It all started with a novel idea. In 1993, I was most fortunate to be part of an international team of health professionals who set off on an unprecedented expedition to the Amazon Rainforest of Peru. The group was organized by the American Botanical Council, an herbal research and interest organization from Austin, Texas. The trip was called "Pharmacy from the Rainforest," and afforded American pharmacists the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study natural products and medicinal plants in the world's greatest pharmacy—the rainforest. On that first trip, nearly seventy pharmacists took two weeks out of their hectic schedules and set off for the deep jungle to commune with nature and learn from the indigenous peoples who live there. To get that chance to tap into the timeless knowledge of the shamans and traditional healers who have learned the secrets of the healing plants was reason enough to make the commitment. Earning twenty continuing-education credits was enticing too.

This initial rainforest trip for pharmacists had a faculty world-renowned in their knowledge of ethnobotany and herbal medicine. The late Dr. Varro Tyler was one of the lecturers for the group. Joining him was Dr. James Duke, author of The Green Pharmacy, noted ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin, famed natural-medicine healer Dr. Rosita Arvigo, and Mark Blumenthal, president and founder of the American Botanical Council.

Upon my return, I found myself looking at the professional practice of pharmacy in a new light. Although I owned and operated a successful independent, community pharmacy located north of Pittsburgh, PA, I started yearning for ways to look at my practice in a natural way.

Opportunity came knocking a second time, when I signed up for the second "Pharmacy from the Rainforest" expedition a year later, this time to the eco-friendly, Central American country of Belize. Many of the same famed faculty went along. Belize was the home of Dr. Rosita Arvigo who would go on to be the main teacher of our student group for the next eight years.

Upon my return home, I was determined to make this unique rainforest experience a bigger part of my practice, and my life. Late in 1996, I decided to sell my independent pharmacy after 17 wonderful years to a chain drugstore. I refused employment offered by the chain and took a giant leap of faith. I opened an all-natural pharmacy that would be more dedicated to selling quality herbs, vitamins, and botanicals, and integrating these dietary supplements with prescription and over-the-counter drugs in a safe and efficacious manner. I named the new concept pharmacy "Nutri-farmacy," coined from a lecture I attended in the Amazon by Dr. Jim Duke entitled "food farmacy." I chose not to sell pharmaceuticals to the public any longer, although I still maintained a closed pharmacy for nursing-home patients. My new role would be primarily as a consultant pharmacist (for patients taking both conventional and alternative medicines). I would also remain a retailer selling supplements not pharmaceutical drugs.
My sincere desire was not just to alter my personal practice, but also find a way to give pharmacy students a grand opportunity to experience first-hand, as I did, the wonder and awe of the rainforest, the source of many of the drugs they would one day dispense. I needed a plan and a partner. My former college professor, Dr. Norbert Pilewski, was still teaching pharmacognosy and alternative medicine at Duquesne University's School of Pharmacy. He was a friend and colleague and knew he would be the perfect partner to get the university faculty interested in my plan.

In 1995 I presented my idea to him. I wanted to take pharmacy students to the rainforest and give them the opportunity to study natural medicine and the "roots" of their profession. What a fantastic classroom the rainforest would make! Dr. Pilewski was immediately impressed with the idea, but was not sure how many clinical members of the faculty would have an interest. There was a need to raise funds as it was unlikely that pharmacy students, burdened with high tuition costs, would have enough extra money to cover the expenses of a ten-day trip out of the country.

Over the next few months, a synchronicity of events transpired which cemented our future as the Student Rainforest Fund (SRF). I did not particularly want the SRF to be an organization, but more of a fund that would help to meet the expenses any student would incur if they desired to make such a excursion. I met with Dr. Richard White, who was vice president of the Pittsburgh-based division of Bayer Corporation. Dr. White was a member of the Duquesne University Board of Directors, and I knew his influence and support would be critical. After meeting and presenting my plan, he genuinely liked the idea and gave me a verbal pledge of $5,000 to get the SRF up and running. We now had a initial funds to proceed.

Within weeks, Dr. Pilewski posted a notice on the bulletin board at Duquesne University's School of Pharmacy about our first SRF trip to Belize to study medicinal plants and natural products with Dr. Rosita Arvigo and other members of the Belizian Healers Association. Just 14 students from Duquesne signed up for the May 1996 expedition. We charged the students only fifty percent of the total cost. The SRF had raised sufficient funds from the Bayer grant along with other individual donors to cover an extensive amount of the cost.

That precedent-setting trip to Belize was extremely satisfying and fulfilling to students and faculty alike. The students spent three days of intensive fieldwork with Dr. Rosita. In the early years the students participated in an important plant collection in the forest for the benefit of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Rosita was assigned to oversee an eight-year collection of Belizian plants that would be scrutinized in the laboratory for possible anti-cancer activity. It was a most rewarding project for the students to participate in. Working alongside many wonderful traditional healers over the years has been one of the hallmarks of the trips. Some of the traditional healers are midwives, well versed in the knowledge of local plants for healing and medicine. Others were authentic shamans, or "h'mans" as they are known in Belize. These gifted men are referred to as "doctor priests," and they retain the knowledge of thousands of medicinal plants as well as the spiritual aspects of healing patients with a variety of complications and/or diseases.

There was always time for some fun and exploration during the eight day expeditions. In Belize, the students routinely visited the mysterious Mayan ruins that are commonly found around Belize. The ruins of Xunantunich, Caracol, and Cahal Pech were frequent stops on our itinerary. Sometimes the groups have had the chance to visit the Jaguar National Forest located in the central part of the country or the Pine Ridge Forest along the Guatemalan border. Others have traveled far south to the city of Punta Gorda and have had a chance to swim in the pristine ocean, or travel by motor boat to the many islands that dot the barrier reef that transverses the eastern shore of this tiny country. Belize offers a vast array of topographies, from deep rainforest to savannah to tropical coral reefs—a perfect place to snorkel or dive.

As the years went by, more universities and colleges of pharmacy got involved in the program. To date, students studying pharmacy, medicine, botany, and naturopathy have been represented from over 25 schools. A few schools of pharmacy have approved the SRF program as a rotation choice to fulfill their doctorate of pharmacy degree.

After eight consecutive years visiting Belize, the SRF team traveled to Costa Rica in 2004. It was an exciting diversion from Belize. Costa Rica offered new opportunities for the students. The largest group to date (32) spent three days at the famous Wilson Botanical Gardens near the east coast. This garden is the largest in all of Meso-America. For the first time we worked closely with another environmental organization that is committed to student education and the preservation of medicinal plants. In Costa Rica the Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS) has a long history of providing eco-tourism and education to college students, graduate students, and educators alike. Once again, local indigenous healers were part of the faculty, and the students visited the botanical gardens of the traditional healers. We afforded plenty of class time to understanding the plants and how the local people use them as medicines. Many large pharmaceutical manufacturers are in Costa Rica, garnering plants for extensive study in American laboratories and universities. They are looking for a "hit," that one-in-ten-million chance that a tuber from the jungle will some day yield a compound from which a successful anti-cancer or anti-HIV drug can be derived. see the passage below highlighted in purple

In June 2005, SRF embarked on their most ambitious expedition to date—a journey to the vast Amazon rainforest. A team of twenty set out for southern Peru on a ten-day expedition. This trip had many memorable moments, and the response from the students was hugely favorable. Most often cited was the quality time we spent with the famed Amazonian shaman, Don Antonio Montero. Don Antonio was our guild as we walked through the rainforest trails along the Madre de Dios River. He took us to his ethnobotanical garden located near the port city of Puerto Maldonado. On our last day we visited Lake Sandoval, one of the most ecologically pristine environments I have ever encountered. Places like this give us all hope that the timeless natural environment of the Amazon will be preserved for future generations. Our journeys to the 12,500 foot-high city of Cusco and the ancient Inca city of Manchu Picchu were pure magic. The Amazon is a place everyone should explore at least once in their lives.
Ten years after that novel idea, the SRF is still providing college students with an opportunity to explore the natural history of medicine and evoke the healing edge of knowledge regarding natural products and phytomedicinals in the world's greatest pharmacy—the rainforest. The students benefit from a more holistic approach to the healing of body, mind, and soul by learning from unique practitioners. They gain an invaluable international perspective by working with indigenous peoples from different cultures.

Those of us who have traveled to the rainforest envision a world where plant life in a natural environment is abundant and extinctions are rare. We recognize that nearly 80 percent of the world's people (mostly in developing countries) still rely mainly on medicinal plants to treat their diseases and illnesses. We know that 20-25 percent of all pharmaceuticals and drugs carried in pharmacies are still natural products or come from semi-natural sources. We have learned that nearly half of the pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world are making efforts to go back to nature to possibly find new blockbuster drugs. We fear that continued destruction of precious and bio-diverse rainforests may eliminate any chance that these miracle drugs could be discovered.

After one decade, the SRF has assisted over 225 college students have made this annual expedition to the rainforest. More than 25 universities have been represented, and the vast majority of the voyageurs have been pharmacy students. The Board of Advisors of SRF is an impressive group of individuals dedicated to the proliferation of medicinal plants and the preservation of these treasured forests— Dr. Rosita Arvigo, Dr. James Duke, Dr. Steve Morris, Dr. Wendell Combest, Dr. Pilewski, Dr. Douglas Kay and natural Canadian pharmacist Harlan Lahti. The traditional healers who are part of our team include Belizian bushmaster Mr. Polo Romero and midwife Beatrice Waite. We have recently added Amazonian shaman Don Antonio Montero.

After ten successful years, we believe that SRF is coming of age. Plans are in the works to add a second trip a year and travel to new locations including Cuba, Suriname, Panama, and Africa. There is no other student program in the United States similar to the SRF program. We are independent of any particular university, individual, business and/or foundation mandate. We truly cherish and need their input, donations, and participation. And so, the adventure continues.

Daniel Wagner, RPh, PharmD, is an ethnopharmacist and natural medicine practitioner based in Wildwood, Pennsylvania.

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