Conservation of Plant Biodiversity for Food, Medicine, and Resilience

The Biocultural Education and Research Programme, in partnership with Andromeda Botanic Gardens, Coco Hill Forest, Ocean Spray Apartments, and the Bahamas Network of Rural Women Producers (BAHNROP), will host the fourth edition of the biennial symposium Plants and Planting for the Future, April 7th-11th, in Barbados. This symposium aims to bring researchers, and professionals, in the fields of ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, drug discovery, food systems and biocultural traditions, together for vibrant exchange and to also share with an interested general audience.

Barbados, the most easterly of the islands in the Caribbean archipelago, brings a unique topography, history, and culture for exploration. Andromeda Botanic Gardens is the most plant diverse site on the island, being home to over 500 species. The newly installed Ethnobotanical Garden will enhance the biodiversity with the introduction of indigenous species, including many of historical medicinal value. Andromeda is seeing important expansion in social programming with a deck for the differently abled, establishment of The Ground, with a focus on botanical linkages to Africa and the installation of a walkway of food trees. Coco Hill Forest is a developing food forest with the mission of addressing issues of food security and protecting, while building back, the biodiversity that was lost to sugar cane monoculture. Among the species you will see at Coco Hill are bamboo groves, royal palms, indigenous tree ferns, various species of coconuts and bananas, coffee, cocoa and pineapples. BAHNROP is an organization focusing on women empowerment and entrepreneurship that demonstrates the economic value of plant resources.

This edition of the symposium will focus on our history, food culture and tea culture in specially curated afternoon sessions. There will also be standing exhibits and opportunities for entrepreneurs of plant-based products to display their brands. A tour of Coco Hill Forest will end with sampling of their specially formulated rum. Symbolically, we will end our symposium in the Ethnobotanical Garden with a special ceremony for our ancestors who conserved many of the installed species by the expression of their biocultural knowledge that led to their survival.