Centuries before the arrival of Western medicine, the Baka and Bakola communities of the East and South Regions mastered the “Forest Pharmacopoeia.” This piece documents the sophisticated classification of over 200 plant species used for treating everything from malaria to respiratory ailments. It emphasizes the importance of the Moabi tree and various barks, while warning that deforestation isn’t just a loss of timber, but the destruction of a living, oral medical library that could hold the key to future pharmaceutical breakthroughs.
The Baka “Forest Pharmacopoeia”: Ancient Medicine in a Modern World
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