Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the archive, how it's verified, and how to get involved.
What is the Sankofa Botanical Hub?
The Sankofa Botanical Hub is a community-built digital archive preserving the ethnobotanical heritage of Barbados and the wider Caribbean — traditional, medicinal, and cultural knowledge about plants, recorded by the diaspora community and organized into a searchable Botanical Library.
Is the information on this site medical advice?
No. Everything in the archive is community knowledge and traditional practice, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before using any plant for medicinal purposes — this applies to every record in the archive, regardless of how it was sourced or verified.
How is plant information verified?
Every submission goes through a curator review before it becomes part of the public archive. When a community member documents a plant, the submission sits in a review queue — it is not visible in the Library until an editor, admin, or superadmin has checked it. AI assistance is used at the drafting stage (see below), but a human always reviews the result before publication.
Is AI used to generate the content here?
AI is used as a drafting aid, not a final authority. When you document a plant with a photo, AI can suggest a likely species and draft starting details (traditional use, preparation, safety notes) for you to review and edit before submitting. Community tips also go through an automated safety check that flags anything describing a dangerous preparation or dosage for closer curator attention. In every case, a human curator reviews the record before it's published — AI output is never published directly.
How can I contribute a plant record?
Use the Contribute page — you can photograph a plant and let AI help identify it and draft details, or enter everything manually if you already know the plant. You'll need an account to submit, and your submission is reviewed by a curator before it appears in the Library. If you're offline when you document a plant, your submission is queued on your device and syncs automatically once you're back online.
Is the Sankofa Botanical Hub free to use?
Yes, for now — browsing, searching, and contributing plant records are free. Paid tiers and additional features are planned for the future, but the core archive will always remain free to browse.
Do I need an account to browse the archive?
No — the Botanical Library is open to browse without signing in. An account is only needed to contribute a plant record, save plants to a personal collection, or submit a community tip.
How do I report inaccurate or unsafe information?
Reach out via the Contact page with a link to the record and a description of the concern. Given the archive covers traditional medicinal use, we take safety-related reports especially seriously and prioritize them for curator review.
Who is behind this project?
The Sankofa Botanical Hub is developed by The Diasporadical Initiative in partnership with ESOLV DIGITAL Inc., dedicated to cataloguing and preserving traditional botanical wisdom from Barbados and the wider Caribbean diaspora.