Distribution
A few years ago, when scientists from the Peruvian university in Iquitos visited Aarhus they brought with them specimens and observations that showed that Aphandra natalia occurs far into Peru , and that the distribution of the species was at least twice as large as previously known.
During the summer of 2002 we visited Iquitos and made palm studies in various parts of the Peruvian Amazon and discovered that this western Amazonian piassaba palm reaches at least as far south as Pucallpa and it is extensively used in the Peruvian Amazon for a variety of purposes.
From being a species believed to be of local interest it now appears that Aphandra natalia has a large distribution in the western Amazon basin and that it is important to numerous indigenous and mestizo communities throughout this region.
		Brooms in the factory
Nevertheless knowledge of this important resource remains anecdotal for the largest part of the area where it occurs in the western Amazon, and as a resource it is threatened because documented knowledge about it is simply not available.