Director :   Mike Pandey
Producer :   Riverbank Studios

Censor Rating :   NA

Duration :   24 min

Year of Production :   2002

Genre :   Documentary Film

Category :    Environment

 

Synopsis :   

This film traces the evolution and discovery of medicinal plants and tribal wisdom in India to show how historically and culturally they have been integral part of India.

About 80% of the developing world still relies on age-old medicinal practices based on the curative properties of plants found in the area. Today, the modern world is moving towards this traditional practices creating a phenomenal demand for medicinal plants. Strangely, the bulk of the plants traded are gathered from 'wild' forest sources-very few species are cultivated. This created a major stress on natural resources-some himalayan are already close to extinction due to this dangerous trend. India is one of the richest bio-diversity hotspots in the world, supporting over 45,000 species of plants agricultural and medicinal.

The film explores and brings out the essence of the inter-dependence and way of living of tribal communities that have since time immemorial depended on the forest for all their needs, including healing purposes. It looks into the philosophy of traditional medicinal practices and discusses what future steps and measures are required to conserve and protect the medicinal heritage that is ours.