Prof Ben-Erik van Wyk has spent decades unlocking the secrets of indigenous plants. His work in ethnobotany — the traditional uses of plants by local people — is situated at the nexus of cultural heritage and scientific inquiry. As the DST-NRF SARChI Chair in Indigenous Plant Use, Van Wyk’s work straddles the realms of botany, anthropology and cultural preservation. He is studying what he calls “the most ancient of human plant uses” and dealing with “accumulated wisdom about the properties of plants gained through hundreds of thousands of years of trial and error”.
As modernisation creeps into rural areas, traditional plant knowledge is fading fast. Van Wyk sees the urgency in preserving this fragile knowledge, which can easily be lost to future generations if not properly documented. “The botanical and cultural diversity of southern Africa is of importance to all humanity, as it is associated with the very origins of the use of plants by modern humans,” he says.
By bridging ancient wisdom and modern science, Van Wyk’s research opens new avenues for drug discovery, sustainable agriculture and conservation. One of van Wyk’s most profound moments came during a visit in Nieuwoudtville, where an encounter with Koos Paulse, an elderly man of Khoi descent, led to a breakthrough in understanding the medicinal properties of Rafnia amplexicaulis, which is used by elderly women as a natural hormone replacement therapy.
This collaboration, captured in a documentary, “The Professor”, exemplifies Van Wyk’s approach of elevating indigenous experts to their rightful place as co-researchers rather than subjects of study. His research has already nurtured several new intellectual leaders from various cultural groups, transforming ethnobotany from a “colonial safari-type adventure” to a dynamic, indigenous-led field.
Growing up in a family of “plant people” offered early exposure to the wonders of botany and set the stage for a lifetime of discovery. “My father was a keen gardener and my mother a botanical artist. So I practically knew all garden plants from an early age,” he recalls. “I learned that every leaf and every root holds a story; stories as old as humanity itself.”
For Van Wyk, the NSTF-South32 Lifetime Award is a validation of the long-term importance of his work and the profound discoveries associated with indigenous knowledge, which is often overlooked in the rush towards high-tech solutions. “It tells us about the value in looking back to move forward,” he says. “It is not only species threatened with extinction, but also the indigenous knowledge associated with them.”
