Abstract: Of the 250,000 species of higher plants, about half are found in the tropical regions of the world. Tropical forests are a rich source of biological diversity, and are home to a vast assortment of flora and fauna. This lecture will discuss the importance of the tropical forest for the discovery of modern therapeutic drugs, as well as for plants used in traditional healing by indigenous cultures. Dr. Balick will discuss his work with Dr. Rosita Arvigo, a naprapathic physician and resident of Belize, Central America. They have worked together since 1987 on the Belize Ethnobotany Project to carry out a countrywide inventory of the uses of the plants found in Belize. Over two dozen traditional healers and other local experts in forest utilization have participated in this effort to collect, identify and evaluate thousands of plant specimens gathered from the tropical ecosystem.

Dr. Balick will discuss the methodology of plant exploration in the tropical forest, as well as introduce some of the traditional healers that he and his colleagues have worked with in Central America and Micronesia. The importance of traditional knowledge in addressing contemporary ecological and conservation problems will be discussed. Only one-half of one percent of the flowering and cone-bearing plants of the world has been exhaustively examined for their chemical composition and medicinal potential. From this, one-quarter of Western prescription medicines have been developed. Clearly, there is a great potential in the remaining species of the tropical forests for their contribution to modern health care. However, in seeking this potential, scientists find themselves in a race against time, with both tropical forests being destroyed and indigenous knowledge about the uses of the plants and their environment rapidly being lost.