eThekwini’s Silverglen Medicinal Plants Nursery
1. The Condition of Biodiversity In South Africa: A Report on eThekwini’s Silverglen Medicinal Plants Nursery, by Aukram Burton
One of the highlights for team members representing Metro
Louisville at WEEC 2007 was the visit to eThekwini’s Silverglen Medicinal Plants Nursery, Africa’s first medicinal plant nursery located in
2. Eco Overload, by Aukram Burton
According to a recent news article entitled, “Eco Overload” in the Mail & Guardian (July 6 to 12, 2007), Yolandi Groenewald discusses the second Environment Outlook report authored by leading
3. The Demand for Muthi, by Aukram Burton
Little cultivation of indigenous medicinal plants is carried out due to a lack of knowledge regarding indigenous plant production and the economics of associated markets. These facts explain why
4. The ‘African Chemist’ Shop, by Aukram Burton
Most healing and health maintenance work is done at home, without professional supervision, by people medicating themselves and their families and friends with substances obtained from grocery
5. Protected Plant Species in South Africa, by Aukram Burton
Several plant species, for example [Gasteria Croucheri], wild ginger [Siphonochilus aethiopicus] and the pepper-bark tree [Warburgia salutaris], have become extinct outside of protected areas in
The Silverglen Nursery is an example of an environmental initiative on the African continent that connects with themes of biodiversity. Silverglen was established in 1980, by Geoff Nichols, the then Conservation Officer of the eThekwini Parks Department, and Protus Cele, an Inyanga (herbalist) who owns a successful muthi business in Umlazi Township. Nichols and Cele joined forces to address a vital need to start to propagate rare and threatened indigenous plants that were used for healing. In 1986, they started a project called “The Silverglen Medicinal Plant Project.”
Read more about Silverglen and biodiversity in South Africa
(L to R) Aukram Burton, Protus Cele, Nefertiti Burton,, Sithembiso Majoka, Issac Mngomezulu, and Joseph Razwinani, during a tour of Silverglen Nursery.
