Harvesting Plants From a Native Wild Environment
by Kahlee Keane
The spicy odour of poplar buds, thick with warming resin,
rides on the gentle breeze as we amble up the coulee looking
for our first prairie crocus (Anemone
patens) of the year.
We are not disappointed. Here on the south facing slope where
the sun’s rays have penetrated winter’s blanket
we find three furry flower buds hugging the Earth – harbingers
Our little group came together at the start of last summer.
Then, in each season, we would meet and share knowledge about
the character and history of the land and the wild medicinal
plants that we harvest just as our ancestors did.
This age-old practice – gathering plant material
for food, medicine, or crafts – is known as wildcrafting
and is the most direct way of getting in touch with the healing
power of nature.
Simply put, wildcrafting is the harvesting of plant material
from a native wild environment for personal use. A knowledgeable
wildcrafter never damages or depletes this inheritance from
nature. The craft denotes a high degree of ecological awareness
and a deep respect for the living Earth.
The harvesting of wild plants is more complicated than
one might imagine. It includes correct species identification
and dictates the avoidance of any environmental impact on
the habitat and plant in question, as well as on the other
interdependent elements in the ecosystem.
Through immersion in nature, observing and listening to
the animals and plants, we come to understand their medicine.
Our instincts are honed as we tap our ancestral knowledge
that tells us what plant parts to use; what season to harvest
them in; and what they are intended for. We become stewards
to the Earth—human beings interacting and reciprocating
as part of nature.
As an eco-herbalist and ethical wildcrafter I feel compelled
to protect the wild medicines and speak for the plants that
actively heal us every day. As an activist and conservationist,
my goal is to protect bio-diversity, therefore preserving
individual species within the ecosystem.
Ecosystems have no dispensable parts—this means maintaining
all of nature: there should be no losses of native species.
Native plants are not just products or resources for human
exploitation or consumption. Native plants, as species entirely
in their own right, are true inhabitants and irreplaceable
constituents of our forests, plains, grasslands, and wetlands,
possessing a natural heritage value equal to all others dwelling
As an eco-herbalist
and ethical wildcrafter
I feel compelled to protect the wild medicines
and speak for the plants that actively
heal us every day.
When speaking about the gathering of the wild plants it
is of prime importance to distinguish between ethical
wildcrafting and commercial
In the last twenty years, right across Canada, commercial
harvesting has accelerated at an alarming rate. Tonnes of
plant material are being harvested with no thought to sustainability
or the destruction to habitat which leads to over harvesting.
Over harvesting is the collection of wild plants to the point
where it interrupts the balance of plant community, shrinking
habitat and range.
Wildcrafters do not sell to plant brokers who trade by
the tonne on the international market—this is the work
of commercial harvesters. I have found that many commercial
harvesting operations are whitewashing their activities and
degrading true ethical wildcrafters by referring to themselves
as wildcrafters. This only adds to the horror of their insult
and assault to the Earth.
Dramatic declines in wild plant populations, to a great
extent, is the result of commercial harvesting, particularly
of root harvesting. The harvesting of the entire root means
that the whole plant is being destroyed. It is gone forever.
Coneflower (Echinacea spp.) is very near to extinction in
this province because its root has been over-harvested. Senega
snakeroot (Polygala senega) is on Save Our Species “watch
list” because many tonnes of the tiny root (averaging
1–2 grams) are being dug by commercial harvesters every
Any harvesting from nature should be managed and closely
regulated, yet scientific data is totally insufficient on
plant populations. We need to know regional abundance in
order to form databases showing how many plants may be taken
annually so that sustainable yields are reached. Until this
is in place a moratorium on commercial harvesting should
be implemented. There must not be further damage to wild
If we simply take from greed, without regard for the well-being
of the planet of which we are part, we ultimately damage
the Earth and ourselves.
Save Our Species offers the following—Wildcrafter’s
• Before taking plants from the wild, attempt to cultivate them first.
Discover how to grow native and medicinal herbs and share your knowledge, seeds,
and cuttings with others. Put to good use previously tilled soil instead of destroying
the few remaining wild places.
• When harvesting in the wild, treat the native plant complexes like the
fine perennial gardens they are. Propagate while you collect by replanting root
crowns, scattering seeds, coppicing or pruning shrubs and trees to enhance growth.
Always monitor harvest areas each year to check your successes. In short, keep
a caretaker point of view.
• While wildcrafting to supplement your income, consider the needs of the
plant community above your own.
• Whenever possible, determine the quantity of individual plants in each
colony required for that colony to remain viable before harvesting. Do not let
your predetermined needs influence your collecting.
• At most only 25 percent of weedy plants should be gathered in a harvest
area; no more than five percent of the native plants.
• Do not harvest endangered, threatened or sensitive plants unless absolutely
necessary (such as illness or hunger). Become familiar with the plants by seeking
information from the head botanist at your local university.
• When appropriate only harvest a part of each plant by pinching off individual
leaves, flower heads, or rhizome segments, leaving the remainder intact to regenerate.
• Remember that in order for devastated areas, such as clear-cuts, to be
brought back to health, as much of the original vegetation of the area as possible
must be allowed to flourish. For either natural or artificial reforestation to
be successful, even the native plant species of the forest floor need to be maintained.
• Species are products of thousands, even millions, of years of evolution.
Extinction is the ultimate catastrophe for any species. Once lost, it cannot
Kahlee Keane is an eco-herbalist,
educator, and ethical wildcrafter with a deep interest in
the protection of wild plants. She is the founding member
of Save Our Species (SOS). Visit her Web site at www.connect.to/rootwoman