Context
As psilocybin becomes a frontline medicine of the psychedelic renaissance in the 2000s we are committed to remembering and addressing trauma left by psychedelic interests of the 60s in the communities of the Mazatec Sierra.
Today, traditional lineages are disrupted and knowledge of the 15+ psilocybin fungus species and their specific uses and ceremony has dwindled. Indigenous medicine families are urbanized, live in financial poverty, and generally have lost access to their traditional medicine ways.
Our Conservation Strategy
Indigenous mushroom tribes of the Sierra Madre should receive reparations/benefit sharing from the psilocybin industry through legal frameworks and industry standards. As resources come into these communities, it is vital to strengthen community based governance in order to assess biocultural conservation needs, as well as the passing on of traditional language and healing practices.
Risks
Very few intact wisdom and healing traditions due to past intercultural interactions
Uneven benefit from psychedelic tourism to local communities
Loss of species from agricultural practices
Further loss of biocultural knowledge through urbanization
Opportunities
Economic — Direct benefit from exchange models to traditional/Indigenous users
Cultural — Youth programs for language and traditional ceremonies
Reciprocity — Community needs assessment for reparations work
Legal — Economic frameworks in Mexico for Nagoya Protocols
Ecological — Land and species preservation
Clinical — Intercultural healing clinics
