Of shrub, cactus, vine and toad: psychedelic species of conservation concern

Summary & key facts

This review looks at four well-known natural psychedelics — the peyote cactus, the ayahuasca vine, the iboga shrub, and the Sonoran Desert toad — and asks how safe their wild populations are. The authors say these plants and animals face threats from climate change, losing habitat, and people harvesting too much. They also point out that we lack basic long-term data about their populations, genetics, and chemical make-up, and that more work is needed on sustainable ways to collect and protect them. The paper highlights efforts by Indigenous and local communities to care for these medicines and suggests ways scientists and policymakers could support those efforts.

Key facts:

• The review examined conservation issues for four species used as natural psychedelics: peyote cactus, ayahuasca vine, iboga shrub, and the Sonoran Desert toad.
• The authors report that these species face common threats such as climate change, habitat loss, and overharvesting by people.
• All four species suffer from large gaps in scientific knowledge that make conservation hard. Those gaps include a lack of long-term population monitoring and little information on genetic and chemical differences within species.
• The paper calls for research into sustainable harvest methods and management so people can use these medicines without destroying wild populations.
• The authors describe ongoing efforts by Indigenous and local communities to preserve these medicines and recommend those efforts be supported and integrated into conservation plans.
• The review warns that without better data and coordinated conservation actions, the availability of these wild medicines and the cultural practices linked to them could be put at risk.

Abstract

Psychedelics have a profound potential to catalyze psychological transformation and support traditional cultures and ways of life. However, many naturally occurring psychoactive plants and animals are facing threats from climate change, habitat loss and other anthropogenic pressures like overharvesting. In this narrative review we examine the conservation issues pertaining to some of the most well-known naturally occurring psychedelics: peyote (Lophophora williamsii), ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi), iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) and the Sonoran Desert toad (Incilius alvarius). For each of the four species we aim to: review their conservation status; assess the sustainability of current sourcing practices; discuss pathways for sustainability of access; examine the efforts underway to preserve these medicines by Indigenous people and local communities; and propose how these efforts could be supported or expanded. This review focuses on an urgent issue of conservation of naturally occurring psychedelic plant and animal species and draws attention to their conservation needs. We conclude that despite biological and ecological differences, all four species face similar knowledge gaps limiting evidence-based conservation. Priorities across species include: long-term ecological and demographic monitoring; genetic and chemical diversity studies; sustainable harvest and management research; integration of Indigenous knowledge and socio-cultural research into conservation frameworks.

Topics

Biochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques Plant and animal studies Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Agroforestry Biodiversity Biodiversity conservation Climate change Conservation biology Deforestation (computer science) Ecology Environmental ethics Environmental planning Environmental resource management Ethnobiology Geography Habitat Habitat destruction Indigenous Limiting Narrative review Plant species Sustainability Sustainable management Traditional knowledge Umbrella species Vine Wildlife conservation

Substances

Ayahuasca Ibogaine Other