UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The United Nations say it has cooperated in publishing a book listing Amazon plant species that can be harvested for economic or medicinal purposes.
The publication, Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life, aims to help bridge the gap in knowledge between scientists and local people, its authors say, as an estimated 80 percent of people in developing nations depend on non-wood forest products, such as fruit, for nutrition and medicine.
The 353-page book -- co-produced by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, the Center for International Forestry Research and People and Plants International -- profiles a range of plant species of use to local communities, the BBC reported Tuesday.
"The new book provides comprehensive information on fruits and plants, and is a perfect example of how to make our knowledge accessible for poor people to help them maximize the benefits from forest products and services, and improve their livelihoods," Eduardo Rojas-Briales, FAO's assistant director general for forestry, said.
It is estimated about a quarter of people in developing nations are "functionally illiterate" so the book tries to communicate as much information as possible in pictures, drawings and numbers, its authors said.
