Addressing the use of traditional plant-based medicine is a gateway to the diverse flora that the Shipibo-Konibo have long used and protected. But today, this awareness linked to plants is in danger of disappearing.

The epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic has moved to the Peruvian Amazon, endangering the lives of the Shipibo-Konibo indigenous people. Faced with government negligence over the lack of medical care and the only Amazonian hospital that has collapsed, the Shipibo-Konibo, for the first time, decided to organize themselves. In May, they created groups of traditional nurses in order to care for the different communities along the Ucayali River.