Living among Medicine – folk remedies from city trees

General Sessions

Speaker(s):

Andrew MacLellan, BC Plant Health Care

Andrew MacLellan is a professional plant health care practitioner and educator whose practice spans arboriculture, urban forest management, horticulture, plant pathology, and soil health. He is a Consulting Arborist & Training Assistant Manager at BC Plant Health Care, ISA Certified Arborist, Tree Risk Assessor, and Organic Master Gardener with a background in forestry. Andrew connects people with plants, educating individuals and communities on the principles of plant care, soil health, organic practices for maintaining healthy ecosystems, climate adaptability, and diverse plant uses. Working from the belief that healthy ecosystems support healthy plants, and healthy plants are healthier for both us and the environment, he takes a holistic, soils-first approach to plant health care and low-intervention ecological plant management.

Topic

Living among Medicine - folk remedies from city trees

Ethnobotany defines the interface between people and forests. For tens of thousands of years, traditional cultures have used local plants for food, fibre, and medicine across a variety of regions. As people move around the world, so too do the plants and traditions with which they are connected. We bring plants that enrich our lives to areas we live. Recognizing how communities indigenous to these lands interpreted plants as medicine and hold traditional plant knowledge, today our urban forests represent many different plants from dozens of vibrant cultural traditions. Join Andrew for a survey of our modern urban forest and learn about ethnobotanically important plant species among which we co-exist.