Nuts about the rainforest

The Brazil nut is harvested sustainably from one of the tallest trees in the Amazonrainforest, providing income that encourages forest protection. In this lecture Prof Sir Ghillean Prance explores the tree’s biology, its pollination by orchid bees, seed dispersal by agoutis, how the nuts are harvested and marketed, as well as the myths and legends associated with them among several Indigenous tribes.

The lecture will highlight the ecology, economy, and ethnobotany of one of the most important trees in the Amazon rainforest.

Sir Ghillean is a world-renowned scientist, former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Fellow of the Royal Society.

As a botanist, Prof Prance has travelled and conducted research extensively in South America, with a focus on sustainability and management of the environment through increasing our knowledge and understanding of the plant kingdom.

Knighted in 1995, he was president of the Linnean Society from 1997-2000, having been made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993. His other honours include the Victoria Medal of Honour (1999), the Patron’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (1994).

In 2000 he was made a Commander of the Order of the Southern Cross by the President of Brazil, and in 2012 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon by the Government of Japan.

Sir Ghillean is President of the Plymouth Athenaeum and a direct descendant of one of the Society’s founding Presidents of 1812, William Prance.

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