Hola Amigos y Amigas!  Welcome back to Peru, the land of biodiversity and warm-hearted people.  It's been a busy time of learning and teaching for us here, so the blog has been a little delayed. 

One of the incredible views we enjoyed on our trip to Chirik Sacha. 

Now that you've learned a little about cacao and chocolate, I thought I'd pass on a little of what I've learned here about the medicinal plants of Peru.  What I know is a drop in the bucket compared to the wealth of knowledge that exists here, but I am tickled to be able to pass on some of what I have learned. 

The use of medicinal plants in the maintenance of health and in treatment of a wide variety of ailments has been part of the Peruvian culture for millennia.  Most people know at least a little about traditional medicine here, and many are specialists with a profound knowledge of the plants and their relationship to health. This knowledge has been traditionally passed on from generation to generation, and prior to the advent of western medicine here was the source of healing and disease prevention. 



The exquisite bloom of Passion Flower

Medicinal plants, like many natural resources in countries around the world, have been threatened by deforestation and logging, climate change and over-harvesting.  Peru is no exception, but at this point there is a strong initiative here to prevent the ongoing loss of natural resources and to heal the forests.  Medicinal plants, in general, do not grow well in isolation or in cultivated plots like other crops such as corn, potatoes and wheat. They grow naturally in the forest, in clearings or beneath the shade of trees, and the symbiotic relationships within these ecosystems are essential in preserving each of the organisms within them. 

With time and the challenges that have been presented to the forests, many of the medicinal plants that have been used for generations have become increasingly difficult to find and people have had to travel longer distances and search harder to find them. This has resulted in disuse of the plants in daily life and loss of the traditional  knowledge associated with them. 

There has been a movement afoot over the last 20 years or so, to intervene and to preserve not only the forest resources but also cultural wisdom associated with them.  A non-profit organization named Takiwasi Laboratory has played a significant part in this movement, and I will be telling you a lot more about them in future posts.  People in villages in the San Martin region (and elsewhere in Peru) have begun to form associations and to organize in their efforts to preserve their forests and traditional knowledge.  One of these organizations is the Ampik Sacha Association of Medicinal Plants Producers, whose president you met in a previous post.  (See more here) 
We returned recently to visit her and her family again and to get more information on what the association is doing in her area and also to learn more about the plants themselves.

In order to preserve the genetic pool of plants as well as to rebuild the areas of the forests where they are naturally found, the associations work together to educate their communities on the importance of this preservation. They do this through participatory workshops and collective decision-making, facilitated in large part by Takiwasi Laboratory. From these workshops has come the idea of plant nurseries, established in several areas, to actively cultivate seedling medicinal plants to place into the forests.

Nursery demonstration plots

This brings the plants back within reach of those who use them in daily life, preserves the genetic pool of endangered plants and provides the potential for these people also to improve their livelihood through marketing of the plants in the form of quality end products.  We had an opportunity to visit one of these nurseries.  Plants are seeded into small plastic bags where they are nurtured out of direct sun at the nursery until mature enough to plant out into the forests or demonstration plots. 
 

All the work is performed on a volunteer basis by members of the association, and many tasks can be performed by the children or young people in the villages. 












One of many medicinal plants

This brings the knowledge of medicinal plants into the next generation and involves them in an activity important in preserving their environment and livelihood. This

multi-generational focus on these activities is essential in ensuring that the initiatives continue into the future and that knowledge is passed on intact to those future generations of decision-makers. Not only are the seeds of medicinal plants sown, but also the seeds of cultural identity.  There is a real sense of pride surrounding this small but important industry here.






This is but the beginning in the chain of activities involved in the production and marketing of medicinal plants.  Once the plants have been grown to a size where they can be planted out, they are planted in family gardens like this one

 

A family garden

 

and in purmas, which are secondary forest areas.  But more about that in the next post.  We'll take a little trek into the jungle to have a look at where these plants live, after seeding or as they grow wild.  I promise you, what we find there will knock your socks off.  Adios!