Mark Plotkin, Ph.D.

President, Amazon Conservation Team: partnering with indigenous people to conserve wildlife, medicinal plants, and Indian culture in tropical America; Mark is one of the most efficient protectors of the Amazon Rainforest.

In 2001 TIME magazine called Mark an "Environmental Hero for the Planet," and Smithsonian magazine hailed him as one of "35 Who Made a Difference" in 2005 — among a select group of visionaries which included Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and fellow New Orleanian Wynton Marsalis.

Born in 1955 in New Orleans, Mark is a renowned enthnobotanist (one who studies how people use plants for medicine, food, etc.) and an expert on rainforest ecosystems. An intrepid explorer of the tropics, Mark has proved himself to be arguably the word's most efficient protector of rainforest.

A college dropout who was working at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, he joined an expedition searching for an elusive crocodile species in 1978 and was galvanized into returning to complete his bachelors at Harvard University and his PhD at Tufts University. He authored a handbook for the Tirio people of Suriname detailing their own medicinal plants — the only other book printed in Tirio language being the Bible.

Mark continued his research at Harvard under Richard Evans Schultes, who virtually founded the field of ethnobotany. Documenting the use made by indigenous tribes of medicinal plants unknown to western science, at a moment when traditional shamanic wisdom was disappearing from tribal cultures, Plotkin increased appreciation of indigenous medicinal knowledge and wisdom with Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, 1993. The book has been translated into many languages and formed the theme of the IMAX film "Amazon" which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Mark created the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) in 1995 together with prominent Costa Rican conservationist Liliana Madrigal — with the conviction that if international rainforest conservation efforts are to succeed, the active and meaningful participation of indigenous people is essential. Currently, Mark overseas Amazon conservation projects with indigenous peoples in Brazil, Colombia and Suriname.

With the guidance of tribal elders, shamans, traditional authorities, and leading western conservationists, ACT has developed a uniquely successful and cost-effective approach that we term biocultural conservation. This ACT methodology incorporates the protection of biodiversity, strengthening of traditional health systems, and cultural preservation into a unified system. ACT always implements this methodology with the indigenous communities we are privileged to have as our partners. ACT also works closely with local governments in order to ensure that our efforts are adopted and validated by local authorities.

Major accomplishments of the Amazon Conservation Team include the elaboration of cultural maps covering over 40 million acres defining territorial boundaries, resources, and spiritual sites in the northeast Amazon and Brazil's Xingu Indigenous Park, and the creation of the Alto Fragua Indi Wasi National Park, a unique 168,000-acre conservation area in Colombia designed to be co-managed by the local indigenous communities and the national environmental agency.

ACT’s dedicated program focusing on the Promotion and Integration of Traditional Medicine, carried out by elderly shamans and apprentices, was selected among a handful of global initiatives for UNESCO’s Best Practices Using Indigenous Knowledge. In 2002, ACT received the United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Award in recognition of our conservation achievements.

The conservation of biodiversity is the primary focus of all environmental organizations working in the tropics. It is ACT's strong belief that the people who best know, use, and protect biodiversity are the indigenous people who live in these magnificent forests. Our projects are designed to address some of the major threats faced by our local colleagues: loss of indigenous biological wisdom, lack of healthcare, lack of economic opportunity, lack of territorial rights that would protect the rainforest from exploitation, and lack of legal representation. In the Amazon, where indigenous peoples are living a relatively traditional lifestyle, there are, typically, large tracts of rainforest, and, where there are large expanses of rainforest, there are often indigenous cultures. Indeed, a concise synopsis of the work of the Amazon Conservation Team might be: “ACT helps the keepers of the forest keep the forest.”

MORE ABOUT THE AMAZON CONSERVATION TEAM (ACT)

Biodiversity Protection The term biodiversity corresponds to a concept of nature where all living things and beings have intrinsic worth and importance. One of the Amazon Conservation Team’s highest priorities is to safeguard the biological diversity of the Amazon and other ecosystems of tropical and sub-tropical America.

In our project areas, we recognize the inextricable link between the survival of the forest and the survival of the local forest culture—what we term "biocultural" diversity. ACT’s experience has taught us that strong and thriving indigenous cultures, with national recognition of their claim to these lands, is the key to biodiversity conservation in many areas where we work. The goal of many of our projects is to protect biological diversity by strengthening local culture and building local conservation capacity.

In addition, ACT is supporting the creation of nature reserves in direct cooperation with local partners to ensure the protection of critical habitat areas.

Tribal Healthcare/Ethnomedicine Health corresponds to a caretaker relationship between human society and the natural world that maximizes human well-being, social justice, and reverence for living systems. The intrinsic link between ecosystem health and human health from the perspective of many indigenous peoples, the importance of physical health to overall well-being, and the central role that health and healing play in indigenous cultures account for the prominence of the health component in ACT projects.

The erosion of traditional medicine and culture coupled with an adoption of a sedentary lifestyle has had a devastating effect on the self-sufficiency and health status of indigenous peoples. The impact of the loss of traditional systems of health is almost always greatly compounded by a limited or total lack of access to primary and preventive healthcare.

ACT has further developed and consolidated our original flagship project, the Shamans and Apprentices Program, to prevent the disappearance of traditional knowledge by encouraging young apprentices to learn from elder shamans and to preserve the knowledge of medicines from the local forest.

It must again be noted that the operation of the traditional clinics in all of our country programs is under the control of elder shamans and other traditional healers in coordination with western professionals. The traditional health clinic and the knowledge shared with our teams belong solely to the local people (note that ACT does not engage in bioprospecting).

Cultural Preservation Culture corresponds to indigenous production practices, social relations, and the interpretation of the events of daily life specific to each tribe.

Much of the best-protected rainforest in South America is on Indian lands. Indigenous peoples living a relatively traditional lifestyle often maintain both a physical and a spiritual tie to the land. Everything from the quality of drinking water to the availability of foodstuffs to the accessibility of medicinal plants is dependent on careful stewardship of local resources.

And not only do indigenous communities control enormous amounts of territory, they also have an unparalleled knowledge of these resources and how best to manage them. Much of the history of the international conservation movement has focused on protecting land from people. But, in the case of some indigenous groups, these local peoples may present an extraordinary conservation opportunity. They want to protect the lands, but they need some outside assistance to be able to do so. Helping them gain legal title to the land, helping them keep destructive outside forces at bay, and helping them negotiate with the outside world on their own terms—all are necessary if tropical American indigenous cultures and forests are to survive and thrive.