The Eunice Spring of Life Foundation (ESLF) has launched a Community Seed Bank in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State in Nigeria to encourage sustainable practices in the use of traditional medicine among the Ugbe indigenous people.
Speaking about the motivation behind the project, Dr. Eunice Ortom, the founder of the organisation, stated that ESLF collaborated with the UNDP Global Environment Facility-Small Grants Programme (UNDP-GEF-SGP) to implement the initiative as part of its strategic efforts to combat biodiversity loss and inspire ecosystem conservation in the country.
Dr. Ortom, who was represented at the ceremony by Dr. Comfort Abaa, the ESLF Programme Coordinator, added that its goals are to improve value in terms of production and marketing to boost the income of individual practitioners, enhance community prosperity, and improve the economy of both the state and nation at large.
Other stakeholders who commented on the programme applauded the idea and the efforts behind it, urging security in the area to safeguard the scheme and enable it to fulfil its intended purpose.
Timothy Tavershima Ahile, the Ter Kwande and leader Kwande Traditional Council, who commissioned the bank, commended ESLF for launching the project in his area to help preserve medical herbs, which he described as vital to his people’s traditional legacy.
The traditional leader bemoaned the fact that they were losing the majority of their herbs due to indiscriminate bush burning and unrelenting tree felling, a serious issue he admitted the community seed bank would assist in addressing.
“What our forefathers used, which are herbs, for medicinal purposes are fast disappearing. By this intervention, forests will be repopulated with those same herbs that have been assisting our people to address health challenges, and it will go a long way to improve the health of the community,” he said.
Similarly, Tyoor Moon, Chief Gabriel Awua Wende, who traced the project’s origins back to 2021 when he first met ESLF, thanked the foundation and GEF-SGP for constructing the seed bank for his people and raising awareness about biodiversity protection.
Teseer Ugbor, Member Representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency, who was represented by Patrick Pev, Constituency Office Director, praised the project as laudable and asked the community to support and ensure its smooth execution.
Mr. Thaddeus Nyooso, the chairman of the Project Implementation Committee, characterised the project as a predicament eradication, health-boosting, and restoration of domestic and global biodiversity initiative.
He appreciated the series of sensitisation workshops and trainings on sustainable traditional medicine practices carried out under this programme, affirming that traditional medicine is integral to African culture and offers affordable and accessible remedies for all.
“Ugbe is a home of natural resources, and its people are endowed with knowledge of herbs, trees and plant barks that are highly curative for ailments like cancer, hepatitis, diabetes and ulcers, among others,” Nyooso asserted.
On his part, Tine Agernor, manager of the UNDP GEF-SGP project, thanked all of the stakeholders and members of the community for supporting the success of the project, stating that it will have a significant impact on the community both now and in the future.
Other highlights of the occasion included the launch of the community bylaws on natural resources management, the presentation of a certificate of registration to the Ugbe Traditional Medicine Practitioners Cooperative Society, and the inauguration of the Community Forest Guards Group, which would be at the forefront of protecting the community’s biodiversity architecture.
The event concluded with a tour of the Community Seed Bank facility and the official flag-off of planting 1000 indigenous trees in the community to save rare medicinal seed trees from extinction, conserve biodiversity, protect our collective future, and ensure healthier living for all, in line with the ESLF’s vision of “a society without barriers to decent living.
By Etta Michael Bisong, Abuja