Gabon Bans Iboga Exports After 18 September Decree as US Interest Fuels Overharvesting Fears
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 18
Gabon Bans Iboga Exports After 18 September Decree as US Interest Fuels Overharvesting Fears
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 18
Summary
Gabon’s council of ministers adopted a draft decree on 18 September banning exports of iboga and all derivatives in any form, aiming to protect both the plant and the traditional knowledge tied to it.
US interest has accelerated the pressure: Donald Trump’s 18 April executive order singled out ibogaine compounds, while Texas committed $50 million for a multicentre trial and private clinics already market treatments costing $13,500 to $19,500.
Conservationists say commercial harvesting often kills the slow-growing shrub by removing its entire root system, and former parks chief Lee White reported severe local over-harvesting near Libreville, Cocobeach, Mayumba and Lambaréné.
A May decree had already labeled iboga-related traditional knowledge national heritage, required benefit-sharing and patent origin disclosure, and created a sovereign fund backed partly by royalties.
The ban also seeks to avoid a familiar pattern in plant medicines—raw material exported, value added abroad, and Indigenous communities left with depleted biodiversity and little control.