For the trees of the forest

For centuries, the Aguaruna people living in the Peruvian Amazon have used natural forest medicines as a cure for diseases and illnesses. Historically, one of the most important medicinal plants in Peru is the Cinchona, commonly known as quina or cascarilla, which has been used since pre-hispanic times as a cure for different illnesses. Jesuit Missionaries introduced this natural medicine into Europe around 1640 as a cure for malaria and it became one of the most important export products in the Peruvian Amazon between 1880 and 1990. Nevertheless, the Peruvian presence in the market decreased as competitors appeared in the market and quinina started to be processed in laboratories. Quina trees
started to lose importance and the old forests that produced the famous bark were used as coffee or cocoa cultivation sites. Today, in Peru the quina species is almost extinct.
Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), an international development agency, is working with the Aguaruna people on a micro enterprise scheme to encourage a revival in the use of medicinal forest plants without harming the forest and repeating the fate of the Quina.

http://www.tve.org/ho/series2/outoftheforest.html