Project Amazonas

Before European contact in 1542, it is estimated that as many as 10 million people lived in the Amazon. Today there are less than 200,000 indigenous people. Almost one hundred distinct tribes have disappeared since the early 1900’s due to introduced diseases, persecution, and assimiliation.

During the rainy season the Amazon River overflows its banks and can extend into the forest for a width of 25 miles in some places. Where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon is over 200 miles wide!

Although rainforests cover less than 2% of the Earth's surface area, they are home to 50% of the Earth's plant and animal species.

Although about 25% of all drugs are derived from rainforest ingredients, scientists have only examined the medicinal properties of around 1% of tropical plants. A large number of plant species in the Peruvian Amazon have been utilized by indigenous and other inhabitants of the region for medicinal purposes. The large medicinal plant and traditional remedies section of the Belen Market in Iquitos is a "must-visit" for anyone traveling to Iquitos.