The Centre for Environment Education is concerned with bringing more innovative strategy to the notice of policymakers and the general public in order to sensitize them to the need for environmentally sound decisions. The current book series has been planned as a means of providing access to alternative viewpoints, backed by analysis and information on various policy aspects presented by development theorists and practitioners from diverse fields.

There is considerable rhetoric about the value of knowledge available in our traditional systems but this is yet to translate into a practical attempt to make this knowledge viable and usable in the present context. The country's indigenous medical traditions include both the codified system of Ayurveda, and folk tradition, which is passed from one generation to another orally. Both systems yield knowledge on prevention, cure and health promotion. Ayurveda in Sanskrit means “the Science of Life”. It is an ancient system of treatment based on medicines prepared from herbal plants found in abundance in India. Ancient knowledge systems of medicine provide the basis for alternative preventive, curative and restorative treatments that have gained increasing global acceptance. These knowledge systems seek to maintain the balance of the physiological systems in a holistic way to prevent diseases and revitalize the body, mind and soul.

The book discusses some of the indigenous traditions of Ayurveda and folk medicine that are of practical value and calls for the revitalization of medical traditions through careful documentation, testing and collection of evidence that supports epistemological as well as contemporary user value.