Alianza Arkana

Alianza Arkana is an indigenous grassroots organization based in Yarinacocha, Ucayali, Peru, that has dedicated itself over the past ten years to revitalizing indigenous traditions, facilitating intercultural exchange and education through research and development projects in the community, and advocating for indigenous rights and environmental justice in the Ucayali region.

Rao Banabo

Alianza Arkana’s has facilitated many unique and innovative community projects. Its most recent initiative, Rao Banabo, will transform the health and well being of Shipibo-Conibo communities through facilitating the growth and use of Amazonian traditional medicinal plant medicine.

During the pandemic, the region experienced a crisis in public health care where indigenous communities did not receive the access and treatment needed to devastating consequences. Many turned to traditional Amazonian medicines to great results. Alianza Arkana has launched an important project to revitalize the use of Amazonian plants in everyday life in Pucallpa and area. This project is undertaken through establishing four community garden projects with Amazonian medicinal plants that can be used to treat multiple ailments and as well complementary therapies to modern medicine.

Ancestral Traditions

The Shipibo-Conibo have a long cultural history of traditional healing and a vast knowledge of medicinal plants. However, many young people have lost interest in this ancestral knowledge. As a result, there has been a steep decline in the transmission of precious medicinal plant knowledge.  An important dimension of Rao Banabo is to revitalize intergenerational sharing within communities. This project puts Amazonian medicine at the forefront of community resilience.

Rao Banabo’s long-term goal is to create sustainable models of community gardens and the use of Amazonian medicinal plants in public health care. Their vision includes incorporating education programs for children and young people in the public school system. They also plan to create gardens in Pucallpa, planting main avenues and other urban spaces with native and medicinal species of plants. This would have the impact of increasing public well being by integrating the rainforest into urban life, as well through proximity to shared traditions and healing.