A very interesting publication, Mongabay Conservation News, is an unusual place to find an article on drug addiction. The daily news outlet is known for “impactful and unique environmental reporting and analysis,” operates bureaus in Africa, India, Indonesia, and Brazil, and publishes editions in many languages.

Out of the Africa bureau of Mongabay Conservation News comes an interesting environmental story that crosses over with addiction news and concerns ibogaine, the psychoactive plant that has been used to treat withdrawal symptoms for centuries.

Ibogaine is a natural product extracted from the root bark of the plant Tabernanthe iboga, a shrub that is native to Western Africa. Members of the Bwiti religion centered in the country of Gabon have used the iboga plant in religious services for centuries and consider the plant to be sacred.

Jenny Gonzales, a Brazilian journalist based in São Paulo, explains some of the problems resulting from the use of ibogaine to treat addiction:

The shrub takes up to 30 years to mature and yields just a single gram of ibogaine; traditional extraction usually requires uprooting the plant, leading to its destruction. This scarcity has fueled poaching and smuggling, prompting the Gabonese government to prohibit its export.

Gonzales cites a 2026 report in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies that explains the complicated “cultural, colonial, and scientific histories” that surround the exploitation of the iboga plant. Researchers found a contradiction with the official story of the discovery of ibogaine’s medicinal properties in the form of:

[…] evidence that ibogaine was first used in Mexico in 1913 for the treatment of a substance use disorder — a finding that challenges established historiographies and compels a revision of the dominant account of the “discovery” of ibogaine’s anti-addictive potential.

Now, reports Gonzales, we have a breakthrough: a new plant, found in the Amazon rainforest, from which ibogaine can be extracted.

The exact identity of the plant is a closely guarded secret of Dr. Ricardo Marques, a researcher with the Department of Systematics and Ecology, Universidade Federal da Paraíba. Gonzales writes about his discovery:

This species contains a chemical precursor that can be transformed into ibogaine using a new, potentially sustainable harvesting method that allows the plant to regenerate after extraction… Marques says he hopes to create a permanent, ethical supply of ibogaine without repeating the ecological harm seen in Africa.

Currently, extraction is being carried out by residents of the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve. The goal is to employ families in the impoverished reserve as extraction scales up.

Ibogaine has caused “deaths from cardiac arrest in detoxification therapies,” writes Gozales, and is banned in the United States and many other countries. The regulations against ibogaine make it difficult to study its effects and improve dosage and formulation. 

Gonzales reports on a recently completed five-year study on using ibogaine to treat people who were daily methadone users for at least 15 years. Methadone is used to treat heroin addiction and opioid addiction. The study has not been released, but the lead researcher says that the results were positive: “They were able to reduce their methadone dose, with some discontinuing it completely.”

U.S President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order earlier this year to fund studies into the uses of ibogaine after a Stanford University study involving 30 veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found that ibogaine “safely led to improvements in depression, anxiety and functioning among veterans with traumatic brain injuries.”

The discovery of a new, environmentally sound way of extracting ibogaine while making sure the benefits go to natives in the regions where it is harvested could be a boon for ibogaine research. That research could lead to an improvement in the way a variety of disorders are treated in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published July 10, 2026.

Sources:

“Secret Amazon species may be new source of ibogaine for addiction treatment,” Mongabay Conservation News, June 30, 2026.

“The long roots of ibogaine: A journey from plant to pharmaceutical,” Journal of Psychedelic Studies, March 9, 2026.

Image Copyright: Scamperdale, used under Creative Commons license.