in different Caribbean Basin) has focused on conserving traditional levels by the UNESCO, Paris through the People and community knowledge of folk remedies, and providing Plants International Initiative, WWF/UK, PRE-BELAC scientific validation of safety and efficacy needed to (from the New York Botanical Garden) and the encourage national health policies that include traditional Biodiversity Support Program WWF, US-AID, WRI. medicine in primary health care programs. The TRAMIL Through its ethnopharmacological surveys, TRAMIL network currently links public and private research organi- works on the scientific identification of medicinal plants, zations, non-government organizations concerned with 3 supports national networks working in this field, and developing this project: encourages communities to use sustainable methods of · Honduras: Biosphere of Rio Platano (Miskito and Pech bark harvesting, as well as methods of digging roots communities/Mosquitia, rainforest), South West Hondu- without killing the entire plant. The TRAMIL Dissemination ras (Lenca community, pines forest ecosystem); program is committed to include in its training courses the · Nicaragua: Biosphere reserve of BOSAWAS (Mayagna conservation component of medicinal plants and to the and Miskito communities/Mosquitia, rainforest), Las production of educational materials, such as videos and Segovias in North West (Mestizo communities/pines popular information that support the conservation of the forest ecosystem); medicinal plants included in the TRAMIL list. · Panamá: Darien tropical forest (Embera communities), At the academic level, TRAMIL is encouraging curricu- Ngõbe Buglé (Teribe communities/Atlantic coast rain lum building activities in Universities in CentralAmerica. forest); Young biologists, chemists, and students of medicine will be · Dominican Republic: National Park del Este and trained in methods of ethnopharmacology, conservation and Zambrana Cotuí (Mestizo communities). community development in field projects related to primary These eco-regions share basic strategic elements, such health care using medicinal plants. as being forestlands that are inhabited by indigenous In Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican populations (Miskito, Pech communities in Mosquitia, Republic, four of the countries in which the TRAMIL Honduras; Mayangna SauniAs and Miskito communities in Program is currently well established in local and national Bosawás, Nicaragua; Kunas, Guayami, Teribe communities institutions, interest within government ministries in linking in Ngóbe-Buglé and Emberá Darién, Panama; mestizos in sus-tainable use of biodiversity to other community ben- the case of Las Segovias in Nicaragua and Zambrana/ efits, such as public health, has been particularly encourag- National Park Este in the Dominican Republic). These ing. In these countries and with support of a GEF Medium forests contain high levels of diversity of non-wood forest Size Project: "Biodiversity Conservation and Integra- products, including medicinal plants (Davis et al. 1997). tion of Traditional Knowledge on Medicinal Plants in The project will build on a number of existing surveys National Pri-mary Health Care Policy in Central and conservation assessments. A recent assessment of America and Caribbean" the TRAMIL Program will add global biodiversity "hotspots" (Myers et al. 2000) ranks a forest ecosystem conservation component to the existing forested areas of Central America (Mesoamerica) and the regional applied research program on traditional remedies Caribbean second and third in global significance (after the derived from medicinal plants. The project has been tropical Andes) in total species and endemism. Each of the developed by enda-caribe (under responsibility of the eight sites selected for this project falls within a forest eco- regional office in Nicaragua), with intellectual assistance region having global or regional significance, according to and in-kind support from the Medicinal Plant Specialist an assessment conducted by WWF and the World Bank, Group (MPSG) of the IUCN. which identified high global, regional, and national priority The primary project objective is to support the conserva- terrestrial eco-regions in Latin America and the Caribbean tion and sustainable use of medicinal plants important to (Diner-stein et al. 1995). The biodiversity values of the primary health in key forest eco-regions in Honduras, protected areas with which each of these eight sites is Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic by: associated are described by Harcourt and Sayer (1996), · assessing their conservation status and management although this treatment does not assign rank. Apreliminary needs; conservation assessment of the TRAMIL-Caribbean · working with indigenous and local communities to Pharmacopoeia (Ocampo and Robles 1999) identifies develop appropriate management strategies; and forests as important habitats and conservation targets for · working with research institutions, NGOs, and national medicinal plants in the region, but emphasizes the universal government agencies to integrate conservation and lack of survey and inventory data for medicinal plants management of medicinal plants with rational use of (Lagos-Witte 1994). This scarcity of basic inventory data is traditional remedies in primary health care (PHC). a general problem globally. A global assessment of "Cen- The project will focus activities in these four countries, tres of Plant Diversity" undertaken by WWF and IUCN-- but also aims to develop models and expertise that will be The World Conservation Union (Davis et al. 1997) recog- more broadly useful within the region.Apreliminary nizes the contribution of medicinal plants to overall species selection of project sites has been made from globally diversity in important forest eco-regions, but acknowledges significant eco-regions identified as target areas for project the lack of basic inventory and conservation status infor- implementation within each of the four countries involved in mation about this economically important group of species. 4 Acknowledgements Medicinales Com-unes de Honduras. Litografia LOPEZ, S de R.L., Tegucigalpa M.D.C. Honduras, C.A. 555 pp. Special acknowledgements are given to the TRAMIL Lagos-Witte, S. 1992. Ethnobotanical Contribution to the members who have performed ethnobotanical surveys and TRAMIL-Program in the Caribbean Basin: The Case of who participate in the Medium Size Project TRAMIL- Honduras. In Sus-tainable Harvest and Marketing of Rain enda-caribe/GEF-UNEP (Nr. GFL/2713-01-4356) in the Forest Products. Edited by M. y Plotkin and L. Famolare. Dominican Republic, Panama, Nicaragua and Honduras. Conservation International, Island Press, 325 pp. Thanks are also expressed to Danna Leaman, Chair of the Lagos-Witte, S. 1994. Notes for the Development of a Medicinal Plants Specialists Group/IUCN, for her critical Regional Conservation Strategy. Seminar-Workshop: and professional advice. Many of the on- going discussions Threatened Useful Plants of the Caribbean Basin. Santo on conservation of medicinal plants in Central America and Domingo, Dominican Re-public. 24 pp. the Caribbean have been inspired by Dr. Chusa Gines, who Lagos-Witte, S., Tinoco, R., and Merlo, V. 1995. devoted her life to Biodiversity projects. I dedicate this Conservación de la Diversidad Floristica y Participación work to her memory. Comunitaria en la Res-erva de la Biósfera de Río Plátano, Honduras. Proyecto UNESCO/SC/RP 204.024.4 References Lagos-Witte, S. 1997. Utilización y Manejo de Especies Cardenal, L.1994. Basic Elements for a Strategy of Medicinales de la Comunidad Indigena Pech/Misquito de Conservation of Useful Plants in the Caribbean Basin. Las Marías (Batiltuk), Reserva de la Biósfera de Río Seminar-Workshop "Threatened Useful Plants on the Plátano, Honduras. Research Report Biodiversity Support Caribbean Basin", Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Program (BSP). Davis, S., Heywood, V., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Vill- Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C:G., da Lobos, J., and Hamilton, A. 1997 Centres of Plant Diver- Fonseca, G.A.B, and Kent, J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots sity. Vol 3. The Americas. WWF and IUCN, Information for conservation priori-ties. Nature 403 (6772): 853-858. Press, Oxford. Ocampo, R., and Robles, X. 1999. Estado de Dinerstein, E., Olson, D.M., Graham, D.J., Webster, Conservación de las plantas TRAMIL incluidas en la A.L., Primm, S.A., Bookbinder, M.P., and Ledec, G. 1995. Farmacopea Vegetal Caribeña. Costa Rica. 46 pp. A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions Robineau, L. (Editor). 1996. Farmacopea Vegetal of Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, D.C.: Caribeña. Enda-caribe. Santo Domingo, República The World Bank. 129 pp. Dominicana. 360 pp. Duro, J.M., and López, I. 1996. Estado de Conservación Tercero N. 1996. Diagnóstico del Estado de de la Flora Medicinal de Guatemala. En Memorias Conservación y Comercialización de Nueve Especies de Conferencia "Biodiversidad de Plantas Medicinales: Plantas Medicinales Nicaragüenses. Tesis de licenciatura, Conservación y Manejo. Quiriguá, LosAmates, Izabal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Guatemala. p. 45. Nicaragua, León. 77 pp. Robineau, L. (Editor). 1996. Farmacopea Vegetal Valverde, R., and Ocampo, R. 1996. La Casa de las Caribeña. Enda-caribe. Santo Domingo, República Plantas Medicinales, Un Jardín Agroecológico para Dominicana. 360 pp. Compartir. Proyecto TRAMILlenda-caribe-Asocación Giron L., López, I., Duro J., and Nave F. 1997. ANDAR-CATIE. Costa Rica. Diagnóstico del Estado de Conservación de la Flora WHO/IUCN/WWF. 1993. Directrices sobre Medicinal Utilizada por los Garífunas de Livingston Conservación de Plantas Medicinales. International Union (Informe de Consultoria). for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland, Suiza, in TRAMIL-C.A, Guatemala, Laboratorios Farmaya, collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO), Biotas S.A. Consultores, Guatemala. Geneva and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Gland, Switzer- Harcourt, C.S., and Sayer, J.A. (Editors). 1996. The land, 55 p. Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: The Americas. World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). 1992. IUCN-The World Conservation Union. Simon and Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's Living Resources. Schuster, New York. 335 pp. Chapman & Hall, London. 544 pp. House, P., Lagos-Witte S., et al. 1995. Plantas This IK Note was written by Sonia Lagos-Witte, S. 2005, from Biodiversity & Health: Focusing Research to Policy at the proceedings of the International Symposium, Ottawa, Canada, October 25-28, 2003, J.T. Amason, P.M. Catling, E. Small, P.T. Dang, and J.D.H. Lambert NRC eds., Research Press, Ottawa Ontario pp 21-24. For more information contact: sonialagoswitte@hotmail.com.