It is one of the best known palms in tropical Amazonia and has been responsible for helping to preserve various ecosystems within this vast region. Animals, as well as people enjoy eating its fruit. Parrots, including macaws make their nests in the trunk so they can produce their young.

As for indigenous peoples who live in areas where the Ité predominates, this palm has become a 'tree of life'.

Today, I will tell you how the palm is used by our indigenous Lokono, Carib and Warrau peoples of my area in Northern South America. I am still investigating all the ways in which the palm is used and the technicalities involved. At the moment, I am working on demonstrating some of these uses by practising them myself. Bear in mind that these uses are by people and not by birds, animals and insects or other plants.

The Ité gives and gives and gives. Yes it does. One special quality, is that all of its products are 100% organic and bio-degradable.

In water landing places where canoes are kept for a long period of time, it is traditional to preserve at least one Ité palm for the purpose of shading canoes from the sun. Fronds have stems that hold out branches, canopy style. Why build when when nature can provide?

Let's look at the trunk. Though not very much is done with the trunk when compared with the rest of the tree, it is still useful. The trunk is used as stepping beams across swamps and as a growing bed for a certain kind of grub which is a very tasty food.

The leaves or fronds are also widely used.

I remember my grandmother using strips of the stem as breathing walls for her kitchen. It was very effective because her kitchen seldom felt hot and stuffy, even though sometimes she had a fire going. The outer bark of the stem is hard, smooth and shiny so is durable, water resistant and long-lasting. It is also straight so lends itself as a good walling material. Then the pith of the stem works effectively as stoppers or 'corks' to gourds, bottles or jars. The light quality of the pith also makes it brilliant floaters for fishing line. Children make toy boats from this light pith which they drag along in the water as they accompany their parents on canoe journeys.

Though in my area, the fronds are not traditionally used as thatch, in some other areas the people thatch with them. I enquired and was reliably told that thatch from Ité is superior to thatch from other palms. I am still investigating this.

It is from this very frond, that one of the most important products of the Ité is made - straw. The young leaves are stripped, washed, boiled and dried to produce the all important 'tibisiri' straw which is then made into many useful crafts. From baskets and insect brushes to hammocks.

Hammocks made from the straw are light-weight, dirt resistant and breathable.

Today, the straw forms the important raw material for making craft, especially by women who can contribute to the financial income of a family. One important note to remember is that, if used in a sustainable way, one palm can keep producing straw for many years, while over reaping can kill the very palm in a few years.

Rich in Vitamin C, Ité fruit is delicious. My son loves it. The fruit has a maroon shiny, scaly outer shell, which has to be soft before it can come apart to reveal a soft yellow flesh. This is eaten as is, or can be made into a delicious fulfilling drink. True to the custom of working with nature, local people would leave the fruit, floating in a pocket of running water to ripen naturally. I find this a gentle way because this allows the fruit to ripen in its own time. It is charming to see my son running to the water edge to check for ripe fruits. So much for the respect for even the fruit.

To the outside world, the palm may be a beautiful plant standing in a pot but to many indigenous communities it is a very, very useful tree.

With the many attributes of this wonderful palm, I see the importance of creating an awareness as to its worth when we think of preserving the Amazon basin.

I think about trees such as the Ité which contribute every day to the preservation of this important area as I continue to explore other trees that are so vital to the preservation of our tropical rainforests and surrounding areas.