Indigenous Medicinal Plant Library
The library documents South Pacific and American plants through source-community context, cultivation, conservation, safety, legal status, evidence grading, oral history, and benefit-sharing.
Initial collection
- Kava
- Noni / nonu
- Breadfruit
- Taro
- Coconut
- Pandanus
- Ti
- Māmaki
- Turmeric
- Ginger
- Moringa
- Hemp
- Cannabis research profile
- Community-authorized Native American medicinal and agricultural plants
Required profile fields
- Indigenous and local names; scientific name; plant part.
- Source community, region, language, and cultural reviewer.
- Traditional context and restrictions on sharing.
- Ecology, cultivation, conservation, and invasive-species concerns.
- Preparation context, safety cautions, contraindications, interactions, and adverse-event information.
- Evidence grade, source list, review date, and known limitations.
- Import, cultivation, food, supplement, controlled-substance, or conservation status.
- Benefit-sharing commitment and related programs, stories, research, events, and products.
Contribute knowledge responsibly
Community members can submit corrections, stories, images, language notes, and cultivation knowledge. Submissions remain private until consent, cultural review, scientific review where relevant, and publication approval are complete.
Connect with the program
Use the guided intake below so your request reaches the right team. Do not submit medical records, government identity documents, confidential research protocols, or other highly sensitive information through a public website form.
Plant Knowledge Contribution — Public Pre-Screen
This first step collects only the minimum information needed for human review. Do not submit medical records, government ID, passwords, payment-card data, confidential protocols, or controlled-substance transfer details.
How to read and contribute to a plant profile
Profiles separate identity and cultivation from cultural history, traditional knowledge, food use, laboratory findings, observational evidence, controlled human evidence, approved medical indications, and commercial claims. Each statement should be attributable to a source or clearly labeled as a community observation or unresolved question.
Community contributors may propose names, pronunciations, stories, cultivation knowledge, photographs, conservation concerns, corrections, and sources. Contributions require permission and review; the platform does not claim ownership of community knowledge merely because it was submitted through a website.
Returning collections and learning tools
- Seasonal growing notes and climate observations.
- Pronunciation and local-name recordings approved by speakers.
- Food, fiber, construction, ceremonial, ecological, and research-literacy collections.
- Side-by-side evidence cards showing what is traditional, laboratory-based, observational, clinical, approved, or unresolved.
- Youth field journals, elder interviews, cultivation demonstrations, and conservation updates.
- Corrections and change logs so visitors can see why a profile was revised.
What to expect when you return
New material should appear through a visible publishing rhythm: reviewed feature releases, upcoming events and workshops, new or corrected profiles, project field notes, member briefings, and annual impact summaries. Each update should show its source or reviewer, publication date, and next review date when the subject is sensitive or changeable.
Visitors can subscribe or become members for approved updates, but the platform should not use urgency, fear, medical promises, or cultural access as pressure to pay.
Frequently asked questions
Is traditional use the same as clinical proof?
No. Traditional knowledge is important and should be represented accurately, but it is not automatically evidence of clinical safety or effectiveness for a modern product or medical claim.
May I submit community knowledge?
Yes, through the contribution workflow, subject to permission, attribution, cultural review, and decisions about public access.
Are products sold from every profile?
No. Educational profiles and store listings are separate. A product requires supplier, safety, legal, label, testing, payment, and destination review.
