Organizing body of the 3rd World Ayahuasca Conference expresses gratitude for the UDV participation

Jocimar Nastari*

| September 12, 2019

The International Center for Ethnobotanical Education Research & Service (ICEERS) expressed gratitude for the participation of the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal in the 3rd World Ayahuasca Conference held in the city of Girona (Spain) from May 31st to June 2nd of this year.  The thanks was made by way of two letters** addressed to the UDV: one signed by the Executive Director of ICEERS, Benjamin de Loenen; and the other signed by the Director of the Areas of Law, Public Policy and Human Rights, Constanza Sánchez Avilés and by the Coordinator of the Ayahuasca Defense Fund, Natalia Rebollo Corral.

In his letter, De Loenen reminds that ICEERS invited to the Conference those communities, individuals and organizations of ample knowledge in respect to Ayahuasca (also denominated Vegetal or Hoasca Tea by the UDV), and who were willing to debate and share experiences in search of a collective vision and common strategies, having as principal focus the role that Ayahuasca can have in the strengthening of communities, in search of a more sustainable and connected future.

In the document, the Executive Director of ICEERS highlights:

“We are grateful for the proactive participation of the UDV since the beginning of this process.  It was fantastic to see how the information of our event and the call for abstracts was actively spread amongst your members, resulting in a significant participation in the event (…)

(…) We are also grateful for the diversity of presentations made by members of the UDV, who shared their ample experience with environmental works and the cultivation of sacred plants – a subject that has a central dimension for globalization – and their insights connected to the community and to the aspects of public policy / institutional law, which were of particular importance in the context of this conference.”

The most important conference

In the other letter addressed to the UDV, the Director of the Area of Law and the Coordinator of the Ayahuasca Defense Fund highlighted that the 3rd World Ayahuasca Conference was the largest and most important held up to present, and also expressed gratitude for the Collaboration of the União do Vegetal in this event:

“We are especially satisfied with the effort and the presence of the UDV in diverse forums of discussion: in total, eleven speakers from the UDV participated in the conference and were present in the three salons of the event site.  Your presence included participation of keynote speakers, members of diverse roundtables and panels, and the exhibition of a video (UDV in the Land of the Yudjás).  The topics addressed by these participants were diverse: from religious liberty, passing through human rights and public policies, to the environment and the cultivation of the sacred plants.

UDV Science

Eleven associates of the União do Vegetal participated as presenters at the conference.  Among these were the General Representative Mestre, Paulo Afonso Amato Condé and the president of the Center, Mestre Tadeo Feijão.  Another almost 40 associates composed the delegation of the UDV present in Girona.

The event brought together 1,400 people from 46 nations and had panels that addressed the use of Hoasca Tea in religious, scientific, therapeutic, legal and cultural scopes.  During the conference, the União do Vegetal also launched the site UDVCIÊNCIA, with which it intends to hold a more close and agile dialogue with the scientific community and researchers.

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*Jocimar Nastari is member of the Body of Counsel at the General Headquarters of the UDV (Brasília-DF) and the adjunct Director of the Department of Memory and Communication (DMC) of the General Directorate of the Center.

**The translation of the in the English Language to the Portuguese Language was realized by Demerval de Sena Aires Júnior, member of the Instructive Body of the Nucleo Canario Verde (Brasília-DF).