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100 portraits of medicinal plants in Peru’s Amazon
When thinking of the Amazon rainforest, deep, dense, and majestic jungles may immediately come to mind, but did you know that Amazon is also the home to 1 of 10 of all living species on Earth?
Approximately 40,000 plant species are indigenous to the Amazon rainforest, and only less than half of 1% of flowering plant species have actually been studied by scientists for their medicinal properties. In this incredible series, The Chaikuni Institute joins forces with the young and talented Amazonian biologist and photographer Jorge Salvador Pizarro García as he awe-inspiring beauty of medicinal plants.
It is estimated that approximately one field of Amazonian rainforest is lost every second, which can contain up to 750 species of trees and 1,500 species of plants, not to mention the countless numbers of plant and animal species yet to be discovered. For this very reason, The Chaikuni Institute is dedicated to the and cultivation of these plants from the Amazon for the conservation of this incredibly important biodiversity by recovering and implementing ancestral indigenous practices, as well as through the ethics, principles and practices of permaculture.
These plants are not only vitally important to the Amazon and its people, but to the entire world. Of the 3,000 plants identified by the US National Cancer Institute as active against cancer cells, 70% come from the Amazon rainforest, This is more commonly known as ´bio-piracy’. In our continuing commitment towards protecting these plants, and the indigenous e behind them, we have deliberately left out the usage of these plants so that ancestral Amazonian knowledge can be guarded and maintained.
We hope our photographic series of medicinal plants takes you on a journey inside the Amazon rainforest to reveal its beauty, inspiration, and wonder, as well as leaving you with a better understanding of why conservation the Amazon is so important for indigenous people, local communities, and our planet.
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