The Amazon In Transition – TED Talks

Mark Plotkin on NPR Radio Hour

Guy Raz, host and editorial director of the TED Radio Hour, spoke with Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist, on his research covering the Central and South American rainforests cultural resources.

These two talk about Plotkin’s TED Talk discussion, and provide context to his research gathered in the Amazon.

Mark Plotkin is an ethnobotanist, studying the medicinal uses for plants in Central and South American forests. Part of his research involves working closely with shamans, community leaders who practice traditional healing techniques. But when the forests are disrupted and the communities shrink, that irreplaceable repository of knowledge is at risk of being lost. Plotkin’s work helps collect and share shamanic learning and preserve the rainforests, along with the people and knowledge they carry.