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Dec 4, 2006
"When searching for harmony in life, one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators." --Niels Bohr
Amazon Natives Save Forests with Google Earth
Deep in the most remote jungles of South America, Amazon Natives are using Google Earth, GPS mapping, and other technologies to protect their fast-dwindling home. Tribes in Suriname, Brazil, and Colombia are combining their traditional knowledge of the rainforest with Western technology to conserve forests and maintain ties to their history and cultural traditions, which include profound knowledge of the forest ecosystem and medicinal plants. "Westerners map in three dimensions: longitude, latitude, and altitude," explained Mark Plotkin, founder of Amazon Conservation Team, a nonprofit working with the indigenous. "(They) think in six: longitude, latitude, altitude, historical context, sacred sites, and spiritual or mythological sites, where invisible creatures mark watersheds and areas of high biodiversity as off-limits to exploitation."
BE THE CHANGE
Fifty years ago, acute lymphoblastic leukemia was lethal, but with medicine derived from a rainforest plant, it now has an 85% cure rate. A one-minute PSA explores the connection of rainforest health with general well-being. More ...
