BriBri project

BD got involved in this fledgling project in 2003, when ethnobotanist Susan Leopold joined forces with an indigenous BriBri schoolteacher, Ulises Hernandez Nercis, who wanted to formalize the education of traditional medicine and food-related skills on his homeland in southern Costa Rica. His dream was that that the young people of his tribe would not forget traditional medicine, while the elders faded away. Each year for several years, BD facilitated a grant from the Sachamama Foundation for the BriBri Project, shepherding the funds ($35,000 from 2003-2005), consulting on priorities, and overseeing the documentation and video archiving. Kathleen Harrison was able to visit the project in 2003, staying in the central village of the BriBri people, deep in the Biosphere Reserve that bridges the border of Costa Rica and Panama. Ulises continues the work there to the present, depending on the availability of funding. Susan Leopold, now the executive director of United Plant Savers, maintains her connection with the BriBri people.