The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund (IMC Fund) took part in the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions (PoWR) held at McCormick Place Lakeside Center in Chicago, IL, from August 14 to 18.
The theme of this year’s Parliament was “A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights”. A dozen spokespeople from the Indigenous-led nonprofit IMC Fund, launched in 2022 to help protect and preserve traditional medicines and Indigenous cultures, presented on panels as part of the Parliament’s Indigenous Peoples’ Track.
These included Indigenous sovereignty, spirituality, human rights, and traditional medicine conservation.
An Indigenous delegation, drawn from IMC Fund partners, also led a main-stage dialogue on an urgent call to protect the Amazon, as part of a partnership between the Parliament and the United Nations Interfaith Rainforest Initiative.
Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund co-director Miriam Volat stated: “The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund has curated a programme for the Parliament of the World’s Religions that embraces and uplifts the voices of traditional knowledge holders who are at the forefront of safeguarding the healing power of traditional medicines.
“The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund’s presence at this year’s Parliament is meant to advance the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ rights, while calling on the world’s religious leaders to join Indigenous spiritual leaders to reduce harm caused by biopiracy, overharvesting, cultural appropriation and climate change.”
The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund seeks to educate the public, including the psychedelics boom, about the need to protect five traditional medicines — Ayahuasca, Toad, Iboga, Peyote, and Mushrooms — and their related ecologies, which are threatened by the combined crises of climate change, commercialization, overharvesting, and cultural appropriation.
In the year since its launch, IMC Fund has raised more than $10 million to support 22 Indigenous-led conservation projects in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Gabon, Mexico, Peru, and the United States.
This year’s Parliament Delegation included the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative, Blessings of the Forest, United Medics of Yaje of Colombia, Mazatec Assessment, Wixarika Regional Council, Bwiti Community Leaders, the Tukano people of Brazil, and others.
