The Beneficial Plant Research Association is working to rehabilitate the coca leaf by restoring public understanding of one of the world’s most misunderstood beneficial plants.

For thousands of years, coca has been revered by Indigenous peoples of the Andes as a sacred, nutritional, medicinal, and cultural plant. Yet outside its traditional context, the leaf has too often been reduced to fear, stigma, and policy narratives that obscure its deeper significance.

Through education, research, storytelling, and cross-cultural dialogue, BPRA is helping shift public perception of coca from fear and stigma toward curiosity, cultural appreciation, and responsible scientific inquiry.

The documentary The Coca Leaf: A Most Beneficial Plant is one important expression of this broader mission. The film will bring coca’s story to a wider public by centering Indigenous voices, historical context, scientific perspectives, and the living traditions that continue to sustain relationship with the leaf.

But the film is not the whole work. It is part of BPRA’s larger commitment to beneficial plants, traditional ecological knowledge, cultural sovereignty, and a more respectful global conversation about plant medicine.

Our Intended Outcomes

BPRA’s coca work is designed to advance several interconnected outcomes:

Rehabilitate the coca leaf’s public reputation
We seek to restore coca to its fuller context as a sacred Andean plant, a source of traditional nutrition and medicine, and a symbol of resilience, reciprocity, and cultural memory.

Advance responsible scientific inquiry
We support renewed whole-plant research into coca’s phytochemistry, traditional uses, and potential contributions to human wellbeing, while avoiding sensational or reductionist narratives.

Expand public education
Through the documentary, companion educational materials, public programming, and digital media, BPRA will create accessible resources for audiences in ethnobotany, conservation, integrative health, policy, and the broader public.

Support informed dialogue and policy imagination
BPRA aims to open space for more nuanced conversations about beneficial plants, traditional use, Indigenous rights, public health, and the consequences of criminalization.

Strengthen a broader movement for beneficial plants
Coca is one part of BPRA’s larger mission: to preserve and disseminate traditional ecological and ethnobotanical knowledge and to promote a more ethical, evidence-informed understanding of beneficial plants.