The knowledge that indigenous population hold is of great value to the rest of humanity.

For example, a recent study found that of 119 commercially useful plant-based drugs available to us in the West, 74% of these were in prior use by indigenous communities. The World Health Organisation has listed 21,000 plant species that have reported medical usage in native communities, but these have yet to be subjected to western scientific testing.

Many rainforest tribes have detailed local ecological knowledge, such as how plants and animals interact. Through hundreds or even thousands of years of practice, they also know how to farm or manage the forest sustainably. In some cases, highly sophisticated and efficient 'forest gardening' systems are used to produce food without causing long-term harm to the forest.

Indigenous peoples' knowledge may thus be essential in finding ways to help manage and protect rainforests in the long-term. It may also he essential in any attempts to repair damage that has already been done to many rainforest areas.

However, much indigenous knowledge has been exploited with little or no compensation for the use of this 'intellectual property', and corporations have patented plant varieties that have only arisen through carefull selection over hundreds of years by indigenous people. Such 'genetic piracy' continues to this day.

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