CIEER Web Picks

These Web sites were featured on our home page as previous Month's Web Picks.



Ethnobotany Program at the University of Hawai`i - (October 2003)

Database of Indian Medicinal Plants - (September 2003)

International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases - (August 2003)

Tree of Life - (July 2003)

USDA Plants Database - (June 2003)

International Plant Names Index - (May 2003)

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group - (April 2003)

People and Plants Working Papers - (March 2003)

National Plant Data Center - (February 2003)

Ethnobotany of Cycads - Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (January 2003)

Medicinal Plant Network - (December 2002)

The State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture - This overview presents the main findings of “the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture”, introduces the 20 activity areas of the Global Plan of action, adopted at the International Technical Conference, Leipzig, Germany, 1996 and provides introductions to the FAO Global System, and to the preparatory process for the Leipzig Conference. (November 2002)

Medicinal Plant Network - Welcome to MedPlant, a global 'network of networks' dedicated to supporting and linking existing regional initiatives to build partnerships and improve collaboration on the sustainable use and conservation of medicinal plants. MedPlant is a relatively new initiative that emerged out of a recognition that few mechanisms exists to allow organizations and agencies working on medicinal plant issues, to share information on their activities, their successes and challenges. Although several regional initiatives exist, there is an expressed need for an international network that would allow existing regional networks to maintain their regional identity while sharing their experiences and learning from lessons of other agencies/individuals around the world. (October 2002)

Ethnoecology Database of the Greater Southwest, Fort Lewis College - a database was developed to store and share ethnoecological information and preserve oral history in a recallable format, accessible on the Internet. (September 2002)

World Health Organization (WHO) - Essential Drugs and Medicines Policyt: Traditional Medicine (TRM) - The WHO Strategy for Traditional Medicine for 2002-2005 has been in preparation for more than three years. The objective of the strategy is to discuss the role of traditional medicine in health care systems, current challenges and opportunities and WHO's role and strategy for traditional medicine. (August 2002)

University of Hawaii, Department of Botany - Ethnobotany Program - A list of questions and answers related to ethnobotany research and education at at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. (posted July 2002)

Bishop Museum, Oahu, Hawaii - Ethnobotany Web Page - Please browse the cultural and scientific information about 145 plants commonly used in traditional Hawaiian culture. (June 2002)

Missouri Botanical Garden - Botanists of the Applied Research Department focus on exploration and collection of botanical specimens, samples, and information about the use of plants. Plant samples are gathered to support discovery research, samples of leaves are preserved to support studies of relationships of plant groups, and information and specimens are captured to understand the reliance of traditional societies on plants. (May 2002)

Master of Science in Ethnobotany at the University of Kent at Canterbury - Ethnobotany is an increasingly important subject. It is essentially interdisciplinary, involving a knowledge of plants and their ecology in the context of their cultural, social and economic significance. This programme, the first graduate course of its kind in the UK, seeks to combine the different strengths of the three institutional partners, each at the forefront of work in its own field: anthropological studies of human-environment interaction and of socio-cultural knowledge of plants in different parts of world (UKC-Anthropology); ecology, conservation science, environmental law and biodiversity management (DICE); plant conservation and sustainable management practices, taxonomy, and economic botany (Kew). (April 2002)

Amazon Conservation Team - The Amazon Conservation Team is based on a simple concept: by helping the rainforest peoples manage and protect their cultures, we can also help them manage and protect the forest ecosystems that surround and sustain them. We believe the fates of indigenous peoples (like the Tirio of southern Suriname and the Ingano of southern Colombia) and of the rainforests on which they depend are profoundly intertwined. And just as the destruction of the rainforest would mean the destruction of these indigenous peoples, the survival of the their traditional cultures can mean salvation for the rainforests of the Amazon and other parts of tropical America. (March 2002)

The Chicago Field Museum: Economic Botany at the Field Museum - Economic botany is broadly defined as the study of the relationship between people and plants. This interdisciplinary study encompasses the fields of anthropology and botany as it explores the countless ways humans employ plants for food, medicine, textiles, shelter and more. Today economic botany continues to make significant contributions to anthropology, botany and environmental conservation. (February 2002) also Plants of the World

Economic Botany, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Research into useful and potentially useful plants is focused in the Centre for Economic Botany (CEB), and concentrates on the United Kingdom and the world's arid and semi-arid zones. Economic Botany has always been a key aspect of scientific research at Kew and the building which houses the CEB was named after Kew's most famous economic botanist, Sir Joseph Banks. The building also houses the Economic Botany Collection, which contains more than 76,000 botanical artefacts. (January 2002)

Ethnomedica - Ethnomedica is a group of people whose aim is to collect and preserve a fast-disappearing aspect of our British heritage - its medicinal plant traditions. It is important to collect the experiences of older people about traditional uses of medicinal plants for the benefit of future generations. (December 2001)

Chelsea Physic Garden - Founded in 1673 by the Society of Apothecaries, Chelsea Physic Garden is one of Europe's oldest botanic gardens and is the only one to retain the title 'Physic' after the old name for the healing arts. Its 3.5 acres contain a garden showing the history of medicinal plants, a Pharmaceutical Garden and an ethnobotanical Garden of World Medicine; one of the oldest rock gardens in Europe; botanical order beds; glasshouses and many more rare and tender plants such as the largest olive tree outdoors in Britain. (November 2001)

American Herbal Products Association - exists to serve its members by promoting the responsible commerce of products which contain herbs and which are used to enhance health and the quality of life. (October 2001)

United Plant Savers - mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come. (September 2001)

RunningMan Online - Mark Plotkin and Frits van Troon work together with the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), taking a very grass-roots approach in the Trio communities of Kwamalasamutu and Tepu as well as in the Maroon village of Kayan on the Gran Rio (Upper Suriname River). (August 2001)

Green Medicine - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group Membership in the Medicinal Plant Working Group is open to all interested individuals, organizations, and agencies. (July 2001)

Pro-Cultura, Inc. - is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness and facilitating understanding of traditional health systems, resources and knowledge among the medical and scientific communities, and among donor and humanitarian organizations. (June 2001)

Halkomelem Ethnobiology - The information presented in this Web site reflects aspects of the cultural heritage of the Halkomelem peoples. For thousands of years the Halkomelem people have lived in what is now southwestern British Columbia. (May 2001)

NAPRALERT - The NAPRALERT File (NAtural PRoducts ALERT) contains bibliographic and factual data on natural products, including information on the pharmacology, biological activity, taxonomic distribution, ethno-medicine and chemistry of plant, microbial, and animal (including marine) extracts. In addition, the file contains data on the chemistry and pharmacology of secondary metabolites that are derived from natural sources and that have known structure. (April 2001)

The Eden Project -The Eden Project is an international visitor destination, a gateway into the world of plants and people a centre for communication, education and participation, a new scientific institute and forum for the 21st century. (March 2001)

The American Herbal Pharmacopoeia - The primary goal of the AHP is to produce authoritative herbal monographs containing accurate, critically reviewed information on botanicals which can provide guidance in the appropriate use of herbal therapeutics. (February 2001)

Plant Talk - The only magazine to provide – on a world scale – information, encouragement and advice on saving plants. Plant talk is published quarterly by the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) of Hawaii, USA.
(January 2001)

The Herb Research Foundation - Founded in 1983, HRF is the world's first and foremost source of accurate, science-based information on the health benefits and safety of medicinal plants. (December 2000)

Leaf for Life - Since 1986, Leaf for Life has helped people improve their health by showing them ways to make better use of leaf crops in their diets. (November 2000)

ECOSEA - ECO-SEA is a vibrant new organization dedicated to the collaborative study and active preservation of native Southeast Asian plants and customs. (October 2000)

The National Foundation for Alternative medicine (NFAM) - The only organization conducting scientific investigations of alternative cancer clinics world wide and supplying information on findings free to the general public. (September 2000)

Natural Database -this is a highly respected resource for evidence-based, clinical information on natural medicines. It is the most complete and up-to-date reference available anywhere. (August 2000)

Plants For A Future - a resource centre for rare and unusual plants, particularly those which have edible, medicinal or other uses. We practice vegan-organic permaculture with emphasis on creating an ecologically sustainable environment and Perennial plants. We have two pieces of land, in Devon and Cornwall, where we demonstrate our agricultural principles and carry out research into interesting plants. For a brief introduction to the ideas behind Plants For A Future have a look at our intro leaflet. (July 2000)

A Modern Herbal - The hyper-text version of... A Modern Herbal, first published in 1931, by Mrs. M. Grieve, contains Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs.
(June 2000)

HerbWeb - by Tim Johnson . Founded in 1992, HerbWeb has won several best of the net awards. Designed, developed, wrote, photographed - the entire site. Herbweb is linked to by over 200 websites, and gets between 1000-3000 page hits a day. (May 2000)

TERRALINGUA - Partnerships for Linguistic and Biological Diversity l Terralingua (TL) is an international, nonprofit organization concerned about the future of the world's biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity. Within this broad focus we have two main aims: (1) supporting the perpetuation and continued development of the world's linguistic diversity, and (2) exploring the connections between linguistic, cultural and biological diversity, through a program of research, information, applied work and advocacy. (posted April 2000)

Medicinal Plants and Herbal Medicines - This website summarizes descriptions of plants used in the traditional medicine of Samoa (Polynesia) and is intended to provide information to researchers who wish to learn which plants are applied to various ailments. Further research is needed especially on bioactive compounds, means of preparation, and effectiveness of plants and herbal remedies. "Western" medicine has tended to discredit indigenous medical systems that it has largely replaced, but much can be learned from the wisdom of centuries of native medical practices. | Deutsch version | (posted March 2000

The Rainforest Medical Foundation was established in 1991 by a group of physicians in the Netherlands, who realized that the loss of the rainforest is also an enormous loss of resources for both western and non-western medicine. The general aim is to contribute to the conservation of the tropical rainforest and to support its indigenous people. More specifically, the Foundation seeks to reach its goal through the following health-oriented activities: Focus attention on the conservation, study and use of medicinal plants and their products, Provide material and non-material assistance in the battle against negative health effects resulting from rainforest destruction; Create funds for health projects for people from the rainforests; and Organize a travelling exhibition on the consequences of deforestation to human health.
(posted February 2000)

Online Directory for Medicinal Plant Conservation - This directory is intended to assist in the flow of information between policy makers, scientists and technical experts in the management of medicinal plant resources. In its main section, entries are provided on international organizations, organizations with activities on more than one continent, and organizations with a more specific interest in countries of Africa, America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands, and Europe. (posted January 2000)

HerbMed™ - an interactive, electronic herbal database – provides hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health. (posted November 1999)

BioResources.org - BDCP utilizes its independent and non-governmental status to bring innovative management and technical support to grass-roots sustainable development projects. It serves as an intermediary institution forging equitable partnerships between tropical countries and often inaccessible developmental agencies. (posted October 1999)

Teaching goes Internet CD! XVI International Botanical Congress - Botany online aims at passing on plant knowledge to students and other interested web-users. We hope to prompt you to participate. (posted August 1999)