The University of French Guiana (French: Université de Guyane) is a French public university, created in 2014 in French Guiana. It was formed from two existing campuses of the University of the French West Indies and Guiana..
Ethnobiology and ethnomedicine have progressively shifted from utilitarian inventories toward more decolonized and inclusive approaches. Beyond their recognized contributions to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, their role in global health remains insufficiently explored. This short opinion paper argues that ethnobiology and ethnomedicine offer key conceptual and methodological tools to improve health and well-being among Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant and Local Communities (IPADLC) by promoting a holistic understanding of health that integrates ecosystems, human and non-human beings, territories, and spiritual dimensions. Drawing on concepts such as One Health, global health, planetary health, and the ecology of health, we highlight how local medicinal systems articulate multiple scales of care, from individuals to multispecies communities and ecosystems. We discuss the complementarity and hybridization between biomedical and local medicinal systems, emphasizing the importance of cultural safety, women’s empowerment, and methodological reflexivity in the study and integration of traditional remedies. Finally, we address the critical challenges surrounding the protection of local medicinal knowledge, intellectual property rights, and fair benefit-sharing in the context of growing industrial interest. We conclude that strengthening ethically grounded, community-centered ethnobiological research is essential for building more equitable, plural, and sustainable global health systems.
The ForestScan project was conceived to evaluate new technologies for characterising forest structure and biomass at Forest Biomass Reference Measurement Sites (FBRMS). It is closely aligned with other international initiatives, particularly the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV) aboveground biomass (AGB) cal/val protocols, and is part of GEO-TREES, an international consortium dedicated to establishing a global network of Forest Biomass Reference Measurement Sites (FBRMS) to support EO and encourage investment in relevant field-based observations and science. ForestScan is the first demonstration of what can be achieved more broadly under GEO-TREES, which would significantly expand and enhance the use of EO-derived AGB estimates. We present data from the ForestScan project, a unique multiscale dataset of tropical forest three-dimensional (3D) structural measurements, including terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), unpiloted aerial vehicle laser scanning (UAV-LS), airborne laser scanning (ALS), and in-situ tree census and ancillary data. These data are critical for the calibration and validation of EO estimates of forest biomass, as well as providing broader insights into tropical forest structure. Data are presented for three FBRMS: FBRMS-01: Paracou, French Guiana; FBRMS-02: Lopé, Gabon; and FBRMS-03: Kabili-Sepilok, Malaysia. Field data for each site include new 3D LiDAR measurements combined with plot tree census and ancillary data, at a multi-hectare scale. Not all data types were collected at all sites, reflecting the practical challenges of field data collection. We also provide detailed data collection protocols and recommendations for TLS, UAV-LS, ALS and plot census measurements for each site, along with requirements for ancillary data to enable integration with ALS data (where possible) and upscaling to EO estimates. We outline the requirements and challenges for field data collection for each data type and discuss the practical considerations for establishing new FBRMS or upgrading existing sites to FBRMS standard, including insights into the associated costs and benefits. All datasets described in this study are openly available. The TLS, UAV-LS and ALS datasets are provided through the ForestScan Project Data Collection in the CEDA archive (https://doi.org/10.5285/88a8620229014e0ebacf0606b302112d, Chavana-Bryant et al., 2025l). Tree census and plot description data for FBRMS-01 (Paracou, French Guiana) are hosted in the CIRAD Dataverse (https://doi.org/10.18167/DVN1/94XHID, Derroire et al., 2025b). Tree census and ancillary data for FBRMS-02 (Lopé, Gabon) and FBRMS-03 (Kabili-Sepilok, Malaysia) are available via a ForestPlots.net data package (https://doi.org/10.5521/forestplots.net/2025_2, Chavana-Bryant et al., 2025k). Together, these repositories provide access to the complete set of datasets released as part of the ForestScan project.
BackgroundIn the Amazonian region, vampire bats are the primary reservoir of rabies virus, causing sporadic and lethal human rabies cases that often remain unnoticed. Managing human cases in this region is challenging and further complicated by atypical clinical forms and the potential exposure to various toxic compounds, particularly among gold miners.MethodsWe carried out clinical, electrical, biological and histological analysis of concurrent cases of progressive motor neuronopathy and fatal encephalitis in a context of regular exposure to bat bites of gold miners living in a small and remote gold mine camp in Amazonia, in French Guiana, South America.FindingsWe analyzed a spatio-temporal cluster of three suspected rabies cases in 2024 with a fatal outcome, with concomitant onset of acute bilateral lower-limb paralysis without demyelination, two of which occurred presumably two weeks after a bat-bite. Electroneuromyography suggested the involvement of the anterior horn of the spinal cord, as described in furious forms of rabies. None of the cases exhibited other cardinal signs of the furious form. Confirmation of rabies was obtained for them on sera and brain biopsies collected ante- and post-mortem respectively.InterpretationThe concurrent occurrence of disease, the axonal motor neuropathy mimicking the motor form of Guillain Barré syndrome in the context of paralytic rabies, lead to diagnostic-wandering. This underscores the importance of thinking about vampire bat rabies virus in the presence of any atypical neurological picture in patients living in exposed areas in Latin America.
Vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) are a major cause of emergency department (ED) utilization in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). In Western French Guiana, recurrent VOC-related ED encounters may reflect both disease severity and barriers to longitudinal preventive care. We conducted a retrospective observational study using routine-care data from children with SCD who had at least one VOC-related ED encounter during a standardized 12-month observation period. The dataset contained 235 VOC-related ED encounters corresponding to 105 unique patient identifiers. To address repeated records, descriptive analyses are presented both at encounter level and at patient level. The primary multivariable analysis used unique patients as the unit of analysis; the outcome was the number of VOC-related ED encounters per unique patient identifier. Negative binomial regression was used for the count outcome. Recurrent ED use was defined as ≥ 4 VOC-related ED encounters per year. The 235 ED encounters corresponded to 105 unique patient identifiers. At the patient level, median age was 8 years [IQR: 6.5–11], n = 56 (53.3
Indigenous peoples in Amazonia face major mental health inequities, including high rates of suicidal behaviour among adolescents and young adults in some settings. We conducted a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature on community health workers (CHWs) and equivalent cadres involved in Indigenous and remote contexts, with a focus on their roles in relation to mental health, psychosocial support, and suicide prevention among Indigenous populations in Amazonia and the Guiana Shield. We reported this review in line with PRISMA-ScR. Searches (September–November 2025) were conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science and SciELO, complemented by targeted searches in major publisher platforms and JSTOR. We included English, French, Spanish and Portuguese publications that (i) described CHWs or functionally equivalent cadres in Indigenous/remote contexts and/or (ii) reported CHW-related roles, models, or experiences relevant to mental health, psychosocial support or suicide prevention in Amazonian settings. Global documentation of CHW designations used in Indigenous/remote contexts was compiled; we compiled evidence from Amazonia and the Guiana Shield on CHW roles, programme models, implementation conditions and reported outcomes. Data were charted into a structured template (cadre designation, setting, population, study type, functions, programme features and reported mental health/suicide-related outcomes) and synthesised descriptively and thematically. CHWs commonly function as cultural and linguistic brokers between Indigenous communities and biomedical systems, supporting early detection of distress, psychosocial accompaniment, referral navigation and dialogue with local healing practices. Reported programme models differ markedly: Brazil’s institutionalised Indigenous Health Agents (AIS) offer stability and formal recognition, whereas French Guiana relies more heavily on project-based mediation with innovative practices but greater funding fragility. The available literature remains heterogeneous and uneven across countries, with limited evaluative designs and substantial reliance on descriptive reports. Future work should prioritise stronger implementation and impact evaluation, alongside Indigenous-led governance and sustainable support for CHW cadres.
