As a group of plants, weeds are unloved by some people. However, this dislike is not universal. Weeds are colonizing, pioneering plants, with special botanical and ecological attributes that allow…
As a best-selling author, the co-founder of the award-winning Amazon Conservation Team, and an acclaimed public speaker, Mark Plotkin is one of the world’s most prominent rainforest ethnobotanists and conservationists.…
Nestled between steep mountains and a sandy shoreline that slopes into the Solomon Sea, the village of Baniata is testimony to resilience and self-sufficiency. Located on the remote southern shore…
A study at the University of Zurich in Switzerland shows that a large proportion of existing medicinal plant knowledge is linked to threatened indigenous languages. In a regional study on the Amazon, New Guinea and North America, researchers concluded that 75% of medicinal plant uses are known in only one language.
In 2019, XPRIZE Rainforest opened its doors and challenged the world to develop new biodiversity assessment technologies by offering a $10 million prize for the best one. The consequent mobilization will extend…
Iawá, also known as Odete Kuruaya, is the last remaining fluent speaker of the Kuruaya language. Not much is known of the Kuruaya, an Indigenous group from the Amazon Rainforest.…
The second half of the 20th century was a time of unprecedented change in the Amazon rainforest. The ecosystem was opened up by government road-building and colonization schemes in the…
Wade Davis is a celebrated anthropologist, ethnobotanist, photographer, and author who has written thought-provoking accounts of indigenous cultures around the world. These have ranged from The Serpent and the Rainbow…
MINDANAO, Philippines — In his 52 years, Vicente Bandojo says, he has never been admitted to a hospital or consulted a medical doctor for any ailment that afflicted him. Bandojo…
The natural world is full of medicines, many of which have been tapped by pharmaceutical companies to derive products that adorn our drugstore shelves and bathroom cabinets. But humans aren’t…
Mark Plotkin speaking at TED Global in October in Brazil. If you have ever wondered about the connection between giant hallucinogenic frogs, uncontacted peoples, conservation, and climate change — and…
Portrait of a Matsés woman. Photo by Alicia Fox. Tribes in the Amazon are increasingly exposed to the outside world by choice or circumstance. The fallout of outside contact has…
Waxy monkey frog. A compound found in the secretions of a South American frog is being used to illegally boost the performance of racehorses, reports The New York Times. A…
Just north of Los Angeles on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is a special piece of ancient tribal land. Prehistoric artifacts and burials indicate that occupation occurred there as…
An interview with Martin von Hildebrand, founder at head of Gaia Amazonas. Indigenous groups in the Colombian Amazon have long suffered deprivations at the hands of outsiders. First came the…
Physician Christopher Herndon explores how Amazon shamans diagnose and treat disease. Ethnobotanists, people who study the relationship between plants and people, have long documented the extensive use of medicinal plants…
Review reports that many pharma companies have eliminated their natural product research programs in the past decade, while from 2001 to 2008 there was a 30 percent drop in the…
Traditional practices contribute to conservation of medicinal plants in West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, report Tuli S Msuya and Jafari R Kideghesho in the March issue of the open access journal…
IP laws not helping indigenous people protect traditional knowledge IP laws not helping indigenous people protect traditional knowledge mongabay.com November 13, 2008 Indigenous knowledge has long been exploited for profit…
Deep in the Suriname rainforest, an innovative conservation group is working with indigenous tribes to protect their forest home and culture using traditional knowledge combined with cutting-edge technology. The Amazon…
Colombia creates rainforest reserve to protect medicinal plants Colombia creates rainforest reserve to protect medicinal plants Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com June 12, 2008 Colombia today announced the creation of a…
Dirt-munching helps protect chimps from malaria Dirt-munching helps protect chimps from malaria mongabay.com January 10, 2008 Soil ingestion helps chimps protect themselves from malaria, reports a new study published in…
Amazon Conservation Team wins "Innovation in Conservation Award" for path-breaking work with Amazon tribes Amazon Conservation Team wins "Innovation in Conservation Award"for path-breaking work with Amazon tribes mongabay.com December 11,…
Amazon rainforest children to get medicinal plant training from shamans Amazon rainforest children to get medicinal plant training from shamans Grant from Nature's Path expands cultural program mongabay.com November 21,…
The State of Forests and Ecotourism in Belize The State of Forests and Ecotourism in Belize An interview with Colin Young, a Belizean Ecologist mongabay.com November 16, 2007 A 7-year…
Ethnobotanist honored for contributions to wilderness medicine Ethnobotanist honored for contributions to wilderness medicine mongabay.com August 8, 2007 Renowned ethnobotanist and conservationist Dr. Mark Plotkin of the Amazon Conservation Team…
Intellectual property rights reach indigenous communities in the Amazon Intellectual property rights reach indigenous communities in the Amazon By Carolina Bruun, special to mongabay.com March 21, 2007 In an era…
70% of new drugs come from Mother Nature 70% of new drugs come from Mother Nature mongabay.com March 20, 2007 Around 70 percent of all new drugs introduced in the…
Used for centuries as a natural disease prevention and physical stimulant, an Amazonian tree frog has become a symbol of Brazil's fight to benefit the Indigenous from scientific developments based…
