In other posts I have already talked about the negative impacts of the slash and burn practices that have occurred in the last decades, which have caused the loss of millions of hectares of forest, destroying nature reserves, groves and rainforests, in the name of development and the use of large tracts of land for planting pastures to increase livestock production and other agricultural species to increase the income of landowners.
▶ The situation described in the previous paragraph, although advantageous from the point of view of agri-food development, has also resulted in the use and abuse of agrochemicals and the elimination of native plants of different species, of which there was no known utility, which will economically benefit the owners of these lands.
▶ Credits: MichaelGaida – [Image of Public Domain]
In this sense, native plants belonging to the order Zinginberales and the families Heliconeaceae and Cannaceae, which despite being beautiful plants with a great economic potential, due to their use as exotic ornamental plants appreciated in the international market, are day after day eliminated from these ecosystems to establish pasture crops.
However, due to their bright and colorful appearance, when they are seen in pastures they are practically eradicated; using different techniques, manual or chemical, for their elimination because they are considered weeds by agro-producers.
These plants are not only of economic importance, but also serve as a shelter for some beneficial insects for most of the plantations and crops that are found in the areas where they develop almost spontaneously, since they grow in those extensions of land that have been destined for pastures.