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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/living-seed-bank-preserving-amazon-biodiversity/>
"If the Amazon rainforest were to have a department store, this is what it
might look like.
Within the sprawling, 130-hectare “living seed bank” at Camino Verde, a project
in the richly biodiverse region of Madre de Dios in Peru, there are over 400
species of native trees and plants with often incredible properties
little-known to science.
There are “dragon’s blood” trees with thick red sap that heal wounds quickly;
there’s Flemingia (wild hops), a leafy shrub that has the rare ability to fix
nitrogen in the soil, making it more fertile; there are towering, thick trunks
of ironwood, one of the strongest timbers in the world. Meanwhile, the bark of
the tawari tree produces “killer T-cells” that fight cancer. All of these are
coexisting in this great, Avatar-esque library of natural wonders.
“I grew up in the forest,” says Froilan Rodríguez, who works for Camino Verde
as a specialist seed collector, while strolling along one of the pathways that
cuts through the jungle. “It can provide everything we need. It’s a magical
place.”
Camino Verde sits alongside the Tambopata River, whose basin is one of the most
ecologically rich areas on the planet. It is home to endemic species of birds,
reptiles, mammals such as jaguars and pumas, and notably, at least 1,255 plant
species.
However, the unique biodiversity of this region — much of which is still
little-studied by scientists — has been disappearing over the past decades.
In 2020, Peru recorded its highest levels of deforestation in history, with a
total of 203,272 hectares of Amazonian forest lost — an area 2.5 times the size
of New York City — due largely to logging and mining, according to Peru’s
environment ministry. Since 2001, almost three million hectares have been
deforested. It’s a grim picture seen across the tropics as tree cover is being
lost legally and illegally.
“In Madre de Dios, they cut many trees,” adds Rodríguez, who was himself a
miner before he came to realize the negative impacts. “We are losing many
special species.”
But Camino Verde, or Green Way, is fighting to preserve these native plants
before they’re lost forever — and it is helping them to blossom in the
long-term through the support of (and benefit to) local communities."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
