Medicinal Resources of the Tropical Forest: Biodiversity and Its Importance to Human Health (Biology and Resource Management Series) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231101708 ISBN 13: 9780231101707

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1996

Synopsis

This book opens readers' eyes to the enormous resources of the Earth's rain forests and the potential impact of their destruction in terms of human health.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

According to World Health Organization estimates, some 80 percent of people living in developing countries rely on harvested wild plants for some part of their primary health care. Medicinal Resources of the Tropical Forest stands at the forefront of the dialogue on the subject, opening readers' eyes to the enormous resources of the earth's rain forests and the potential impact of their destruction in terms of human healthto inhabitants of both the developing and the developed world. Covering a wide spectrum of subjects in biodiversity, ethnomedicine, ethnobotany, and pharmacognosy, and including regional work ranging from Africa to Asia, from the Caribbean to Central and South America, the distinguished researchers assembled here offer the most comprehensive survey available of the current literature. Unlike much of the work on the topic, Medicinal Resources of the Tropical Forest provides readers with more than a mere listing of plants and their reputed benefits. The authors call attention to the ways in which the natural habitats of these plants can be protected from damage or destruction. They provide detailed information on establishing drug discovery efforts, laying the groundwork for a basic pool of knowledge for pharmaceutical companies and smaller-scale entrepreneurs. The book also explores the ethical issue of intellectual property rights pertaining to tropical resources and their diverse medicinal uses, with an eye toward promoting economic opportunity in developing countries.

About the Author:

Michael J. Balick is director and philecology curator at the New York Botanical Garden Institute of Economic Botany, and adjunct professor in forestry at Yale University and the City University of New York.

Elaine Elisabetsky is professor at the Laboratório de Ethnofarmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

Saraah A. Laird is research fellow at the Rainforest Alliance, and former director of the Rainforest Alliance's Periwinkle Project.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0231101708
• ISBN 13: 9780231101707
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 440
• Editor: Balick Michael, Elisabetsky Elaine, Laird Sarah