Highlights

“A sustainable conservation program requires funding, government backing, and the integration of local knowledge and practices, said Adrian Forsyth, a tropical ecologist who founded the

Andes Amazon Fund⁠

There also needs to be some incentive beyond basic conservation.

“People don’t value biodiversity for its own sake,” said Dr. Forsyth, adding that to get the message through, conservationists need to highlight how the goal relates to the general public. “Without pollination, you don’t get good crop yields. Without honey, you don’t have a good cup of tea.” According to Dr. Vásquez Espinoza, stingless-bee honey grew in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic among Indigenous residents in Peru. It became a favored ingredient in alternative treatments for upper respiratory infections at a time when the country

was hard hit by the virus⁠

. Selling the honey also provided economic relief for families in remote areas who could not take advantage of government support because they did not have bank accounts.

Dr. Delgado and Dr. Vásquez Espinoza hope to use these incentives to promote the practice of keeping stingless bees in artificial nests. They are also working with Indigenous communities to develop more sustainable methods of collecting stingless-bee honey in the wild. In addition, Dr. Delgado and Dr. Vásquez Espinoza are partnering with Mr. Antonio to map the locations and types of stingless bees found in the rainforest, data that will eventually be compared with deforestation rates to predict how much the populations could decline in coming years. The two scientists are also

continuing to record⁠

what they call “ethnoknowledge” — the traditional knowledge of stingless bees honed over generations by Indigenous Amazonians. This includes which bees make the best honey for treating certain ailments. (A species that nests in the soil, for example, is said to be optimal for eye infections.)

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.