Wild Harvester Stories

Wild harvesters are the backbone of the herbal products industry, yet they’re facing real problems that threaten both their livelihoods and the ecosystems they depend on.

The SHI Wild Plants Working Group has received funding from AHPA’s Foundation for Education and Research on Botanicals (ERB) to interview wild harvesters from around the world to understand what’s really happening on the ground. This isn’t just academic research. Our goal is to build a framework that actually supports the people doing this vital work while protecting the wild places where these plants grow.

By listening to the collectors themselves and documenting their experiences across different regions and cultures, we’re filling in knowledge gaps that exist in the herbal industry. The goal is simple: create sourcing practices that work for everyone – the environment, the communities, and the industry that depends on both.

This research will show us how to build a more sustainable and fair future for wild plant harvesting, one that honors both the ecological wisdom of these practices and the people who carry them forward.

We will add these stories as we complete them.