Biodiversity and the vision of two worlds: cassava in the West and for indigenous Amazonians

Biodiversity in the current context of deforestation and climate change is at risk. One of the main actors involved in biodiversity protection are indigenous peoples. Understanding and comparing their vision of diversity and the mechanisms that generate it with that of academia represents one of the most important challenges. In this reflection paper we present some ideas on the academic perception of diversity by contrasting it with that presented by some indigenous peoples of the Amazon. The reflection takes advantage of the cultivation of cassava, an ancestral crop that is a pillar of global food security and has a special symbolic meaning for the indigenous peoples of the Amazon for this comparison. It is established that for the Amazonian indigenous peoples, biological diversity is associated with cultural diversity and that the concept of diversity, from their cosmogony, encompasses natural biological, cultural and even spiritual aspects that define their identity, their territory and therefore everything that exists there. And although for the Amazonian indigenous people, diversity has existed since creation, it only materialises at different moments in space and time. The importance of the chagra and the chagrera woman as the unconscious driving force behind the diversity of cassava and their leading role in the conservation of this diversity is also presented. Finally, a reflection is made on the importance of keeping indigenous practices alive for the protection and conservation of biologi-cal and cultural diversity in the Amazon rainforests.