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The HUNT: KILL or CULL
by Dee Kramer
Conrad Richter sends over 700 varieties of seeds to 20 countries around the world. As vice-president of Richters' Herbs (North America's most comprehensive herb specialists based in Goodwood, Ontario, Canada), adding varieties to his list is a life mission. He has recently set up seed collection agencies in Nepal, Ghana, China and Ecuador. The projects are in early stages, but their potential is enormous. "It is a work in progress," says Richter, "We scan the world for herbs used in ethnic cultures. We try and find seeds that we have only read about in books, and which are otherwise unobtainable in North America."
Richter comments on the wider environmental implications of these projects. "Many of these countries do trade internationally in medicinal herbs. The plants are dried and shipped around the world, but this raiding of leaves, flowers, stems and roots has become so widespread that the environmental integrity of the countryside is being endangered, and some medicinal species are now nearly extinct."
In contrast, collecting seeds encourages local...