An interview with the australian natural therapists association (ANTA)
Description:
“Ethnobotany — the study of how people use plants for medicine, food, and culture — offers a unique lens into both ancient traditions and modern clinical practice. In this interview, we speak with Jaynaya D’Esterre Atkins, a medical herbalist, mentor, and researcher specialising in ethnobotany, to explore how traditional plant knowledge continues to inform scientific research and natural health care in Australia today.”
Quick Facts
- Format: Q&A
- Focus: Ethnobotany • Sanctity of Indigenous Knowledge Systems • Ethical sourcing • Clinical relevance
- Length: ~16–18 minute read
“As modern practitioners, ethnobotany provides us a perspective in evolving beyond extraction and commodification, toward cultural humility, ecological literacy, and relational healing.”
Understanding Ethnobotany
QUESTION 1: What is ethnobotany, and how does it differ from phytotherapy?
A: In short, ethnobotany examines the relationships between plants, fungi, and people by incorporating methodologies from a broad range of disciplines including anthropology, botany, archaeology, pharmacology, linguistics, and history. Where the application of herbal medicine contributes to healing the body, ethnobotany studies how such healing is understood – not merely looking at how people use plants, but how we perceive and relate to plants. Phytotherapy, meanwhile, narrows this relationship to clinically measurable efficacy, reflecting modern scientific paradigms.
Origins & Practice
QUESTION 2: What first drew you to study ethnobotany — was there a personal or cultural influence behind your interest?
A: My personal journey has always been deeply embedded in “the wild”. Without getting carried away in mentioning the myriad of happenings that lead me to where I am today in my work, the main theme is that I’ve always felt the most comfortable in solitude exploring natural landscapes. As a relatively introverted person, I’ve often found the human world overstimulating and at times alienating. To be frank, what’s kept me alive through challenging periods of life has been my relationships to plant, fungal, and animal life. Travel has also shaped me profoundly – listening, observing, and, when permitted, participating alongside traditional custodians across the Americas and some of Australia. This has taught me more than any textbook could about the depth of relationship between people and land, with these experiences becoming the foundation of how I understand ethnobotany and herbal allyship.
In parallel, one of my side hobbies is genealogy which pairs nicely as plants are an excellent bridge for ancestral work. Ethnobotany, for me, is a way to honour my roots, respect others’, and deepen the mutual kinship I feel with the world in general.
QUESTION 3: How do you see the role of ethnobotany evolving in modern herbal and naturopathic practice?
A: In the context of western practice, I would say it is important that we recentre and put real weight in understanding the animist roots of pre-colonial medicine – the ways our forebearers perceived the world as alive, relational, and imbued with spirit. Much of that worldview was displaced through colonial expansion and the mechanisation of science, yet it formed the foundation of how people once worked with plants: through observation, reciprocity, and profound ecological awareness.
When we study the history of complementary medicine, it’s quite brief in our academic training and not carried on throughout the curriculum unless you get lucky with your lecturer. This leaves a gap – a kind of shaky ground – when it comes to understanding where our modern frameworks actually come from. Without that depth, practice risks becoming technical but hollow, detached from the living traditions that inform it.
As modern practitioners, ethnobotany provides us a perspective in evolving beyond extraction and commodification, toward cultural humility, ecological literacy, and relational healing. It encourages a future where herbal and naturopathic practice is not only evidence-based, but also lineage-aware – rooted in respect for both the plants and the diverse human stories entangled with them.
Traditional Knowledge & Modern Science
QUESTION 4: Australia has such a rich Indigenous plant heritage. How is traditional knowledge being recognised and incorporated into contemporary herbal research?
A: Australia’s indigenous plant heritage is one of, if not the oldest and most ecologically attuned knowledge systems on Earth. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have preserved their intricate relationships with plants for tens of thousands of years encompassing medicine, ceremony, food, and Country stewardship. Within the fields of contemporary herbal and ethnobotanical research, this knowledge is increasingly recognised not just as “folk tradition” but as a sophisticated empirical science.
Across universities and research institutes, initiatives such as collaborative ethnopharmacology, biocultural knowledge registers, and community-led research protocols have been developed to ensure that indigenous intellectual property and agency remain central. It’s now commonly accepted in modern herbal research that plant efficacy cannot be divorced from ecological context, spiritual significance, and cultural custodianship. This signifies a vital shift away from the extractive and appropriative tendencies that historically shaped Western botanical science.
QUESTION 5: What are some of the challenges in bridging traditional plant use with evidence- based research frameworks?
A: Bridging traditional plant use with modern evidence-based models remains an ethically complex space, particularly in Australia. The frameworks underpinning contemporary science (i.e., peer-reviewed trials, pharmacological isolation, and quantitative data) are historically rooted in colonial epistemologies that privileged Western models of knowledge whilst dismissing indigenous oral and experiential systems.
On another important note, the legacy of trust-breaking persists. Plants once shared in good faith for cultural exchange were (and are) often patented or commercialised without consent, while sacred knowledge was (and is) decontextualised and exploited. Improper documentation, misinterpretation, and appropriation of plant lore continue to create tension between indigenous custodians and researchers.
Moreover, ecological issues compound this tension in the way of overharvesting, habitat loss, and the commodification of medicinal species. The results of these impositions sever the complementary relationship between land and community, contributing to what could be described as ‘land memory sickness’ – the idea that environmental degradation reverberates through plant/fungal life, geology, and collective wellbeing.
QUESTION 6: How can researchers and clinicians respectfully collaborate with Indigenous communities in this area?
A: Respectful collaboration means allowing Country and its custodians to lead the research conversation, not adapting indigenous knowledge to fit scientific structures. Some practical actions can include:
- Holding indigenous sovereignty at the forefront in research design, data ownership, and dissemination.
- Making sure to adhere to community protocols, including seeking consent from Elders and local custodians before collecting, testing, or publishing any information.
- Building long-term relationships rooted in respect and reciprocity (e.g., ensuring that any economic, intellectual, or environmental benefits are returned to the communities and lands of origin).
- Keeping in mind that for many indigenous communities, plants are not simply biological resources, they are ancestors, teachers, and sentient beings.
- Supporting community-led education and land care initiatives that sustain both traditional and ecological health.
QUESTION 7: Are there any native Australian plants that you think deserve more scientific attention based on their traditional use?
A: As a non-indigenous person to Australia, I won’t speak on this in terms of naming specific native plants. What I will say is this expansive land is home to thousands of species of medicinal plants with powerful, and often unique characteristics. This would be a question for lore holders.
Research, Evidence & Clinical Relevance
QUESTION 8: Could you share an example of a recent ethnobotanical study that has influenced clinical practice or herbal formulation?
A: An interesting study published earlier this year examined how colonial-era pharmacopoeias universalised indigenous plant knowledge by translating culturally embedded “substances with bodily effect” into standardised “medicaments”. Using Andean Qollahuaya pharmacopoeias as a case study, they reveal how social and ritual contexts were lost when indigenous substances entered Galenic frameworks.
Article: Cooley, M., & Wassiliew, N. (2025). To Read between the Lines. History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals, 66(2), 236–256. [https://doi.org/10.3368/hopp.66.2.236][0]
For contemporary herbalism, this work can act as a reminder for clinicians to retain context by recognising herbs as relational mediators rather than commodities. In formulation, it encourages a shift from isolated pharmacology toward culturally informed preparation – aligning well with Hermetic, Unani, and bioregional approaches to medicine which are central to my practice.
QUESTION 9: In your opinion, what are the most promising directions for ethnobotanical research right now?
A: Within the realm of herbal medicine, I believe the future of ethnobotanical research lies not in further standardisation or reductionism, but in cultivating approaches that honour both biological and cultural richness. Rather than stripping knowledge from its place and lineage in the form of universalisation, the most promising research directions are those that re-centre relationship between people, plants, ecosystems, and ways of knowing.
QUESTION 10: How do you approach validating traditional uses of plants through modern scientific methods without losing the cultural and holistic context?
A: I research heavily, utilising many forms of information. An office space with multiple connected screens for adequate visual cross-referencing and having an extensive library help a lot!
When I say research, I am talking about the obvious methods, but also using experiential means by way of obtaining seeds, growing, extracting, and communing with the plants as well as ethically wildcrafting where appropriate. By knowing the plants I work with at all stages of their life cycle, I can have more discernment when looking at both traditional and modern texts or studies.
QUESTION 11: Many practitioners feel that research can sometimes strip away the “spirit” of herbal medicine. How do you balance science and tradition in your own work?
A: My practice is heavily rooted in the Hermetic principles of the ancient West – an alchemical worldview that regards nature as animated, intelligent, and reflective of universal order. It’s too expansive to unpack fully here, but to paint a small snapshot: before modern chemistry emerged, laboratory alchemy was as much a spiritual discipline as it was a scientific one. The spirit – that invisible animating principle within matter – is considered essential to both transmutation and depth of understanding.
For me, science and tradition are not opposing forces, they are two languages describing the same mystery. The laboratory processes involved in spagyric practice, for example, is both measurable chemistry and ritual participation. So rather than trying to balance science and spirit, I aim to let them converse. I hold empirical evidence and good manufacturing practice at high regard, but I also maintain ritual, prayer, and relationship as integral parts of the work.
Sustainability & Ethics
QUESTION 12: With increasing interest in plant-based medicine, how do we ensure sustainability and ethical sourcing of traditional herbs?
A: For an informed basis on choosing your sources or herbs to work with, firstly learn about bioregional herbalism through understanding the ecological habitats of the plants we work with and identifying what grows abundantly within our own region. Not every plant needs to be imported as often there are local analogues that offer similar therapeutic qualities without the ecological footprint.
Sustainability will look different depending on the scale and nature of your practice. A small-batch herbalist might grow or wildcraft much of their Materia Medica if they have the means, while larger companies need to prioritise regenerative and transparent supply chains. Another consideration larger companies might look into is collaborative partnerships with farms growing seasonally to order for manufacturing purposes.
Ethical sourcing requires genuine transparency therefore reputable suppliers should be willing to discuss their methods, origin, and ecological impact openly (within reason). When sourcing herbs, some good questions to ask include:
- Is this species invasive or endangered in its natural habitat?
- Can this species be cultivated in a particular bioregion?
- What are the harvesting or farming practices being employed by the source?
- Are workers paid fairly, and is there a sustainable land care plan enacted?
- Does the company have personal partnerships with local farmers, harvesters, or communities? If so, what is the nature of their agreement?
QUESTION 13: What are the implications of bioprospecting — both positive and negative — for communities who have protected and used these plants for generations?
A: Bioprospecting is indeed a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can contribute to raising awareness and funds to traditional knowledge systems, in support of conservation and cultural preservation. On the other, it has too often resulted in biopiracy, taking and patenting plants and knowledge and commercialising them without permission or credit. For communities that have provided care to these plants for generations, that isn’t just economic theft – it’s spiritual and cultural erasure. Only ethical collaboration based on free, prior, and informed consent, in which traditional custodians determine how it is that their wisdom is shared and that the benefits flow back to their communities.
QUESTION 14: How can practitioners and product developers support fair trade, conservation, and community benefit-sharing?
A: Supporting fair trade and community benefit-sharing begins with choosing transparency over convenience, by working with suppliers who can demonstrate fair labour conditions, direct community partnerships, and regenerative farming or wildcrafting methods.
When sourcing internationally, seek out companies that partner with local communities and reinvest in ecological or cultural preservation. This might include profit-sharing models, community-led cultivation projects, or educational initiatives that keep traditional knowledge alive. For smaller-scale herbalists, growing even a portion of one’s own herbs, or collaborating with regional growers, is a powerful act of sustainability and sovereignty.
Conservation also means discernment. Practitioners should educate clients and each other about endangered species, substitute with cultivated or bioregional alternatives where appropriate, and advocate for the protection of wild habitats.
Bringing Ethnobotany into Clinical Practice
QUESTION 15: For natural therapists and herbal practitioners, what can we learn from ethnobotany that might enhance our approach with clients?
A: Utilising ethnobotanical perspectives in the consultation space can help in building rapport and therapeutic insight by being curious about a client’s traditions, ancestral, or spiritual connections to plants and food.
Another aspect is considering how plants act differently with different people. Just as biology, temperament, and constitution vary, so too does the way a plant’s energy can meet an individual. Ethnobotany encourages us to look beyond standardised effects and revere the complexities of plants in their whole form.
QUESTION 16: How might an ethnobotanical perspective shift the way we think about plant energetics, formulation, or patient connection to nature?
A: An ethnobotanical perspective expands the frame of practice to include story, lineage, and cosmology. The re-examination of folkloric and historical narratives assists the reconnection of Western herbalism to its origins in Hermetic and elemental systems which utilise energetics, temperament, and planetary correspondences. This allows practitioners to work more intuitively, formulating not just by symptom or textbook regurgitation, but by learning to read and overlay the individual blueprints of both person and plant.
QUESTION 17: Are there particular herbs or traditions that you find especially meaningful or clinically relevant in your practice or research?
A: The Unani Tibb system has influenced me the most as I have come to know humoral medicine, temperament, and energetics both correlating to the body and the herbs themselves. Its framework is closely aligned with both Hermetic philosophy and practical alchemy, giving language to that delicate dance between the material and immaterial aspects of healing and health.
As for particular herbs, that tends to shift with the seasons and with whatever medicine the landscape seems to be teaching and/or providing at the time.
Future Directions
QUESTION 18: What skills or areas of knowledge do you think future herbalists should develop if they wish to engage in ethnobotanical research?
A: Ultimately, I would say the most important skills would be curiosity and getting your hands in the soil. Direct engagement might look like joining a bushland or community garden group or spending time with elders and local custodians if invited. Spend some time learning to grow, identify, and observe even a handful of plants in your local landscape. You will eventually come to know their rhythms, their preferred conditions, their neighbours, and companions. Read about them, but also listen – plants communicate in subtle ways, and our own bodies are part of that conversation. Bioelectromagnetism and heart–brain coherence suggests that the human heart can perceive and respond to environmental signals beyond conscious awareness – a kind of sensory intuition known as heart perception, an important metaphorical muscle to keep training.
QUESTION 19: How do you see the future of ethnobotany in Australia — both in research and clinical contexts?
A: The future of ethnobotany in Australia will be determined by the extent to which we maintain integrity within indigenous spaces and knowledge systems. It means continuing the legacy of ethnobotanists such as Dr Beth Gott (1922 – 2022), whose life’s work honoured Aboriginal plant knowledge through careful, respectful documentation and collaboration rather than extraction. Going forward, I believe the most meaningful progress will come from collaborative and community-based initiatives, projects that cross disciplines and social boundaries to restore balance between people, plants, and place.
QUESTION 20: If you could change one thing about the way herbal research is conducted or perceived, what would it be?
A: Turning away from purely human-centric designs to invite a broader awareness of the socio-political and ecological systems that shape our access to medicine. Also, the consideration of internal and external synergy in the context of plant extracts included in studies and disclosing their original source conditions. We must understand the nuances of studies including isolated extracts versus whole plant preparations.
Closing Reflection
QUESTION 21: What has been the most surprising or inspiring lesson you’ve learned from working at the intersection of plants, people, and culture?
A: The most surprising lesson I’ve learned is that many people from Western civilisation today believe we’ve “lost” or become “disconnected” from our animist or nature-based roots. While this sense of loss is understandable – the historical evidence is fractured and oral traditions often survive only as fragments, if any – what’s more revealing is what endures beneath the surface. When we look at the archaeological and anthropological records of north-western Europe as one of many examples, we begin to see that the instinct to commune with the more-than-human world has never really vanished; it’s only shapeshifted overtime.
What inspires me most is realising that the undercurrent of ancestral intimacy persists in folklore, seasonal rites, place names, and even language itself. When viewed through an ethnobotanical lens, it’s pretty clear that disconnection is never absolute, it’s just a matter of remembrance and reactivation in our DNA.
QUESTION 22: Finally, what message would you like to share with practitioners who want to deepen their connection with traditional plant wisdom while maintaining scientific rigour?
A: Understand your scope, beliefs, and cultural alignment or complexity. By committing to discover more about yourself (including your bloodlines) and unravelling learned limitations, you can identify your biases when reading and interpreting traditional and modern scientific research. That includes romanticising!
Equally important is learning to respect plants as living entities, not merely as instruments for health. They are just as complex as human beings, not always easy to predict or measure in their behaviour.
About the Interviewee
Jaynaya D’Esterre Atkins — Medical Herbalist & Researcher; Founder of DOSE Botanicals (Central Highlands, Victoria). Seed-to-laboratory practice integrating Hermetic principles, ethnobotany, and rigorous GMP.
Acknowledgement: Produced in collaboration with the Australian Natural Therapists Association (ANTA).
