The Missouri Botanical Gardens, USA, have been promoting the conservation and planting of Sacred Seeds gardens around the planet. The main objective is the preservation of medicinal trees and plants native to distinct regions of the world. Many of these medicinal trees and plants are being lost to deforestation, urban expansion and other factors, while the traditional knowledge of their use is also being lost due to the power of the modern pharmaceutical industry.
The concept behind the Sacred Seeds program is to create botanical gardens where native tree and plant species can be preserved, first for biodiversity reasons, second so that they can become seeds banks for future generations, and third because medicinal trees and plants are important to humans.
These objectives are something that La Pedregoza was happy to adopt, so the founders decided to donate a 16 hectare parcel of land to the project in 2011 which has now expanded to just over 100 hectares in use for this 20 year project.
The land features various elevations and conditions typical of the region, and is backed by a heavily treed savannah drainage creek or Morichal inside the Reserva Natural La Pedregoza. This ideal location is perfect for the Sacred Seeds project and already a number of volunteers have donated their knowledge and time for its creation. Significant participation by local indigenous communities in Vichada is expected as the project progresses, and its ethno-botanical objectives become well known. For example, all trees and plants in the garden will be identified by their scientific, common and indigenous language names.
Colombia