Real life medicine man trying to heal Amazon
World-renowned botanist in Fort Myers drumming up support
BY ERIC RADDAZ Special to Florida Weekly

Plotkin

Passionate about his cause for protecting rainforests and the indigenous people who call these forests home, ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin warmly encouraged, thanked and educated an intimate group of supporters at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa on Fort Myers Beach last week.

"I've been doing this for some 25 years now and this is the best way to protect the rainforest," he said about his Amazon Conservation Team and their way of working with Indian tribes to protect their region, environment and culture, which will have a long-term impact on a global level.

Plotkin was in Fort Myers to drum up support for his Amazon project. He was featured in a special 35th anniversary issue of Smithsonian Magazine in 2005 with other innovators who have made a difference over the course of the magazine's life.

With the Amazon rainforest producing and responsible for nearly 25 percent of the world's fresh waters, its preservation is vital to the ecological balance and survival for generations to come, Plotkin said. Through education by ACT, indigenous peoples have managed to thwart destruction of this irreplaceable reservoir. They use GPS markers to map their region and technology including Google Earth to show tribes when and where their land is subject to violation, sparking quick tribal protection.

COURTESY PHOTO The Amazon Rain Forest

Beyond the delicate eco-structure and endangered species that the rainforest supports, there is a human face, culture of families and curative intelligence that Plotkin said he wants to protect.

It is the medicinal shamanic wisdom that he claims could also benefit Western civilization in the treatment of common diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Learning from these ancient tribes of conjured remedies including the use of chemicals found in animals and plants native to and found only in the

Amazon will shed light not seen perhaps in this hemisphere, Plotkin said.

The Amazon Conservation Team is planning an Amazon Adventure in July, 2008 where you can see first hand with Plotkin and other ACT experts the magical magnificence of the Amazon, visiting the Shamans and learning their knowledge of medicinal plants and insights into traditional health care. You can get involved by emailing info@amazonteam. org, by visiting www.amazonteam.org or calling (703) 522-4684.