Libreville, Gabon – In a thick tropical rainforest in a tiny country in Central Africa, a guide pauses next to a huge tree. The Niove tree, he explains while cutting it with a machete, produces a dark red sap that looks like blood and can be used as an antiseptic to treat wounds.
After wiping the sap off his hand, Abdul Koumangye, a ranger at the Pongara National Park in Gabon, thanks the tree for allowing him to slash it and patches it back up.
