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Sustainable
eNews |
July 2003 |
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IWMC
World Conservation Trust |
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Nat Kwansa - Ideal
Activist
Inspiration to
Madagascar and the World
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Very often, activism is thought of as a negative
social movement, one that has goals of preventing people from carrying out
traditional activities while they pursue their life work. In contrast to
this, there is a very positive kind of activism being carried out by a
visionary man in an out-of-the-way place away from the mainstream modern
world.
 Nat Kwansa
believes in the complementary nature of traditional healing practices and
modern medicine, and this makes him unique. In addition, his advocacy
includes encouraging the sustainable use of native habitat by Madagascar
healers to continue their craft and at the same time, to keep the nation's
habitats from disappearing. A recent story by CNN outlined the basics of
Kwansa's vision: Madagascar's people have long depended on thousands of
native plants as the source of practical remedies. These plants are well
known by traditional healers, who go out into the bush to extract them, one
by one, from where they are growing. These people are not cutting down wide
swaths of timber. They are finding and picking parts (leaves, seeds, nuts,
fruits, bark, roots) of certain plants and leaving the source to continue
its growth.
In each of the communities of southwestern Madagascar are outdoor
markets, where the stalls of vendors line the narrow streets. Here are the
pharmacies of native medicine. One who has a particular ailment may go to
the vendor, describe the problem, and buy a cure. Nat Kwansa has a history
of encouraging the cooperation of modern medical practitioners with
traditional healers. The result is of great benefit both to science, and to
the people whom he loves. There should not have to be a choice between
"native" and modern healers. The two have learned to work
together in Madagascar for the benefit of public health and the
environment.
The world's huge multinational pharmaceutical corporations have come to
appreciate the wealth of biodiversity in tropical and other un-timbered
forests, and in some countries, such as Costa Rica, millions of dollars
have been invested in infrastructure and research, in order to find those
compounds that can be used to produce "wonder drugs" from plants,
insects, fungi, and other substances. The involvement of big business has
always brought forth the objection of another kind of traditional
practitioner - the professional environmental activist. Such professionals
invariably want to lock up forest resources inside a "fence" of
prohibitions against use. Their goal is to "save biodiversity from
profit seekers". This tactic and the accompanying rhetoric have not
often worked for the benefit of either forests or the people who depend
upon them. It appears that commercial use of resources does not have to be
damaging, despite the claims of modern activism.
Nat Kwansa of Madagascar encourages the sustainable use of forest
resources for people whose lives, livelihoods, and culture are intricately
interwoven with them. He feels that there should be respect for traditional
healers and recognition of their real contribution of knowledge to the
world, that the forests should continue to be used in this manner, and that
the modern logging practices of outsiders would destroy an entire ecosystem
of human and forest interdependence. IWMC applauds Nat Kwansa and his
vision of melding the traditional medical knowledge of Madagascar with
modern medicine and with sustainable forest practices. Kwansa's visionary
activism depends on faith in people, and on the conviction that their
forest resources should be maintained forever through their own efforts,
and for their own sustainable future. Nat Kwansa should be recognized as a
local hero who has a global conservation vision and ethic. 
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