The Amazon Forest Pharmaceutical Resource - Where?

December 9, 2008 2:00 AM

Amazon healing plants. Who is the expert?

I am looking for resources, individuals, groups that are involved with healing plants from the Amazon forest. Where are they, what are their names and how can I connect with them?

posted by watercarrier to health & fitness (7 comments total)

You're looking for the field of Ethnobotany. I read this book when I was younger, by Plotkin.
posted by gramcracker at 5:09 AM on December 9, 2008

Could you be a little more specific about what you mean by healing? As gramcracker noted, this is (more than) a whole field, and runs the gamut from anthropology to drug design to Jonathan Ott.
posted by pullayup at 6:57 AM on December 9, 2008

Clarification - who is the world's most knowledgeable person on remedies derived from Amazon plants, herbs, bark, faun and flora, who works in tandem with native tribes, charts and analyzes then publicizes these studies, formulates think tanks, discussion groups on the topic of diseases, research, ongoing studies and the application of the Amazonian remedies that have been studied without the involvement or interference of any pharmaceutical company or overlording corporation.
posted by watercarrier at 7:22 AM on December 9, 2008

Jonathan Ott fits that bill somewhat.
posted by daksya at 9:33 AM on December 9, 2008

I would say that Jonathan Ott hardly fits the bill at all; the only condition he seems particularly concerned about providing a remedy for is sobriety.
posted by pullayup at 1:15 PM on December 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

A terrific resource is the IIAP, based in Iquitos, Peru. They have on staff excellent biologists, botanists, doctors, and anthropologists. It's worth a look around their site or a quick email. Also in Iquitos is the Instituto para medicina tradicional, but I don't have their contact information, although they are located not too far down the road (Av. Abilardo Quiñones) from IIAP. I have a few friends who have studied there (Peruvian friends, for what it's worth) who are med students and enjoyed the naturopath crossover.
posted by cachondeo45 at 6:18 PM on December 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

pullayup - the only condition he seems particularly concerned about providing a remedy for is sobriety

Perhaps, but he possesses a decent knowledge of Amazonian psychoactives, which goes towards satisfiying the OP's first requirement.
posted by daksya at 10:39 PM on December 9, 2008