The rising global popularity of ayahuasca, driven by religious, therapeutic, and tourism purposes, has increased pressure on the Amazonian plant species used in its preparation, with reports of growing scarcity in some parts of the rainforest.The beverage’s distribution chain connects the forest to international markets through opaque flows that often border on illegality, in a scenario of regulatory gaps and lack of effective oversight.Researchers warn about the lack of basic data on the distribution, abundance, and exploitation of these plants, which makes it difficult to create management strategies and increases the risk of environmental degradation.Indigenous leaders also denounce the appropriation of traditional knowledge systems and call for global responses, such as the World Ayahuasca Forum, to expand their participation in decisions about the use of the beverage.
“One of the world’s largest pharmacies is being destroyed,” says Benki Piyãko, a leader of the Ashaninka Indigenous people in the Brazilian state of Acre. The warning points to multiple threats advancing on the Amazon but also to growing debate surrounding one of the so-called forest medicines: ayahuasca.
This Indigenous beverage with psychedelic properties is usually prepared from two native plants: the caapi vine or mariri (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of the chacrona plant (Psychotria viridis). According to Indigenous leaders and experts, these species are facing increasing pressure and signs of scarcity in some areas.
