The use of plants for medicinal purposes has been evident across cultures for many thousands of years. For most of human history, plant medicines were one of the main components in natural healing. As the importance and use of ‘Western medicine’ and pharmaceuticals has increased, however, the use of medicinal plants and natural medicine has declined, and in many places, local plant knowledge is declining.

Ethnobotany is the study of how people of a particular culture make use of the plants that grow in the geographical region where they live. Local plant use encompasses many aspects of people’s lives. In The Bahamas, plant knowledge is part of the Bahamian oral tradition. The use of plants for medicinal purposes, or “bush medicine”, has been part of the local culture for hundreds of years. Plants in The Bahamas are used to cure common ailments such as colds, the flu, gastrointestinal problems, and diabetes. Unfortunately, the tradition of bush medicine in The Bahamas is declining because of cultural and socioeconomic changes and the increased availability of Western medicine.

The overall goal of ethnobotany research at the Cape Eleuthera Institute is to learn about bush medicine from local communities and help record and preserve this segment of Bahamian culture. Through interviews with local community members and bush medicine experts, we have compiled medicinal information on over 50 plants. Based on this information students at The Island School have developed a herbarium that includes detailed information on medicinal uses and preparations of key plants. A medicinal plant garden is also currently being built on The Island School campus to help preserve traditional bush medicine knowledge and establish easily accessible plants for medicinal use. Our work also includes a field book on bush medicine plants, and testing the feasibility of propagating medicinal plants in an aquaponics system as well as in a garden environment.