Interconnectivities: Biodiversity, Human Health, and Plant-Based Healthcare

While the health of a living organism is linked very closely to the sufficiency and quality of nutrients that organism ingests and absorbs, a range of specific pathogens exist in every ecoweb. But just as pathogens exist, so do many biodiverse organisms that produce biochemicals and macromolecules that are effective in counteracting these pathogens. Thus, in most cases, ecosymbiotic humans have developed within their ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep a plant-based healthcare system specific to their ecoweb, based on knowing the identities of these ‘healing’ biodiverse organisms (e.g., plants), how to produce medicines from these organisms, and which medicines and associated healing practices are effective for which ailment (caused by a pathogen or some other physiological or body-mind-intellect misalignment). Thus, just like for food, the ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep related to health are also intimately linked to the particular biodiversity of each ecoweb, necessitating that the wellbeing of that ecoweb is preserved.

Ecosymbiotically Fulfilling Needs versus Satiating Wants

Within every system of ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep of ecosymbiotic peoples, there exists the understanding that meeting needs, not wants, results in interconnected wellbeing. Thus, ecosymbiotic peoples cultivate a highly respectful relationship with their food and other ecological resources, both in terms of the quantities they consume (sufficient to be healthy and preserve the ecoweb) and also of the gratitude they feel toward their biodiverse ecowebs, the plants, other living organisms, and abiotic resources for providing what they need to thrive. The cultural Ādi-Knowtep of ecosymbiotic peoples reflect this gratitude through special festivals, ceremonies, and affirmations of appreciation. For example, several of the food or medicinal plants specific to a people’s ecoweb are integrated into deeply meaningful cultural practices that further tie the people to what they eat, how they heal themselves, and their biodiverse ecoweb.     

In India, for example, a sub-continent with a vast array of different ecowebs, farmers co-evolved over 200,000 varieties of rice through their creative innovation and breeding, each variety symbiotically adapted to a different ecoweb and climate. Thus, in different parts of India, particular strains of rice have been integrated into cultural Knowtep, fortifying each people’s symbiotic relationship with their ecoweb.

In most systems of ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep, the human individual is perceived as just one of many entities (living and non-living) that are all interconnected across the dimensions and, most obviously, within an ecoweb. Thus, the wellbeing of a human individual is dependent on the wellbeing of all other entities, particularly in her/his/their ecoweb, rendering this interconnected (ecosymbiotic) wellbeing vitally important, not just the wellbeing of the human individual.

This simple yet profound understanding led ecosymbiotic peoples to develop Ādi-Knowtep systems that were rooted in cooperatively and collaboratively (with other humans and living organisms) fulfilling needs, not satiating wants. In other words, they used resources from their ecowebs (to produce the C/S required to fulfill their basic needs) in ways that would preserve biodiversity and ecoweb wellbeing. For if the ecoweb sustaining a human people was destroyed, then how would this people survive and thrive?

It should be noted that in such cooperative and collaborative ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep systems, the regenerative notions of ecosymbiotic abundance and diversity prevail — as opposed to the extractivist notions of individualistic scarcity (there is never enough to possess if the goal is to perpetually amass more material) and homogenized commodification (for mass marketing and maximized profit-making).

Also prevalent in the ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep systems are the practices of sharing and learning (of Ādi-Knowtep and ecological resources) — as opposed to the extractivist practices of exclusion, possession, and control. In Ādi-Knowtep systems, it is ecosymbiotic creativity that is celebrated and encouraged, not hoarded individualistic acquisition.     

Human Resilience and Wellbeing

The understanding of the delicate web of interconnectivities and interdependencies (ecosymbiosis) among all living and non-living (abiotic) components of a particular ecoweb, with all ecowebs connected to all other ecowebs, is integral to most ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep systems. This is why ecosymbiotic peoples developed their Ādi-Knowtep systems in careful increments, with the constant objective of preserving the ecosymbiosis of their ecoweb. These systems maximize human resilience and wellbeing by optimizing both physiological vitality (through nutritious food, effective healthcare, and practices promoting wellbeing) and psychological vitality (through leading lives of dignity and expressing creativity that optimizes interconnected wellbeing).^[1]

It cannot be emphasized enough that because the human species has infiltrated almost every ecoweb on earth (through habitation within an ecoweb and/or affecting an ecoweb through proximal and/or distal human activity), biodiversity and ecoweb integrity — including ecological resilience — cannot be preserved without preserving jīvadiversity.

One of the ways in which jīvadiversity (i.e., the diversity of human communities and their ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep systems) benefits humans outside of a specific ecosymbiotic people is through the collaborative sharing of regenerative Knowtep. This is illustrated through the seed, which for the ecosymbiotic farmer, is not merely the source of future plants and food, but a living repository of knowledge, culture, history, and her/his/their people’s intimate relationship with their particular ecoweb. Seed is the first link in the food chain and the ultimate symbol of self-reliance and food security. Thus, free exchange of seed among ecosymbiotic farmers has been the basis of maintaining biodiversity, as well as food security.

In other words, jīvadiversity greatly increases resilience of diverse ecosymbiotic peoples as a collective, because sharing ecoweb-preserving Knowtep can help improve adaptation to unexpected changes, e.g., rainfall shortage, increased temperatures, pathogen spread, etc. Such exchange between jīvadiverse peoples is based on cooperation, reciprocity, collaboration, and interconnected wellbeing, all essential principles within their ecoweb-rooted Ādi-Knowtep systems.

[1] K. Mitra, Ecosymbiosis: the Basis of Adaptive Resilience Involving Biodiversity (Ecosymbiotic Resilience), Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh092025-007 (3 Sep., 2025).