Mark Plotkin
Ethnobotanist | Protecting the World's Rainforests
About
Mark Plotkin is an ethnobotanist renowned for his work documenting and protecting the traditional knowledge of Amazonian shamans. As the President of the Amazon Conservation Team, he has collaborated with over 60 indigenous tribes to map and monitor millions of acres of rainforest.
Plotkin's acclaimed book 'Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice' chronicles his firsthand experiences learning from traditional healers, offering a powerful argument for the preservation of threatened plant and cultural diversity. His keynotes inspire audiences to appreciate the interconnectedness of human and environmental health, and the vital role indigenous communities play as guardians of the natural world.
Talks1
What the people of the Amazon know that you don't
"The greatest and most endangered species in the Amazon rainforest is not the jaguar or the harpy eagle," says Mark Plotkin, "It's the isolated and uncontacted tribes." In an energetic and sobering talk, the ethnobotanist brings us into the world of the forest's indigenous tribes and the incredible medicinal plants that their shamans use to heal. He outlines the challenges and perils that are endangering them — and their wisdom — and urges us to protect this irreplaceable repository of knowledge.
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