The
South East Asian rain forests are the most biodiverse natural habitats
on 
the
planet. As such they are considered to be the last great frontiers for
new medicinal discovery. However we are faced with a race against time
as this natural resource is being threatened from unsustainable harvesting
of timber and huge land clearing for agricultural use. While the problem
is one of economics it is increasingly being shown that sustainable
economic alternatives to rain forest destruction do exist. Sustainable
harvesting of the unique resources found in the rain forest, such as
its medicinal plants for natural medicines and chemical prospecting
(pharmaceutical) purposes can far exceed the returns on timber and farming.
On top of this is the numerous rain forest riches in the form of tropical
fruits, nuts, seeds, oils, resins, rattan and so on. While the rain
forest provides us with the necessary requirements for our life, the
balance must be met whereby profits are not at the expense of the environment.
If used sustainably, it will continue to serve the needs of the world
for many generations to come.
Rainforest
Herbs and its parent company, Asia Botanicals are committed
to the preservation of rain forests by promoting appreciation of its
medicinal riches as well
as the ethnobotanical knowledge of its indigenous inhabitants. Since
1995 we
have
undertaken various herbal propagation projects around the 
country
to ensure
the sustainable supply of herbs and to prevent the damage done by indiscriminate
collecting. This includes financing schemes whereby the local people
can grow certain herbs particularly suited to that area under the natural
rain forest canopy. In this process the local people also benefit directly
from the transmission of their wisdom, and are offered a sustainable
source of income.
We
are committed to
creating awareness of the medicinal riches of the rain forest and pioneering
the sustainable commercialization of these herbs into modern herbal
products. We use only the highest quality herbs produced by sustainable
wildcrafting and organic farming methods. It is our firm belief that
by experiencing the added health benefits from these natural and organic rain forest herbs, a
person is also reconnected to the environment and the process of environmental
awareness is enhanced.
“In
the end,
we will conserve only what we love,
we will love only what we understand,
we will understand only
what we are taught.”
