Lichens are a diverse group of symbiotic organisms that represent cooperation between fungal, plant and bacterial kingdoms of life. Many lichens have traditionally been used as medicines, and modern scientific research has also examined many interesting medicinally active constituents found in lichens.

Lichens are generally difficult to cultivate, are available only from the wild, and are often sensitive ecological indicator species for environmental health. This workshop is intended for any herbalists wishing to use lichens in their practice, and will cover important topics including how to properly identify and distinguish medicinal lichens, ethical gathering practices to ensure that lichen medicines are not overharvested and continue to thrive, what we know about medicinal applications from perspectives of traditional use, scientific evidence and clinical application, and finally discussion of medicine making techniques to prepare lichens for use in herbal practice.

We will cover five genera of lichens that can be found in the West Kootenay region: The medicinal Usnea, Alectoria, Lobaria and Peltigera, as well as the toxic genus Letharia.