EW97-018 Vargo.Pub
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
M EDICINAL PLANTS FOR SAMOA Situation A number of plants native to Samoa have long been used for medicinal and other purposes. To assure that the plants – and knowledge of their traditional uses – are Western SARE Program not lost in an age of increased Phil Rasmussen, Coordinator use of modern medicines, this Utah State University Professional Development Agricultural Science Building Program grants seeks to edu- Room 305 cate interested individuals 4865 Old Main Hill about the plants and collect Logan, Utah 84322-4865 specimens for a variety of (435) 797-2257 uses. (435) 797-3344 fax Objectives Jim Currie and Totoa Currie, both involved in the project, during the American Samoa 1. Conduct a workshop on opening ceremonies for the Medicinal Garden in July 1999. SARE Coordinator: the botany of native Samoan plants traditionally used for gram with permanent speci- tanical garden at the college Don Vargo medicines and other pur- mens for use in identifying Agricultural Experiment Sta- American Samoa Community College poses, focusing on the cul- plants with medicinal and tion. P.O. Box 5319 tural, biological and economic other traditional uses. 4. Prepare a plant key that Pago Pago, AS 96799 importance of these plants. 3. Establish a collection of includes descriptions, slides 011 (684) 699-2550 2. Establish a herbarium at living specimens of native and prints of the plants. [email protected] the American Samoa Commu- plants, used for medicinal nity College Land Grants Pro- and other purposes, as a bo- http://wsare.usu.edu Professional Development Program Grant Alaska Project Number: EW97-018 American Samoa Project Title: Constructing a Her- Arizona barium, Collection and Key to Medicinal Plants and Other California Traditional Plants of Samoa Colorado Project Coordinator: Federated States of Micronesia Don Vargo Guam Research Coordinator Hawaii American Samoa Community Idaho College Montana P.O. Box 5319 Nevada Pago Pago, AS 96799 New Mexico 011 (684) 699-2550 Northern Mariana Islands [email protected] Oregon Major Participant: Utah Arthur Whistler, University of Washington Hawaii Ethnobotanist Staff members at the Medicinal Gardens inspect the aromatic fern. Wyoming SARE Grant: $15,510 5. Prepare a booklet for local use that features the key, descriptions and photo- graphs of the plants. Actions The project coordinators held an eight-day botanical workshop Dec. 2-11, 1997, under the direction of Arthur Whistler, a noted ethno- botanist with the University of Hawaii and an expert in the flora of Polynesia. Whistler, who has broad experience in Western SARE, a Samoa, taught 19 partici- USDA organization, pants who attended the full workshop and a handful of funds grants for re- others who attended selected search and education sessions. Two of the participants, that develop or promote from the American Samoa some aspect of agricul- Department of Education, subsequently conducted mini- tural sustainability, workshops for teachers in which embraces elementary and secondary schools, with the goal of mak- ing environmental education more pertinent and interest- • profitable farms ing to schoolchildren of Ameri- and ranches can Samoa. • a healthy environ- Results The project resulted in the The herbarium collection is available to professionals. ment establishment • strong families and of a herbarium collection will never be all- and botanical inclusive. However, at any communities. garden and the given time, about 50 species preparation of a can be found in the garden, guide to Sa- each signed by Samoan and The Western Region, moan medicinal botanical names. and traditional The herbarium collection is one of four SARE re- plants, a botani- available to professionals, cal taxonomic gions nationwide, is who may examine mounted key and a guide specimens in the climate- administered through to the most controlled room housing the Utah State University. commonly used medicinal collection. plants of Sa- Potential Benefits moa. The Medicinal Garden draws schoolchildren and Western SARE: traditional healers alike. The garden provides a Vargo re- valuable resource on the use http://wsare.usu.edu ports (email Aug. 2, 2007) they also contribute to the of plants for traditional medi- that the Medicinal Garden garden’s collection by bring- cine and a source of such continues to be a draw during National SARE ing in plants and explaining plants for island traditional campus tours by schoolchil- www.sare.org their uses. healers, and the herbarium dren and traditional healers. provides a resource for pro- Because some plants are The healers are allowed to fessionals to study of plants harvest small amounts of not well adapted to the condi- found in Samoa’s rain forest. needed materials as long as tions at the garden site, the .