Then (1979), Plants of the Gods
The Language Loss Crisis: Schultes's Warning at Acceleration
Schultes's most urgent claim: indigenous botanical knowledge was disappearing faster than it could be documented, because it was encoded in languages and transmission systems that were dying faster than researchers could record them.
contested
Approximately 7,000 languages are spoken today. UNESCO estimates that by 2100, approximately 50-90% will be extinct. The Amazon alone: approximately 300 distinct indigenous languages spoken at the time of Schultes's fieldwork; approximately 150-180 survive with communities of active speakers today. Each language extinction represents the permanent loss of unique botanical vocabulary, plant names, preparation instructions, contraindications, combination knowledge, that has no written record. The Amazon Forest: 17% deforestation since 2000 (Brazil). Language loss and forest loss are correlated: indigenous territories with secure legal status have significantly lower deforestation rates. Schultes's warning has been confirmed; the crisis has exceeded his predictions in pace if not in direction.
Sources
- UNESCO Atlas of World Languages in Danger (2010, 2022 update)
- ISA-FUNAI indigenous territory deforestation studies (2024)
- Terralingua Biocultural Diversity assessment (2023)