User:Bnareliana/Rainer W. Bussmann

Rainer W. Bussmann (Leutkirch, 30 May 1967) is a German botanist and plant ecologist, specializing in ethnobotany and ethnobiology, wild food plants, wild relatives of crops, climate change, gastronomic botany and preservation of traditional knowledge in the Andes, the Caucasus and the Himalayas. He has worked at the University of Bayreuth, University of Hawaii, University of Texas, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Ilia State University; he has founded several international non-governmental organizations, including Nature and Culture International, Saving Knowledge, and Ethnomont.

Work and scientific constributions
From 1994 to 2002 Bussmann worked as Post Doc at the University of Bayreuth developing ecological research in the mountain forests of Kenya and Ethiopia, and as scientific coordinator of the DFG (German Science Foundation) program, "Functionality in a Tropical Mountain Rainforest: Diversity, Dynamic Processes and Utility Potentials under Ecosystem Perspectives and as part of this project he appeared in the German television documentary series" Humboldts Erben". During that same time he led investigations of vegetation in the forests of East Africa, including the establishment of the Maseno University Botanical Garden. Bussmann was also one of the founding participants of the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA).

From 2003 to 2006 he joined the University of Hawaii (Manoa} as Scientific Director of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, and as Associate Professor of Botany, with the aim of transforming the Lyon Arboretum into an international research center, linked to the traditions indigenous Hawaiians [8].

During 2006-2007 he joined the Department of Geography at the University of Texas (Austin) as a visiting professor, focusing his research on the ecology of cloud forests and the commercialization of medicinal plants in northern Peru, developing a program under the Program of International Health Research Training and Health of Minorities (MHIRT) at the National Institute of Health.

In 2007 he was appointed director of the William L. Brown Center, and William L. Brown Curator of Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Over the next decade, Bussmann transformed the center into an international research center with projects on five continents, including the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Kenya, Madagascar, Georgia, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Pakistan. and India. Research ranged from traditional ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology, to regeneration ecology, the impact of climate change, Intellectual Property rights, and the application of the "Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing in Benefits Arising from its Use ".

In 2017 he left the Missouri Botanical Garden to co-found a new Department of Ethnobotany at the Bakuriani Institute of Botany and Alpine Botanical Garden (BABG) at Ilia State University, Georgia (Caucasus). The combination of the conservation of biological diversity with sustainable use is one of the main priorities of the international community, promoted through instruments such as the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization in the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Department of Ethnobotany is providing a basic example of integrating sustainability and conservation of biodiversity.

Bussmann's botanical author abbreviation is RBU, and he has described a variety of plant species new to science.

Bussmann is recognized in the archaeological and pharmacological field for the identification of a Moche hallucinogen found in many tombs and found in the ceramics and paintings of the culture in Northern Peru, the "Ulluchu". His identification was a perfect example of the integration of Botanical Taxonomy and Pharmacology with Archeology.

As part of his research, Bussmann has paid special attention to the rights of indigenous communities, supporting them in their actions generated the effect of global change.

Bussmann leads the implementation efforts of the "Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization in the Convention on Biological Diversity", in ethnobotany in particular and ethnobiology in general. Under the Nagoya Protocol, prior consent and the availability of benefits for holders of traditional knowledge are not only part of the work ethic, but also imply compliance with international law. In global science, it is necessary to ensure that the knowledge that local counterparts share with researchers is not simply appropriated by the entities or researchers who participated in the original study, whether for scientific or commercial purposes. Delivery of benefits should not only include the repatriation of the new data collected, in a language and form accessible to the traditional owners, but also the translation and repatriation of the results of previous studies carried out in the same indigenous or local community, if it has not been made by the original researchers. Participants, if they wish, should be allowed to participate as authors in all publications of a study, rather than simply being mentioned in the acknowledgments. For decades Bussmann's group has returned research results in its own way to local towns.

In the "Chácobo Ethnobotanical Project" they showed how indigenous researchers, trained in ethnobotanical methods, managed to carry out a study on the same level as university scientists, interviewing, for the first time in the world, an entire tribe, and showing that a perceived loss of traditional knowledge it was nothing more than a side effect of previous research. All project results, and translations of previous work, were delivered to the tribe, and local researchers participated as co-authors in all publications.

Rainer W. Bussmann is editor-in-chief of Ethnobotany Research and Applications, deputy editor of the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, associate editor of Ethnobiology and Conservation, and Pleione, academic editor of PlosOne, editor of Ethnobotany topics for the Nordic Journal of Botany, and member of the editorial boards of Antibiotics, Life, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge and Nelumbo.

Bussmann has been deeply involved in the development of professional societies in the field of ethnobotany and ethnobiology. He was president and is a member of the committee of the Society for Economic Botany (2008-2020), International Society for Ethnopharmacology (2010-2014), Society of Ethnobiology (2008-2011), Botanical Society of America (2008-2011), International Society of Ethnobiology (2008-2010), and holds memberships in the Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Africa, Bayerische Botanische Gesellschaft, East Africa Natural History Society, International Society of Ethnobiology, International Society for Ethnopharmacology, Society for Economic Botany, and Society of Ethnobiology.

In addition to his academic work, Bussmann has co-founded several international non-governmental organizations in the areas of Biodiversity Conservation and Traditional Knowledge, including the International Network on Biological and Cultural Diversity (INKA eV), Nature and Culture International Saving knowledge and Etnomont. He has also been dedicated to the development of socially responsible production of medicinal, aromatic and food species. He also appeared in the German television documentary "Secret world of herbs".

Distinctions and Awards



 * James Duke Award of the American Botanical Council 2012 por la publicación "Medicinal Plants and the Legacy of Richard E. Schultes", ·       editada junto con Bruce Ponman. Esta publicación reúne los resúmenes de las presentaciones realizadas en el Simposio "Healing the planet: medicinal plants and the legacy of Richard E. Schultes" en honor a Richard E. Schultes dentro el Congreso Botany 2011 realizado en St. Louis, MO entre el 9 y el 13 de julio de 2011.
 * Two botanical species were named after Dr. Bussmann. Poa bussmannii H. Scholz described in 2011 which has Turkey as its native range. Gentianella bussmannii J.S. Pringle, described in 2017 is a native species of the Peruvian Andes.

Publications
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Bussmann is the author of nearly 270 peer-reviewed articles, more than 1,200 book chapters, and is the author / editor of 38 books. According to the article published in October 2020 in Plos Biology, he is one of the most cited ethnobotanists and recognized among the most influential scientists worldwide.

He currently serves as editor-in-chief of the "Ethnobotany of Mountain Regions" book series published by Springer Nature

Selected books

 * Bussmann, RW ; Paniagua-Zambrana, NY. (Eds.) (2020). Ethnobotany of Mountain Regions. Springer International Publishing: Cham.
 * Kunwar, RM, Sher, H. Bussmann, RW  (Eds.)(2020). Ethnobotany of the Himalayas. Springer International Publishing: Cham. (ISBN 978-3-030-57407-9).
 * Bussmann, RW  (Ed.)(2020).Ethnobotany of the Mountain Regions of Africa. Springer International Publishing: Cham.pp. XX + 700 (ISBN 978-3-030-38385-5).
 * Batsatsashvili, K; Kikvidze, Z; Bussmann, RW  (Eds.) (2020). Ethnobotany of Mountain Regions - Central Asia and Altai. Springer International Publishing, Cham. pp. XXII + 881; (ISBN 978-3-030-28946-1)
 * Batsatsashvili, K; Kikvidze, Z; Bussmann, RW  (Eds.) (2020). Ethnobotany of Mountain Regions - Far Eastern Europe. Springer International Publishing, Cham.pp. XXIX + 1063; (ISBN 978-3-030-28939-3).
 * Paniagua-Zambrana, NY; Bussmann, RW  (Eds.) (2020). Ethnobotany of the Andes. Springer International Publishing, Cham. pp. XXXI + 1955; (ISBN 978-3-030-28932-4)
 * Bussmann, R.W  (Ed.) (2017). Ethnobotany of the Caucasus. Springer International Publishing International Publishing: Cham; XXVII, 746p. (ISBN 978-3-319-49411-1)
 * Paniagua-Zambrana, N.Y., Bussmann, R.W  (Eds.)(2017). La Etnobotánica de los Chácobo en el Siglo XXI. William L. Brown Center, MBG, St. Louis. (ISBN 978-0-9960231-5-3).
 * Bussmann, R.W. , Sharon, D. (2015a). Medicinal plants of the Andes and the Amazon – The magic and medicinal flora of Northern Peru. William L. Brown Center, MBG, St. Louis. (ISBN 978-0-9960231-2-2).
 * Bussmann, R.W. , Sharon, D. (2015b). Plantas medicinales de los Andes y la Amazonía – La flora mágica y medicinal del Norte de Peru. William L. Brown Center, MBG, St. Louis. (ISBN 978-0-9960231-3-9).
 * Paniagua-Zambrana, N.Y., Bussmann, R.W. , Tellez, C., Vega, C. (Eds.)(2014). Los Chacobo y su historia en el siglo XX. William L. Brown Center, MBG, St. Louis. (ISBN 978-0-9960231-0-8).
 * Paniagua-Zambrana, N.Y., Bussmann, R.W. , Blacutt, E., Macia, M.J. (Eds.). (2011). Los Chacobo y las Palmeras. William L. Brown Center, MBG, St. Louis, (ISBN 978-0-9848415-0-9).
 * Bussmann, R.W. , Sharon, D. (2007). Plants of the four winds - The magic and medicinal flora of Peru. Plantas de los cuatro vientos - La flora mágica y medicinal del Perú. Arogya, Honolulu. (ISBN 978-0-9789962-3-9).
 * Bussmann, R.W. , Sharon, D. (2007). Plants of longevity - The medicinal flora of Vilcabamba. Plantas de longevidad - La flora medicinal de Vilcabamba. Arogya, Honolulu (ISBN 978-0-9789962-2-2).
 * Bejár, E., Bussmann, R.W. , Roa, C., Sharon, D. (2001) Medicinal Herbs of Southern Ecuador – Hierbas Medicinales del Sur Ecuatoriano, 340p. San Diego, Latino Herbal Press.
 * Bussmann, R.W.  (1994). The forests of Mount Kenya (Kenya) - Vegetation, Ecology, Destruction and Management of a tropical mountain forest ecosystem. Dissertation Universität Bayreuth.