[MPWG] Film release: Numen: The Healing Power of Plants

[Ann Armbrecht]

Hi,

Thanks so much, Patricia, for helping to get the word out about Numen and
thanks for the conversation here!

A few comments: we'll update the information on our site about the Fair
Wild Standard, thanks for that. UpS has been a tremendous supporter of
Numen - and all of the films coming out about herbal medicine, and there
are a number out there right now! We (some of the filmmakers) are talking
about forming an herbal film alliance to help promote the films and the
issues they each explore, different aspects with a similar theme about,
Robin, as you say, connecting/re-connecting with the earth through the
plants. We'll have more information about that soon.

I'd love the help of followers of this list in getting the word out about
the film. We are a tiny operation working on an even tinier budget and the
way this film will get out is by word of mouth. We hope you'll take a look
and, if you like what you see, consider hosting a screening, telling your
friends, asking your local library to purchase a film, encouraging your
high school to host a screening (we have a reduced public library license
now available), suggest groups and individuals I should contact for
outreach etc. And, as Patricia mentioned, your purchase of the film helps
support this outreach. Thank you in advance!!

And, to end, I wanted to share one of my favorite passages from the film,
by Isla Burgess:


"I think in today’s world the connection between people, plants and planet
is becoming more separate as people congregate into cities and don’t have
that time in the wild. So we’ve forgotten how to connect to the plants,
we’ve forgotten how to listen carefully, we’ve forgotten how to hear their
song. And the more we can encourage this in this world, the better
relationship we’re going to have. We’ll know that we can’t, we’ll have to
stop the abuse of the planet. And that can only mean an increase in
wellness for all that live on earth."


Thanks so much,

Ann




_______________

Ann Armbrecht, PhD
802 224 7001
www.numenfilm.com
http://www.numenfilm.com/blog/


On Thu, Jul 11, 2013 at 8:27 PM, Susan Leopold
<susan at unitedplantsavers.org>wrote:

> Hi All,
> I think this is a great discussion and UpS has supported the Numen project
> and many other film right now that are sharing this important message of
> reconnecting and awareness. I of course agree with all the comments and
> resources mentioned, and I love the fairwild and Traditional Medicinal's
> role in supporting this program and encouraging other companies to follow.
> UpS with its at-risk list has also been effective in consumer education and
> awareness here in North America. There is a major disconnect as discussed
> and also a re-emergence of people reconnecting and the encouragement of *Botanical
> Sanctuaries* is a timely piece to this solution to address the rapid loss
> of wild sourced botanicals and critical genetic diversity of medicinals and
> in UpS's case we highlight specifically a red zone in regards to the rich
> Appalachian forest dwelling medicinals. UpS has a network now of over 100
> private sanctuaries across the country and the Goldenseal sanctuary is now
> apart of the sacred seed global network of medicinal plant sanctuaries....
> It so great to hear so many thoughtful responses from various agencies and
> individuals and I highlight GLOBAL voices as well. UpS has an at-risk
> ranking tool that has been in the works now for many years, we presented
> this tool at the Ethnobiology Conference in Denton Texas, May 2013, below
> is a link to a brief article.  We will soon be posting this tool on our
> website this fall in hopes it will be used by agencies, classrooms, and
> companies to help evaluate medicinal plants of concern in regards to over
> harvesting and help determine those species we should be prioritizing
> protecting critical habitat and encouraging botanical sanctuaries. Thank
> you all on this list for your efforts towards the conservation of the
> peoples medicine...
>
>
> http://www.unitedplantsavers.org/content.php/441-At-Risk-Tool-presented-in-Texas!
>
> Susan Leopold, PhD
> Executive Director, UpS
> susan at unitedplantsavers.org
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 11, 2013, at 1:36 PM, Anastasiya Timoshyna wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Patricia, many thanks for drawing attention to the FairWild Standard and
> the history of ISSC-MAP in the message around the launch of Numen: the
> Healing Power of Plants movie (congratulations for it!).
>
> I wanted to briefly clarify that FairWild Standard (
> www.fairwild.org/standard), while used for third-party certification, is
> also recognized and used as the best practice in sustainable wild
> harvesting and fair trade to develop resource management policies, update
> legislation, support community management of wild collection, and develop
> companies internal supply chain policies/codes of conduct. It is also
> included as the best practice tool to support the delivery of selected
> Targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) of Convention
> for Biological Diversity (CBD), and was used to support the formulation of
> the Non-Detriment Findings under CITES.
>
> The support to the development of FairWild Standard, and its uptake
> through companies sourcing, community and government resource management,
> is in the core of TRAFFIC’s Medicinal and Aromatic Plants programme (see
> more here http://www.traffic.org/medicinal-plants), delivered through a
> number of regional offices in both source  and consumer countries globally.
> Here’s the link to some of the latest news on FairWild development:
> http://www.traffic.org/home/category/plants-medicinal-and-aromatic. In
> the US, it is now possible to find teas with the FairWild mark in the
> local drugstores, courtesy of Traditional Medicinals (
> http://www.traditionalmedicinals.com/sustainable-sourcing#fair_wild), and
> we hope others will follow!
>
> Do let me know if you have any questions about FairWild Standard and
> TRAFFIC’s work ensuring wild plants are harvested and traded sustainably.
> And congratulations once again on movie launch!
>
> Best regards,
> Nastya
> --
> Anastasiya Timoshyna
> Medicinal Plants Programme Leader
> TRAFFIC International
>
> located WWF Hungary
> Almos vezer utja 69/a
> Tel: +36 1 214 55 54 (ext.132)
> Fax: +36 1 212 93 53
> Mob: +36 70 207 0233
> *Please note my new email*: anastasiya.timoshyna at traffic.org
>
> On 11 July 2013 14:52, De Angelis, Patricia <patricia_deangelis at fws.gov>wrote:
>
>> A listserve member posed this very important question to me in a
>> follow-up to my post yesterday about the new film, Numen: The Healing Power
>> of Plants.
>>
>> THE QUESTION:  How is plant conservation addressed in the film?
>>
>> THE ANSWER, FROM THE CO-PRODUCER OF THE FILM, Ann Armbrecht:
>>
>> "There is a longer version of the film that focuses on the business of
>> herbs, key questions to ask in purchasing herbal products, and the
>> importance of being aware of where they come from, how they are grown and
>> harvested and that leads into a discussion of United Plant Savers. We have
>> removed that section in this version mostly because the film was just too
>> long. But also because we no longer felt we could do justice to the
>> business of herbal products, which is a huge, complex and extremely mixed
>> industry in a 10 min section of a longer film. We chose to focus more on
>> the relationship with plants, emphasis on growing your own medicine, etc
>> and not the herbal industry/products per se. I know that doesn't really
>> address the question, except that that would be an entirely different film.
>> We are going to add this section from the original film w/business of herbs
>> and the section on UpS as stand alone sections on our website as soon as we
>> can get around to it."
>>
>> I WOULD ADD:
>>
>> The Numen website points you toward additional information on
>> sustainability. On the page titled, the "Business of Herbalism," see the
>> section on Social and Ecological Sustainability with a link to the
>> International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and
>> Aromatic Plants (
>> http://www.numenfilm.com/issues-business-of-herbalism.php).
>>
>> The ISSC Map was developed by a cadre of excellent medicinal plant
>> experts from across the world, including the IUCN-Medicinal Plant
>> Specialist Group, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the
>> World Wildlife Fund Germany and TRAFFIC, and Traditional Medicinals (
>> http://www.floraweb.de/map-pro/decisionboard.html).
>>
>> The ISSC-MAP was adopted by the FairWild Foundation, created in 2008,
>> which certifies that products with the FairWild label are legally and
>> sustainably sourced and fairly traded (http://www.fairwild.org/).
>>
>> I hope this helps. Thank you for the question.
>>
>>
>> Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
>> Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
>> Service-International Affairs
>> Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
>> 4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
>> Arlington, VA  22203
>> 703-358-1708 x1753
>> FAX: 703-358-2276
>>
>> Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal
>> plants.
>> <www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>
>>
>> Follow International Affairs
>> > on Twitter  http://twitter.com/USFWSInternatl
>> > on Facebook   http://www.facebook.com/USFWS_InternationalAffairs
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 1:54 PM, De Angelis, Patricia <
>> patricia_deangelis at fws.gov> wrote:
>>
>>> Please see the message below about a gorgeous film that is being
>>> released called, Numen: The Healing Power of Plants.  It is a welcome
>>> arrival for those of us who believe in the power of plants, highlighting
>>> several major concepts that demonstrate the relevance of medicinal plants
>>> to our everyday lives and to our future.  It features an array of our best
>>> known and most beloved medicinal plant experts. The producers have
>>> indicated that all sales are currently slated to support the further
>>> dissemination of the film so that they may bring the information to wider
>>> audiences.
>>>
>>>
>>> Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
>>> Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
>>> Service-International Affairs
>>> Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
>>> 4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
>>> Arlington, VA  22203
>>> 703-358-1708 x1753
>>> FAX: 703-358-2276
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>>
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>>
>> Disclaimer
>> Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc.
>> reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The
>> information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a
>> substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific
>> medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information
>> that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the
>> individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not
>> reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation
>> Alliance.
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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>
> To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to MPWG-request at lists.plantconservation.orgwith the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
>
> Disclaimer
> Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc.
> reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The
> information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a
> substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific
> medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information
> that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the
> individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not
> reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation
> Alliance.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PCA's Medicinal Plant Working Group mailing list
> MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
>
> http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org
>
> To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to MPWG-request at lists.plantconservation.orgwith the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
>
> Disclaimer
> Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc.
> reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The
> information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a
> substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific
> medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information
> that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the
> individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not
> reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation
> Alliance.
>
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