Tree Huggers

• Women from the Yine Indigenous community in Peru are working to harvest and process the seeds of the murumuru, a native Amazonian palm tree.
• The community of Monte Salvado, where many Yine people live, borders the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve and Alto Purús National Park, two areas that are often traversed by Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.
• Community leaders warn that illegal loggers have been destroying the forests of these isolated communities, forcing them to travel to the Yine people’s communal lands to seek food and help.
• Families in Monte Salvado earn their income through the sustainable collection and processing of Brazil nuts and murumuru seeds, and by selling handicrafts made from the seeds.

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