SHARE:     |        |



Documentary explores Borneo for possible anti-HIV medicine
mongabay.com
June 27, 2006


Rainforest plants have long been recognized for their potential to provide healing compounds. Indigenous peoples of the rainforest have used medicinal plants for treating a wide variety of health conditions while western pharmacologists have derived a number of drugs from such plants.

However, as forests around the world continue to fall there is a real risk that pharmaceutically-useful plants will disappear before they are examined for their chemical properties. Increasingly, it is becoming a race against time to collect and screen plants before their native habitats are destroyed.

A new documentary, produced by Mediasource News, takes a look at one such species from deep in the jungles of Borneo.

Don Hayes, host and guide of the Eco-Traveler Safari of Sarawak adventure series, takes viewers on a journey through the forests of Borneo in search of the potential life-saving plant. Along the way, Hayes and his team encounter mysterious Penan and Iban medicine men, blood-sucking leeches, taboos that drive away their porters, and rapids that threaten the very expedition. Still, nothing can deter the team from pursuing their goal.

A preview of the documentary, now available on DVD, can be seen at www.eco-travelersafari.com






Recommend this article? Comments?
>Digg this article | >Hugg this article | Contact

News options





SHARE:     |        |



News index | RSS | News Feed


Advertisements:


Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing


MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

CONTENTS
Rainforests
Tropical Fish
News
Madagascar
Pictures
Kids' Site
Languages
TCS Journal
About
Archives
Topics | RSS
Newsletter



WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Email:


INTERACT
Facebook
Contact
Twitter
Interns
Zenfolio
Help


SUPPORT
Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com



POPULAR PAGES
Rainforests
Rain forests
Amazon deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation stats
Why rainforests matter
Saving rainforests
Deforestation stats
Rainforest canopy

News
Most popular articles
Worth saving?
Forest conservation
Earth Day
Poverty alleviation
Cell phones in Africa
Seniors helping Africa
Saving orangutans in Borneo
Palm oil
Amazon palm oil
Future of the Amazon
Cane toads
Dubai environment
Investing to save rainforests
Visiting the rainforest
Defaunation
Blue lizard
Amazon fires
Extinction debate
Extinction crisis
Malaysian palm oil
Borneo

News topics
Amazon
Biofuels
Brazil
Carbon Finance
Climate Change
Deforestation
Energy
Happy-upbeat
Interviews
Oceans
Palm oil
Rainforests
Solutions
Wildlife
MORE TOPICS




T-SHIRTS

  • Madagascar Wildlife
  • Dancing lemurs
  • Don't fall asleep the sloths will eat you
  • Sucking on this frog may make you insane


    CALENDARS

  • Mount Kenya
  • East Africa Safari Wildlife
  • Kenya's Turkana People
  • Peru
  • African Wildlife
  • Alaska
  • China
  • Madagascar Chameleons


    CANVAS BAGS

  • Hallucinogenic frog bag
  • Madagascar wildlife bag








  • Copyright mongabay 2009