Indigenous knowledge and ethno-medicine

Indigenous knowledge is the tested, place-based understanding that communities build through generations of living with a particular landscape. It covers soils, seasons, seeds, animals and healing, and it is carried in practice, story, ritual and language rather than only in books. A clear example is the use of neem, turmeric and tulsi in household healing across India, where knowledge of preparation, dosage and season matters as much as the plant itself. This chapter explains indigenous knowledge systems, ethno-medicine, and the politics of recognition, extraction and benefit-sharing.