The Waorani have also traditionally kept gardens (chacras) where they cultivate several plant species. The main product is the cassava, a very important plant in their diet. The chacras of the Waorani are very important to their culture. You can read more about these gardens in the section “The Waorani Chacra”, within the section “Daily Life”.

Concerning the medicinal uses, the Waorani know which plants heal wounds and which cure insects’ bites. They have learned which plants help to avoid pregnancy and what plants to take to relieve a stomachache, etc.

Much like the fauna, the flora found in the Waorani territory is incredibly diverse. We cannot forget that this territory, along with the Yasuni National Park, represents one of the “Refuges of the Pleistocene”. Moreover, the area is considered to be a Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO since 1989. 644 different tree species can be found in just one Hectare of this forest. This means that in one single hectare we find almost as many tree species as in all of North America, where 680 tree species can be found.

Not so long ago, the main source of materials and medicines for the Waorani were found in plants. The animals only provided meat for food, feathers for decoration, as well as wax, everything else was obtained from plants. In some communities still live various men and women of the Waorani people that know the uses of a huge number of plant species.

The Waorani used (in many cases still use) fiber to weave their hammocks, bags and necklaces, wooden posts to build their houses, palm leaves to build their roofs, seeds of different shapes and colors to make their necklaces, roots to make their food graters, palm wood to make their blowguns and spears, resin to make some parts of their blowguns, vine bark to extract the poison for the darts, roots to make their baskets, barks and leaves to dye the plant fibers, roots to get the poison used to fish, fruits to eat and make the chicha, fruits to make their bowls and an almost never-ending etc.