The rainforest ecosystem worthy of protection is probably the most species-rich in the world. There are numerous plants and animals whose active ingredients can positively influence the course of even serious diseases.

So endangered, but so valuable: The tropical rainforests are the most species-rich ecosystems on earth and probably therefore offer the most healing substances. Although indigenous people in the Amazon, the Congo or in the dwindling tropical forests of Borneo have handed down a large number of well-known medicinal plants, most of the active ingredients are probably still dormant, undiscovered by science.

"Plants directly or indirectly produce all our food, most of our medicines, our clothes. They nourish not only our bodies but also our souls. With colours and fragrances. So what do we do? We'll exterminate them. If we continue as we have been doing, by the middle of the 21st century we will have eradicated one third of all known species worldwide. Are we actually crazy?" says Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven, director of the St. Louis Botanical Gardens until 2011. According to experts, there are about 7000 drugs that have been developed from the plants of the tropical rainforest - even though scientists have only studied two percent of the plant species there. Already today, plants from the rainforest help against cancer, tuberculosis and malaria, help with constipation and coughing. Every fourth drug of plant origin comes from tropical forests.

The Madagascar evergreen Catharanthus roseus contains viblastin and vincristine and thus is a remedy for Hodgkin's disease and lymphatic leukemia. It increases the chances of cure for both types of cancer from 20 to 80 percent. Five other species on Madagascar have not yet been studied.

Dragon blood resin from a South American tree helps against injuries, germs and infections as well as herpes. The Bolivian pumpkin Caihu keeps the blood pressure in balance, lowers the blood fat values and thus helps against arteriosclerosis. The flowers of the passion trees from the rainforests of Mesoamerica are effective against headaches, nervousness and panic attacks. Scientists at the University of Bonn found more than 100 plants in Mexico that have an effect on blood sugar. The guarumbo tree offers substances that can cure diabetes, experts say.

The Niembaum from India is even considered a panacea: it contains defences against bacteria, viruses, fungi and infections, has an antidiabetic effect, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol. It also has a contraceptive effect, because it paralyses sperm. The indigenous people use its bark, leaves, flowers and seeds in the form of tea, powder, juice and oil. Local doctors use it to treat leprosy, hives, digestive problems and thyroid gland disorders.

However, not only the plants, but also the animals of the rainforest produce medically interesting substances: cone snails have innumerable toxins that attack the nervous system and can therefore treat neurological diseases. The poison of the poison dart frog strengthens the heart muscle, the mucus of an Australian tree frog is effective against various types of bacteria and kills even those multi-resistant germs against which classical antibiotics are powerless.

* This text may contain translation errors as the translation was performed by an online translation tool.