Traditional medicine News

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Protecting pangolins IRL, not just on paper: Interview with conservationist Kumar Paudel

Abhaya Raj Joshi 24 Nov 2025
Tropical forest and river in Suriname. Image courtesy of Mark J. Plotkin.

Top ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin’s COP30 reflections on Amazon conservation (analysis)

Mark J. Plotkin 17 Nov 2025

The uncertain future of DRC’s traditional medicine, a heritage to save (commentary)

Blaise Kasereka Makuta 6 Nov 2025
Noraeri Thungmueangthong is a village leader in Huay Ee Khang village in northern Thailand.

Forest sanctuaries and spiritual balance in the Karen highlands of Thailand

Carolyn Cowan 22 Oct 2025
White-bellied pangolin on a tree.

In southeast Nigeria, pangolins hunted for meat, not scales, study finds

Spoorthy Raman 10 Sep 2025
Ampalaya, or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia)

Filipino communities use vast variety of endemic plants for health: Study

Keith Anthony Fabro 12 Aug 2025
Thai authorities seized more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of ivory hidden in luggage shipped out from Congo to Laos via Bangkok in 2015.

Large-scale illegal wildlife shops in Laos found scamming Chinese tourists

Mongabay.com 22 Jul 2025
Pangolins curl into a ball as part of their self-defense, with scales acting as armor to protect their body. The WJC report estimates that the 370 tons of pangolin scales seized between 2015 and 2024 represent between 100,000 and a million pangolins.

The illegal trade in ivory and pangolin scales has fallen sharply since COVID-19. But for how long?

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jun 2025
A mimic poison frog (Ranitomeya imitator).

EU remains major wildlife trafficking hub, report finds

Keith Anthony Fabro 23 Jun 2025
Banner image of the rescued bears, courtesy of Free the Bears.

Three moon bears rescued in first closure of Laos bile farm

Kristine Sabillo 22 Apr 2025
Raffles' banded langur

Action plan aims to save Asia’s leaf-eating monkeys amid ‘alarming’ declines

Carolyn Cowan 15 Apr 2025
Western lowland gorilla.

‘Some people will die’: Conversations with Nigeria’s gorilla hunters

Orji Sunday 27 Feb 2025

Vietnam and China partner on wildlife-friendly traditional medicine practices

Spoorthy Raman 6 Feb 2025

Vietnam grapples with ‘alarming popularity’ of online illegal wildlife trade

Carolyn Cowan 27 Jan 2025
Carteret islanders on a canoe. Image credit: Friends of the Earth.

In a Noah’s Ark move, PNG migrants bring thousands of trees to safer ground

Thibault Le Pivain 21 Nov 2024
Santa Marta's traditional medicine doctors Mauricio Martínez, Elicia Martínez and Viviana Montero stand among a plot of land containing curative plants.

The Panamanian shamans working to save their ancestral medicinal plants

Adam D. Williams 22 Oct 2024
Two young gorillas play in Gabon. Experts say humans' and gorillas' shared used of medicinal plants highlights the interconnectedness between humans and other apes. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

Indigenous knowledge proves key in a study of plants gorillas use to self-medicate

Charles Mpaka 3 Oct 2024
argeting demand for rhino horn-based products must complement efforts to protect rhinos from poaching. Image by Geranimo via Unsplash.

As a medicine, study finds rhino horn useless — and potentially toxic

Juliette Portala 3 Sep 2024
From left: Florinda Zurdo, Silvia Salina and Patricia Mendoza stand in a plot of land near ASASTRAN’s site in Lajero where traditional medicine is cultivated.

Indigenous midwives in Panama strive to preserve traditional medicine for maternal health

Adam D. Williams 25 Jul 2024
Juanita Torremocha harvests a medicinal herb in her backyard, located near Mount Bandilaan National Park at the heart of Siquijor Island.

Traditional healers in Philippines keep their ‘forest pharmacy’ standing

Keith Anthony Fabro 9 Feb 2024
Neem flowers

Ghana’s medicinal plants, the ‘first aid’ for communities, are under threat

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 2 Feb 2024
Chörtens right outside the walled city of Lo Manthang. Image by Jean-Marie Hullot via Flickr (CC BY 2.0 Deed).

Traditional healers push for recognition and licensing of age-old Himalayan practice

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 5 Dec 2023
Rock gecko

For Vietnam’s rare reptiles, lack of captive populations may spell doom

Carolyn Cowan 21 Sep 2023
A red silk-cotton plantation.

Bangladesh ‘Village of Herbs’ profits from planting rather than cutting trees

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla 21 Jul 2023
Amanita muscaria is a mushroom that is both hallucinogenic and poisonous. Image posted by creator 942784 to the Creative Commons via Pixabay.

‘A psychedelic renaissance’: How hallucinogens can aid conservation

Mike DiGirolamo 20 Jun 2023
A cordycep dealer.

Local coverage of Nepal’s ‘Himalayan Viagra’ harvest lacks eco focus, study says

Abhaya Raj Joshi 19 Oct 2022
A rhododendron tree

Documenting Nepal’s plant-based medical tradition: Q&A with Ram Prasad Chaudhary

Abhaya Raj Joshi 28 Sep 2022
Slow loris in cage

Myanmar wildlife trade remains opaque, despite focus on border hubs

Carolyn Cowan 7 Jul 2022
“Naná" Gracia is an Indigenous P'urhépecha midwife, seen here in her ekuarho with granddaughter Alma in Angahuan, Michoachán, Mexico. Image by Monica Pelliccia for Mongabay.

Indigenous agroforestry dying of thirst amid a sea of avocados in Mexico

Monica Pelliccia 8 Jun 2022
Yadi, a member of the Menapo House

Saving medicinal plants a village cause in Indonesia

Warief Djajanto Basorie, Yitno Suprapto 26 May 2022
Pangolin_by Rhett Butler

‘A risky business’: Online illegal wildlife trade continues to soar in Myanmar

Carolyn Cowan 4 Apr 2022

Where trafficked pangolins originate is a puzzle, hobbling efforts to save them

Malavika Vyawahare 18 Feb 2022

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