Fostering a State of Symbiosis Between Humans and Nature

By Finn Rautenbach

Living in the rural Eastern Cape, I am surrounded by vast, wild spaces for as far as the eye can see. Roaming antelope are a common occurrence on my morning runs and even as I drive along the national freeway, the sweet scent of wild jasmine and taaibos blooms remain a constant. Though I have become quite used to a life surrounded by nature, I too am starkly aware of the fact that spaces like these are becoming increasingly rare. When pondering this reality, many of our knee-jerk responses tend to lean toward the complete exclusion of humans from the precious natural safe havens that remain. Though, if I allow myself to think past my immediate reaction, it is my opinion that nature has always been a part of human civilisation, and it is only through carefully actioned integration that we both will persevere.

Whether we are aware of it or not, wild plants form an integral part of all of our lives, and not only by means of their vital ecological roles and the deep feeling of contentment they bring us when we surround ourselves with them. For as long as humans have existed, we have benefitted from wild plants in the form of medicines, foods, spices, and the production of tools. The contemporary world is no exception to this fact. According to (Chen et al., 2016), up to 80% of people in developing countries still make use of wild plants as medicines and at least 25% of medicines used in developed countries are derived from wild plant species (a demand that has increased by 8 – 15% in Europe, North America, and Asia in the recent past). To me, this points out one of the integrally important facts that will guide the conservation action of our times: we are a part of this ecosystem and should act accordingly.

Excluding humans as an active vector in wild spaces means overlooking a global trade of medicinal and aromatic plant species valued at an estimated 3 billion US Dollars in 2015 (Timoshyna et al., 2020), a suggested 1,3 billion kg of plant material (approximately 36% of the value of which came from wild collected plants) being exported from China in 2013 (Timoshyna et al., 2020) and the 3,400 indigenous plant species recorded for their medicinal properties in Southern Africa alone (Arnold et al., 2002).

Once we accept our role within the ecosystem, we can take responsibility for it. What if humans' role in the wild is not inherently bad? What if through taking up the responsibility of being a keystone species, we can be inherently good? Part of this responsibility means taking a deep look at where the wild plants that we all use come from and how the plant, surrounding environment, and people responsible for the harvest were treated. This may seem a daunting task for both consumers and producers, but fortunately, organizations such as the FairWild Foundation have taken it upon themselves to provide meaningful support towards this vision.

The FairWild Foundation is an initiative that recognises the intimate, unbreakable link between ecological and social equitability. As active members of the ecosystem, the social well-being of people should be held on equal ground to those of the plants. When approached in this manner, a largely extractive relationship can be fostered into becoming a state of symbiosis, or as known in South Africa, Ubuntu. Based on this core understanding, the FairWild Standard was born. Companies that wish to strengthen the social and environmental impact of their wild-sourced operations can certify themselves against this standard. Over the last 10 years, the FairWild foundation has supported 35 companies over four continents in achieving this (FairWild Foundation, 2023).

Recently, at Afrigetics Botanicals , we have begun the journey of certifying a portion of our Pelargonium sidoides supply chain against the FairWild Standard. Through the process of audit preparation and the physical audit we carefully explored the integrity of each component of our supply chain, deepened the relationship with individual harvesters, widened our knowledge of the plant and the ecosystem in which it resides, and made notable improvements in the traceability of Pelargonium sidoides roots, from harvester to product.

As a core member of the FairWild team at Afrigetics, I have been largely responsible for coordinating and mapping the process throughout the supply chain. When I allow myself to zoom out and view what we have learned from the process thus far, what I see is the development of an ecosystem. In this microcosm, a complex web of humans interact with wild Pelargonium sidoides plants. Just like in all natural cycles, the success of each member is integrally linked to the success of their human and plant counterparts and through the implemented traceability processes, each member is held accountable for their roles. Some may call this business emulating natural systems, but I would go one step further and call it a business accepting its responsibility within the ecosystem in which it already exists. Is this one step closer to humans realizing their potential as inherently good species within the natural world? I certainly hope so.

Sources:

Arnold, T. H., Prentice, C. A., Hawker, L. C., Snyman, E. E., Tomalin, M., Crouch, N. R., & Pottas-Bircher, C. (2002). Medicinal and magical plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist (T. H. Arnold, C. A. Prentice, L. C. Hawker, E. E. Snyman, M. Tomalin, N. R. Crouch, & C. Pottas-Bircher (eds.); 1st ed.). National Botanical Institute.

Chen, S. L., Yu, H., Luo, H. M., Wu, Q., Li, C. F., & Steinmetz, A. (2016). Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: Problems, progress, and prospects. Chinese Medicine (United Kingdom), 11(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-016-0108-7

FairWild Foundation. (2023). FairWild in Action. FairWild Foundation. https://www.fairwild.org/fairwild-in-action

Timoshyna, A., Ke, Z., Yang, Y., Ling, X., & TRAFFIC. (2020). Controlling the invisible trade: wild plant resources and their sustainability. WCO News. https://mag.wcoomd.org/magazine/wco-news-92-june-2020/controlling-the-invisible-trade-wild-plant-resources-and-their-sustainability/

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