Description: Do plants need saving? Yes. Why? Susan Leopold, executive director of United Plant Savers, unitedplantsavers.org. shares reasons why we are in danger of losing many plant species, through loss of habitat, overharvesting, non-sustainable farming practices. “United Plant Savers’ mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.” Join Susan and me in a timely, deeply important discussion about preserving plants and their habitats for future generations.
About the Guest: Susan Leopold, Ph.D. Susan is an ethnobotanist and passionate defender of biodiversity. Over the past 20 years, Susan has worked extensively with indigenous peoples in Peru and Costa Rica. She is the Executive Director of United Plant Savers [www.unitedplantsavers.org] and Director of the Sacred Seeds Project. Prior to working at United Plant Savers, she was a rare botanical book librarian at the Oak Spring Garden Library, specializing in digitizing rare herbals and botanical travel manuscripts. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Botanical Dimensions and the Center for Sustainable Economy. She is an advisory board member of ABC and a co-founder of the Medicines from the Edge conference in Costa Rica. She is a proud member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia and the author of the children’s book, Isabella’s Peppermint Flower, teaching about Virginia’s botanical history. She lives on and manages a productive farm, the Indian Pipe Botanical Sanctuary with her three children in Virginia, where she raises goats, peacocks, and herbs. She is an avid recreational tree climber, in love with the canopy just as much as the herbs of the forest floor.
Podcast Transcript: Susan Leopold Transcript
