“Many of our most common and effective medicines derive from wild plants, but Western scientists have studied only a tiny proportion of plant species for their medicinal value. If potential cures for crippling diseases are being shredded into pulp or shipped across an ocean as plywood, we may never know about them. By “we,” I mean the mainstream cultures of wealthy nations. Indigenous peoples often know a great deal about the natural world, and part of the knowledge lies embedded in their languages.”

Mark Abley in Spoken Here