In the Indigenous Karen village of Huay Ee Khang, in the mountainous north of Thailand, all life starts in the forest: When a baby is born, its umbilical cord is placed in a bamboo container and hung on a healthy fruit tree.

“This way, the souls of the baby and the tree are intertwined throughout their lifespan and nobody is allowed to cut the tree,” explains the village chief, Noraeri Thungmueangthong.

47-year-old Noraeri is the first woman to head the village and the only female leader in the whole district of Mae Wang, located in the province of Chiang Mai. She belongs to the Karen Indigenous Peoples, which include a great variety of ethnic groups spread across Myanmar and Thailand.