I Don't Want to Talk About It

30% of the 7,400 languages on the planet seem likely to disappear in the near future. As the languages fade, knowledge about potentially beneficial medicinal plants will be lost (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/08/knowledge-of-medicinal-plants-at-risk-as-languages-die-out). Dr Rodrigo Camara-Leret effectively illustrates the link between language loss and knowlege of ecosystems services. He looked at 12,000 medicinal plants and 230 indigenous languages located in the 'hot spots' of North America, North-west Amazonia and New Guinea. Camara-Leret found that 73% of knowledge about medicinal plants in North America, was linked to a single, indigenous language. Comparable figures for North-west Amazonia and New Guinea were respectively 91 and 84%. So, losses of a single indigenous language, in each of these three locations, would lead to substantial declines in knowledge about likely plant-based 'cures'. We had better get 'in there', quickly!