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Approaches to valuing plant medicines: the economics of culture or the culture of economics?

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This paper explores the scope and limitations of the economic valuation of biodiversity. How and why is this a useful exercise, but in what way is its usefulness constrained? These issues are discussed with particular reference to cultural values within the context of medicinal plants and phytopharmaceutical development. It is argued that whilst economic valuation is an extremely important and necessary aid to formulating conservation policy, it probably is not that informative about the motivations of people in their use of certain natural resources. This is especially true for the case of medicinal plants where belief systems about the causes of disease and therefore strategies for healing are important. The paper reviews studies which have attempted to put monetary values on medicinal plants and the option values of pharmaceuticals developed from plants, and discusses the applicability of the various approaches. The implications for conservation policy, and for likely collaboration between social and natural scientists is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK

    Katrina Brown

  2. School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK

    Katrina Brown

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Brown, K. Approaches to valuing plant medicines: the economics of culture or the culture of economics?. Biodivers Conserv 3, 734–750 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00126862

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