Plant and Habitat Sustainability

Growing global interest in plant-based psychoactive medicines can put pressure on the places where those plants grow and on the people who rely on them. This page summarizes what sources say about three well-known cases: the ayahuasca vine and leaf plants, iboga, and San Pedro. For peyote see Peyote Conservation, and for toads see Animal-Derived Sources and Sourcing Concerns. This page gives no information on harvesting or growing.

A note on the quality of the evidence

For most of these plants there are few formal population studies. We use two evidence labels. Community statement means a written position by a group of practitioners or churches who live with the plant. Proper evidence not found means we looked for a recent peer-reviewed measurement and did not find one. These labels are our own plain-language summaries, not formal ratings.

Ayahuasca plants (Amazon region)

Ayahuasca is a drink made from more than one plant, commonly the vine Banisteriopsis caapi with leaves such as those of Psychotria viridis.[1]

• Assessment. An article by a Chacruna Institute author says B. caapi is not listed or assessed by the IUCN, and that there are few peer-reviewed articles on its distribution or conservation status.[1] Proper evidence not found for a measured, recent wild population trend.
• Reports from the ground. The same article says online articles describe local shortages around Iquitos and Pucallpa in Peru, shown as smaller vines, and that people must go farther to find wild plants.[1] These are reports and interviews, not surveys.
• Brazil. The article says Brazilian churches such as Santo Daime and the União do Vegetal have successfully cultivated both plants, though wild collection also continues. It describes licensing and reforestation rules in some states and notes that harvesting by Indigenous communities in their own territories is exempt from licensing.[1] A Mongabay report from 2021 says that in Acre state, regulations in place since 2010 have done little to curb threats to the plants, and members of Santo Daime churches told the reporter the rules have not reduced those pressures.[2]

Iboga (Gabon and Central Africa)

Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) is the plant at the center of Bwiti practice. See Iboga and Bwiti Traditions. A 2021 Chacruna Institute article reports:

• The IUCN lists the plant as "least concern", citing wide distribution, but there are no detailed biological assessments available in Gabon or elsewhere in its range.[3]
• Gabon's Council of Ministers declared it a national treasure, a "cultural heritage strategic reserve", in 2000, and as of 2019 export was made illegal unless the plant is cultivated on private land and all permits are held.[3]
• Reports based on interviews, including 56 people from 12 Bwiti communities, describe rising international demand, more poaching and local shortages, particularly in cities, with prices rising.[3]
• Scarcity has sometimes led to look-alike root bark from other plants being sold, which the article says presents health risks; at least one death was reported.[3]
• Other factors named include logging, mining and climate change.[3]

Iboga also carries serious medical risks when taken as ibogaine. The same article notes cardiovascular problems can lead to overdose and death.[3] See Iboga and Ibogaine.

San Pedro or huachuma (Andes)

A 2023 collective statement from curanderos and curanderas of northern Peru says the Ministry of the Environment considers Echinopsis pachanoi and Echinopsis peruviana "endangered". It names human overexploitation as the principal threat and lists grazing, agriculture, mining, infrastructure and climate change as other factors. The group estimates that less than a quarter of wild habitats in Peru remain well-stocked.[4] That figure is their own estimate from five years of investigation, not a published survey, so treat it as a community statement. Also see San Pedro Cactus.

What the cases have in common

These are different plants in different places and the table is not a comparison of risk levels.

Why "sustainable" is not a simple label

A product described as sustainable cannot be checked from a name or a photo. Sources describe one point on which Indigenous and church voices agree: the people who depend on a plant for ceremony should not be left without it.[2][4] See Indigenous Traditions, Ethics and Conservation.