THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9501310120
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 168 lines
DOTTY LAVERDIERE and Vicky Shufer were relieved that the ``house boa'' chose to drop from the rafters at their base camp in the Peruvian rainforest on a night when they were visiting another lodge.
That was the closest the pair came to meeting up with a boa constrictor or any other snake, despite the eight days they spent at a pharmacy workshop studying plants in the wilds of the upper reaches of the Amazon River.
``They called it the `house boa,' '' Shufer said, ``because it's nice to have a snake around to control the rodent population.''
Shufer, editor of The Wild Foods Forum newsletter, and Laverdiere, Kellam High School librarian, did get to know a few other wild animals well on their rainforest adventure. One was a capybara, the largest rodent in the world. The creature roamed around their rainforest camp, much like a tame raccoon, looking for food and tolerating a few pats on the back.
Shufer and Laverdiere also got on intimate terms with a brilliant blue macaw one morning. The beautiful parrot lit on their breakfast table and nibbled away at their crumbs.
But boas, capybaras and parrots paled in comparison to the exotic plants that Shufer and Laverdiere met on their ``eco-tour'' of the environmentally sensitive region.
``I came back with a totally different perspective of plants,'' Laverdiere said. ``I always thought of them as something for food and crafts but not as medicines.''
Workshop scientists focused on the vital role that medicinal plants from the rainforest have always played and will always play in health care, she explained. Today's rainforests, which grow on less than 8 percent of the earth, are being cut and burned at a rapid rate to make way for farming. And Laverdiere and Shufer were impressed with the need for preserving them, if for nothing else than the cures the plants may hold.
One of the trip leaders compared the rainforest to a library, Laverdiere explained, ``where they are burning the books before they have even been cataloged, much less read.''
For example, only 1 percent of all rainforest plants have been thoroughly examined for their potential as medicines, yet 25 percent of medicines used in the United States today come directly from research done in tropical forests.
The papaya is a good example of a rainforest plant that already has proved its potential. An extract from papaya is used to dissolve herniated disks, Shufer said. Other examples are the muscle relaxant that is made from curare and the malaria medicine, quinine, which also comes from a rainforest plant. Future use of the rosy periwinkle is under study.
``Rosy periwinkle that looks like our vinca is being used in cancer research for the cure of leukemia,'' Shufer explained.
And then there are plants, such as nutmeg, that native Indians use as drugs but haven't found their way into mainstream medicine. Shufer and Laverdiere saw nutmeg growing in the wild and heard about its uses beyond a spice. ``It's used for paralysis and parasites,'' Shufer said.
Laverdiere and Shufer were among 100 folks who participated in the pharmacy workshop. The trip was led by James A. Duke, ethnobotanist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other ethnobotanists and ecologists.
Ethnobotany is the study of the way indigenous people use their plants as food, medicine and fibers. ``All the ways they use plants in their daily life,'' Laverdiere explained.
The Yagua Indians are the ``indigenous people'' of the Peruvian rainforest area. The two Beach women were able to observe a Yagua ceremony in which the tribe's ``brujo'' (herbal doctor) sought spiritual help to diagnose illnesses. They were surprised to find purslane, a garden herb here in the United States, as one of several plants used in the ritual.
Laverdiere and Shufer's traveling companions ranged from pharmacists, who could earn a year's worth of continuing education credit on the trip, and other health care professionals, to organic gardeners and herbologists.
Laverdiere's interest stemmed from the 19 years she spent as a science teacher before getting her degree in library science three years ago. She also is the Kellam High School Ecology Club sponsor and involved the students in her trip plans. Shufer, a naturalist, often leads plant and ecology walks in the area in addition to editing her newsletter. Her motivation was to broaden her knowledge of native plants and their uses.
The trip began at Iquitos, Peru, near the headwaters of the Amazon.
They went from site to site aboard long raft-like boats with roofs made of thatched palm leaves. Once they slept on a sleeping porch with only a thatched roof, in beds that were completely wrapped in muslin to keep out the insects.
Their main camp was Explorama Lodge, owned by Exploraciones Amazonicas S.A., a South American company that sponsors eco-tours in the Amazon rainforest. The group also spent a night at the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research where they explored the rainforest on a canopy walkway. The walkway, over a half mile long, is suspended more than 100 feet off the ground among the tops of lush rainforest trees.
``One morning on the canopy walkway, parrots, parakeets and toucans flew in,'' Laverdiere said. ``Some were brilliant blue with golden tails.''
The workshop was intense. There would be pre-breakfast walks, perhaps to search for birds. Morning and afternoon sessions focused mainly on plants and night sessions were varied. Once they went on a bat hunt.
``We went to bed early and rose early,'' Shufer said, ``and took a siesta, too.''
One unforgettable experience was their ``flower bath'' given by a native woman.
``Flower bathing brings good luck,'' Laverdiere explained. ``They take all these wonderful petals and soak them in water. You sit on a stool and she pours the water all over you. The petals stick to you and you go and dry off in the sun.
``It really was a nice experience,'' she added, ``mostly psychological, but you feel very at peace after the flower bath.''
At most every meal, Laverdiere and Shufer also learned about native plants and how they were used as food. For instance, they dined on a salad made from the heart of the palm tree. The heart was cut in big flat strips like spaghetti.
``And sometimes, we didn't know what we were eating,'' Shufer said, laughing.
They also learned a little about the way the Yaguas used plant fibers in their crafts. On a trading mission, Shufer and Laverdiere traded T-shirts and other items like magic markers for woven baskets. Laverdiere also purchased a pair of dolphin earrings that looked like they were carved from ivory and they were, except it was vegetable ivory made from the versatile palm tree.
Vegetable ivory comes from the liquid inside the palm fruit. The liquid can be used as a drink, Laverdiere explained, but over time it will completely harden. Then it can be carved into buttons and other decorative items.
Shufer and Laverdiere said they barely touched on the miracles of the rainforest in their eight short days. Yet they saw enough of its riches to feel more strongly than ever about preserving an area that has already proven to be so important to mankind.
``The big problem,'' Shufer said, ``is how do we keep the forests intact? You burn the trees to farm and after 10 years it's desert.''
``To take the chance,'' Laverdiere added, ``that something helpful to mankind would be burned is pretty sad.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
GOOD MEDICINE
[Color Photo]
Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Kellam High School librarian Dotty Laverdiere, left, and Vickie
Shufer, editor of The Wild Foods and Forum newsletter, admire a
native mask and basket, souvenirs of their trip to the Amazon
rainforest.
Amazon photos by VICKIE SHUFER
and DOTTY LAVERDIERE
Vickie Shufer stands on a platform that leads to the canopied and
roped walkway that she and Dotty Laverdiere (on the color cover) had
to cross.
Amazon photos by DOTTY LAVERDIERE and VICKY SHUFER
A woman sells manioc roots, a potato-like vegetable that is one of
the staple foods in the Amazon area.
Dotty Laverdiere pets a baby capybara, the world's largest rodent.
It grows to 4 feet and behaves like a tame raccoon.
LEFT: A Yagua man, native of the Peruvian rainforest area,
demonstrates the use of a blowgun.
RIGHT: Laverdiere and Shufer traveled down the Amazon River in a
thatch-covered boat.
LEFT: Arrowroot, an edible plant, is used to make starch and love
potions.
RIGHT: Nutmeg, growing on a tree trunk, is not just a spice. In the
Amazon, it is also used for paralysis and parasites.
SLIDE SHOW
Vicky Shufer and Dotty Laverdiere are willing to show their
slides and speak to groups about their trip to the rainforest.
Contact Shufer at 421-3929 for more information. Laverdiere is
already scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. May 9 at Kellam High School.
by CNB