“It’s All the Same Thing”: Mark Plotkin on Preserving the Amazon

Posted in

Watch the video.

“’Who cares about the Amazon? We have to worry about global warming and climate change.’ Well guess what, it’s all the same thing.”

In a beautiful new 2-minute film, ethnobotanist and Amazon Conservation Team co-founder Mark Plotkin explains the interconnectivity between many of today’s greatest global challenges and the Amazon rainforest.

“Whether you’re interested in changing climate, whether you’re interested in too many poor people, or whether you’re interested in drug resistant bacteria—which is a much greater threat to our species than climate change, deforestation, terrorism, nuclear weapons—you have an interest in the greatest expression of life on earth, which is the rainforest, which is home to most of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.”

80% of our antibiotics come from nature, and the best antibiotics are waiting for us in today’s rainforests. It is, of course, crucial to protect those natural resources. The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) works in partnership with indigenous people of tropical America to conserve the biodiversity of the Amazon Rainforest as well as the culture and land of its indigenous people.

ACT partners with the Trio Indians to create programs in which elder shamans pass their botanical healing wisdom to the next generation of healers within the tribe. Mark’s goal is to fully document the entire spectrum of Trio knowledge of animals and plants.

In honor of Mark’s 60th birthday this month, ACT seeks to raise $60,000 to create the first ever Shaman’s Encyclopedia of the Amazon. “The lasting importance of achieving these goals is the creation of a template that other tribal peoples throughout the Amazon can adapt to their own needs and – in so doing – have a positive impact on saving oral shamanic wisdom in all of lowland South America.”

Learn more about this groundbreaking project and how you can help support it: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/saving-the-rainforest-shamans-at-sixty#/story

Looking for ways to support Amazon Conservation Team?

Consider donating to help us continue our work, or explore other ways to get involved:

Media Relations

For press release inquiries, please contact us at info@amazonteam.org.

Related Articles

Share this post

Bring awareness to our projects and mission by sharing this post with your friends.

Leave a Comment





This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.