At Iboga Forest, we believe that healing cannot happen in a vacuum of ethics. To receive the gift of Iboga, we must honor the hands that harvested it and the lineage that preserved it. Our relationship with Gabon is not transactional; it is familial.
We do not use “middlemen” or commercial brokers to source our medicine.
Direct Sourcing: Every gram of Iboga used at our center is sourced directly from our Bwiti community in Gabon. This ensures that 100% of the financial exchange goes directly into the hands of the villagers, empowering them to manage their own needs.
Profit Sharing: A percentage of our annual proceeds is returned to the village to support community projects, infrastructure, and healthcare in Gabon.
How the medicine is collected matters as much as how it is consumed.
Traditional Protocol: Our medicine is harvested using strict Bwiti rituals. Prayers are offered to the earth before the root is taken, ensuring the spirit of the plant is respected.
Sustainability: We support sustainable harvesting practices. We do not support the mass commercialization or poaching of wild Iboga. We trust our Bwiti family to manage the conservation of their sacrament, as they have done for millennia.
We respect the Bwiti tradition by keeping it pure.
No Appropriation: We do not mix Iboga with other traditions (like Yoga, Buddhism, or New Age practices) in our ceremonies. We believe the Bwiti are the only ones truly qualified to say how the medicine should be used, because the medicine itself taught them.
Continuous Training: Our team maintains a constant connection with Gabon, returning regularly for further initiation and training. We remain humble students of the tradition.
There is a modern trend of Western organizations trying to “save” or “regulate” Iboga conservation from the outside. We view this as a form of neo-colonialism.
Trusting the Custodians: We believe that the Bwiti people—who discovered and protected this plant for thousands of years—are the best stewards of its future. We support their conservation efforts, rather than imposing Western rules upon them.
