Protecting Amazonian stingless bees to save the rainforest
Stingless bees have always been revered by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon as guardians of the forest and for the healing properties of their honey. And now pioneering scientific work by Peruvian chemical biologist and conservationist Rosa Vásquez Espinoza has linked deforestation in the Amazon with the decline of these native bees, which are vital pollinators and a major part of life for the Indigenous Asháninka and Kukama-Kukamiria peoples, amongst others. Without intervention, the disappearance of the bees would have irreversible consequences for pollination networks and forest regeneration.
Raised between the Peruvian Andes and the rainforest, Vásquez Espinoza, who has Andean-Amazonian indigenous roots, brings together ancestral knowledge and cutting-edge science. As Founder and Executive director of Amazon Research Internacional, she works to protect biodiversity and empower communities across the Amazon basin.
