Forest plants and resources can help feed more marginalized people while supporting biodiversity conservation

Policies recognizing the value of
forests have multiple benefits.
(Photo by Ruta Celma, Unsplash)

The first humans didn’t have a Walmart or a convenience store, but they did have the forest, which has provided food, medicine and life since the dawn of time.

In an article for the Great Lakes Echo, Victoria Witke wrote that a “notable” number of people in the United States rely on “public forests for food and medicine.” Witke acknowledged that this is a low-cost option.

Jimmy Chamberlain, a researcher in a study conducted in the journal Trees, Forests and People, told Witke that, “policies should be created to recognize forest foods as valuable, thus supporting food production and biodiversity conservation.”

According to Witke's report, "A notable proportion of the U.S. population relies on public forests for food and medicine, but the forest products industry is 'not well served by institutions that set forest management policies,' according to a new study in the journal Trees, Forests and People."

 
Chamberlain said that if public land agencies don’t manage the plants and resources, there will be less food security for the people using them. However, “If we can begin to manage for food and medicine, then we meet the needs of a larger constituency. That constituency is typically economically marginalized – poor people.”

Not only would caring for the forest increase its value and help people, but it is also a meaningful practice that encourages giving care to what provides our resources and discourages greed.

Roger LaBine, of the Lac Vieux Desert Band, told Witke, "his tribe is taught that plants and animals sacrifice for humans, and it’s mankind’s responsibility to protect them."