Donnerstag, 28.03.2024 19:04 Uhr

The copaiba: the “miracle tree”

Verantwortlicher Autor: Carlo Marino Rome , 20.03.2023, 21:32 Uhr
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Rome [ENA] The copaiba (Copaifera langsdorffii) is known as the “miracle tree” because it is one of the medicinal trees most widely used in Bolivia’s Chiquitania region – and indeed in the Amazon in general. It treats inflammation and wounds and is considered one of the most important natural remedies in a rural region where people live far from pharmacies and hospitals and have little access to public health care.

It is considered a “miracle tree” that is a source of income, health and empowerment for the community. The tree’s oleoresin is collected from a hole drilled carefully into the trunk. It is processed into cosmetic and medicinal products. For centuries, the copaiba has been a staple of natural medicine. In Bolivia, healers used the oil, distilled from the oleoresin, to cure colds and rheumatism, massaging the pain away. Taking two drops daily mixed with a tablespoon of honey still treats bronchitis, tonsillitis and coughs here. In Brazil, they place copaiba oil on tumours and hives. A tea made from the seeds of the tree also works as a purgative and treats asthma.

Modern medicine uses copaiba oil to promote the healing of wounds and ulcers, as well as to treat serious and chronic skin diseases, such as dermatosis and psoriasis. One of the active ingredients in the oil is BCP (beta-caryophyllene), a potent compound with anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antibacterial and antioxidant properties.  An individual copaiba yields 40 litres of oil per year, but production has been known to diminish after repeated tapping. To ensure a consistent supply, experts suggest extracting only one litre per tree, every three years.

It is processed into cosmetic and medicinal products including liquid and solid soaps, oils and ointments, lip balms, shampoo and perfume. The Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Institute for Environment and Development and AgriCord, has provided finance to the Rio Blanco Indigenous Peoples community, supporting the purchase of tools for the copaiba harvest.

While medicinal plants form, in large part, the basis of traditional health systems in developing countries, Indigenous Peoples have historically benefited little from the development of medicines from these plants. The FFF is supporting this enterprise in order to change this norm and improve the livelihoods of the women and the Rio Blanco community, while also sustainably managing the forest. The copaiba tree is one of the vulnerable species in the region that have difficulty recuperating after logging and fires.

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