This article presents, from an ethnoecological perspective, the worldviews, traditional knowledge, and cultural practices of Amazonian riverine people involved in the extraction of miriti fruits (Mauritia flexuosa L.f.), in a context of increasing market demand for miriti fruits and of pressure for the intensification of açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) production on the Sirituba island, in Abaetetuba

Groundnut is one of the major legume crops grown as food and cash crop across the different agroecological zones of Burkina Faso. It is ranked the 2nd important legume crop for household food, nutrition, and income generation for both rural and urban zones, contributing significantly to food supply and economy of the country. Despite its importance and breeding efforts to develop improved varieties

In Southwest Ethiopia, various plant species are coexisting in wild and cultivated forms. This provides an ideal setting for studying folk biosystematics of neglected species. One of such species is the Dioscorea species, in which we studied to assess the commonly applied folk wisdom of identifying, naming, and classifying yams by Sheko and Bench farmers. This study was conducted in Bench-Maji and

Household responses to COVID-19 in different corners of the world represent the primary health care that communities have relied on for preventing and mitigating symptoms. During a very complex and confusing time, in which public health services in multiple countries have been completely overwhelmed, and in some cases even collapsed, these first-line household responses have been quintessential for

Worldwide mountain regions are recognized as hotspots of ethnopharmacologically relevant species diversity. In South Tyrol (Southern Alps, Italy), and due to the region’s high plant diversity and isolated population, a unique traditional botanical knowledge of medicinal plants has flourished, which traces its history back to prehistoric times. However, changes in rural life and culture may threaten

Central Myanmar is located in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, and the Bamar people are the main ethnic group, which settled there over 1000 years ago. Despite being the core region of the country, central Myanmar has been ignored in previous ethnobotanical studies. Local healthy foods and knowledge are regarded as treasures for resource development and pharmaceutical drug discovery, and market

Catalonia (in the north east of the Iberian Peninsula) is among the most prospected territories in Europe, from the ethnobotanical point of view. The aim of the present paper is to undertake a global analysis in the area considered, including plants, plant life forms, and ethnobotanical data within a physiographic and geographic framework. Data from 21 ethnobotanical prospection areas in Catalonia

The Mountains of the Western Lesser Caucasus with its rich plant diversity, multicultural and multilingual nature host diverse ethnobotanical knowledge related to medicinal plants. However, cross-cultural medicinal ethnobotany and patterns of plant knowledge have not yet been investigated in the region. Doing so could highlight the salient medicinal plant species and show the variations between communities

The cultural keystone species theory predicts plant species that are culturally important, play a role in resource acquisition, fulfil a psycho-socio-cultural function within a given culture, have high use-value, have an associated naming and terminology in a native language, and a high level of species irreplaceability qualify for cultural keystone species designation. This theory was proposed as

Connections between China and the new Spanish colonies in America are known for an exchange of silver for silks and porcelains. That also medicinal drugs and medicinal knowledge crossed the Pacific Ocean is hardly known or discussed. Myroxylon balsamum (L.) Harms var. pereirae (Royle) Harms (“New World“ or “Peruvian balsam“) is a botanical balsam that has a long history of medicinal use, particularly

Fishing is probably one of the oldest economic activities in the history of humankind. Lakes, rivers and streams in Europe are important elements in the European landscape with a rich diversity of fish and other aquatic organisms. Artisanal fisheries have therefore been of great importance for the provision of food, but also animal feed, medicine, fertilizer and other needs. These fishermen had a deep

Urban agriculture has been evidenced as a food production and environmental sustainability strategy, although it faces many obstacles in Latin American countries. Additionally, in urban areas, low consumption of fruit and greenery is noticeable, along with loss in food diversity, including the neglected and underutilized species (NUS), which involve potential to strengthen local food systems. For this

Dai, Hani, and Yao people, in the trans-boundary region between China, Laos, and Vietnam, have gathered plentiful traditional knowledge about wild edible plants during their long history of understanding and using natural resources. The ecologically rich environment and the multi-ethnic integration provide a valuable foundation and driving force for high biodiversity and cultural diversity in this

The present study is the first quantitative ethnobotanical evaluation of Harighal, an inaccessible and unexplored area of District Bagh Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK). The exploration, quantification, and comparison of ethnobotanical knowledge among different rural communities of the study area were mainly focused during field survey. In total, 79 informants (49 men and 34 women) were selected randomly

Forest inhabitants worldwide, and indigenous people especially, have depended for generations on plants and animals harvested in these ecosystems. A number of Baka hunter-gatherer populations in south-eastern Cameroon became sedentarised in the 1950s, but still rely on hunting and gathering to meet their basic needs. The use of wild edible plants (WEP) by these communities remains largely undocumented

Traditional bamboo weaving has been practiced for centuries in Sansui, a county dominated by the Miao people, in Guizhou province of Southwest China. Sansui bamboo weaving represents an intangible cultural heritage as defined by UNESCO, but, like many other traditional handicrafts in China, it has suffered a downfall in this period of rapid development. Sansui bamboo weaving is now experiencing a renaissance

The utilitarian redundancy model (URM) is one of the recent contributions to ethnobiology. We argue that URM can be applied to access use-pressure on plant species, the resilience of socioecological systems (e.g., local medical systems), cultural keystone species, and the role of exotic species in social-ecological systems. Based on previous URM studies, we also emphasize the need to differ practical

The Dulong (Drung) people have used plant materials in traditional beekeeping for many decades. However, there are few studies on the plants used in traditional beekeeping. Furthermore, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) associated with beekeeping is still poorly understood. TEK and plants associated with beekeeping play an important role in the conservation of native bees and the development of

Knowledge of wild edible plants is an important part of traditional knowledge. It is closely related to traditional human agriculture, as well as biodiversity. This study aimed to conduct a detailed investigation and evaluation of wild edible plants that are collected and consumed by the Mongolian and Han locals in Daqinggou and to provide valuable data for the development and utilization of plant

The overhunting of wild species is a major threat to biodiversity in the Amazon; yet, managed, sustainable hunting is widely considered part of the solution to conserving wildlife populations. Hunting is both a culturally important activity for Indigenous people and provides an important food source. Mineral licks, a focal point of hunting in Amazonia, are naturally occurring areas in the forest where

Mountain environments are fragile socio-ecological systems and the conservation of their biological and cultural diversities— seen as co-evolving, strongly intertwined entities—represents a crucial issue for fostering their sustainability. Very few ethnobiological studies have assessed in the mountainous regions of Europe how local botanical knowledge, which represents a vital portion of the local

Initiatives for beekeeping intensification across the tropics can foster production and income, but the changes triggered by the introduction of modern beehives might permeate traditional knowledge and practices in multiple ways, and as such should be investigated and understood. We conducted an ethnobotanical study in the Eastern part of the Mau Forest among Ogiek beekeepers who customarily practice

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are important resources for sustenance of rural communities; a systematic planning to manage diverse NTFPs may immensely contribute to food and livelihood security of forest dwellers. Considering this, the present study has been undertaken in the Himachal Pradesh state in north India. It aims to provide detailed information on diversity, distribution, use pattern

Most regions of Myanmar fall within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and are threatened with biodiversity loss. Development of a comprehensive framework for sustainable development is crucial. Figs are ecological keystone species within these regions and are also important for traditional spiritual food and health uses, which often have accompanying conservation practices. The traditional use and

French Guiana is characterized by a very multicultural population, made up of formerly settled groups (Amerindians, Maroons, Creoles) and more recent migrants (mostly from Latin America and the Caribbean). It is the ideal place to try to understand the influence of intercultural exchanges on the composition of medicinal floras and the evolution of phytotherapies under the effect of cross-culturalism

An ethnomycological study was conducted to describe the fungus concept and the traditional fungus classification system for the Nahuas of San Isidro Buensuceso, in central Mexico. The study which provides information on the co-existence of various forms of classification, based on both cultural and biological characteristics. The research included conducting community interviews and forest forays in

The loss of traditional ecological knowledge in endangered language communities is a cause of concern worldwide. Given the state of current knowledge, it is difficult to say whether language and TEK transmission levels are correlated, i.e. whether the erosion of one is accompanied by erosion of the other. This case study, focusing on a small Indigenous language from northern Australia, represents a

Forests have been grazed for millennia. Around the world, forest grazing by livestock became a controversial management practice, gradually restricted in many countries over the past 250 years. This was also the case in most Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, where forest grazing was a legally prohibited activity between 1961 and 2017. Until the 2010s, ecologists and nature

Home garden is identified as a kind of small-scale land-use system which is used to manage and cultivate useful plants by local people, and home gardens can provide various plant products and services. Investigating home gardens was regarded as an effective way to understand the biodiversity-related local knowledge and culture of native people in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology. Home garden is important

Southernwood, Artemisia abrotanum L., is a plant that has been cultivated for centuries. Most probable is that it has its origin in the eastern Mediterranean area. It has been kept for its fragrance and has a history of being a medicinal and insect-repellent plant. In earlier centuries, the plant was commonly found in peasants’ gardens in Sweden and utilised especially as a component in the bouquets

The Yi is the largest ethnic group in Yunnan Province (China), with a population of five million. The Yi people tend to live in mountainous areas, and their culture includes a unique dietary system for treating and protecting people against illnesses. Medicinal plants occupy an essential place in the Yi diet because they play a key role in health and the prevention and treatment of diseases. However

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

The Buyi (Bouyei) people in Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest Guizhou, China, have used medicinal plants and traditional remedies for ethnoveterinary practices, such as treating domestic animals during livestock breeding, since ancient times. However, the unique ethnoveterinary practices of the Buyi have rarely been recorded. This study aimed to identify the plants used in their

Mazri palm (Nannorrhops ritchiana (Griff) Aitch.) is a member of the family Arecaceae, native to Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. In Pakistan, it is used since long time for various purposes. This species plays a significant cultural and economic role in the daily lives of many rural areas in Pakistan and adjacent countries. However, the handcrafted products made up of this palm

Mining activities have environmental impacts due to sediment movement and contamination of areas and may also pose risks to people’s food security. In Brazil, the majority of coal mining activities are in the south, in the Santa Catarina carboniferous region. In this region, previously mined areas contaminated with heavy metals frequently occur nearby inhabited zones. Mining is part of the daily lives

Carapa procera, Lophira lanceolata, and Pentadesma butyracea are three underutilized but increasingly threatened indigenous oil-seed tree species (IOS) in tropical Africa. Because local knowledge is vital for sustainable management, this study investigated the socio-economic factors that explain local people’s (i) preferences for these IOS, (ii) attitudes toward their conservation, and (iii) ability

Home gardens (HGs) are hotspots of in situ agrobiodiversity conservation. We conducted a case study in Tabasco, México, on HG owners’ knowledge of HG ecological, economical and socio-cultural multifunctionality and how it relates to agrobiodiversity as measured by species richness and diversity. The term multifunctionality knowledge refers to owners’ knowledge on how HGs contribute to ecological processes

Cross-border research is a novel and important tool for detecting variability of ecological knowledge. This is especially evident in regions recently divided and annexed to different political regimes. Therefore, we conducted a study among Hutsuls, a cultural and linguistic minority group living in Northern and Southern Bukovina (Ukraine and Romania, respectively). Indeed, in the 1940s, a border was

The Mulam are an ethnic group native to Guangxi, and nearly 80% of the Mulam population lives in Luocheng Mulam Autonomous County, northern Guangxi, southern China. They have accumulated rich medicinal folk knowledge through practice and experience in their long-term struggles with disease and the harsh natural environment. However, their traditional medicinal knowledge is threatened due to a lack

A lot of emphasis is often placed on modern governance systems and little or no attention is given to traditional governance practices which remain largely undocumented. The study aimed at finding out important traditional and modern governance practices that regulate traditional medicine sector in Western Kenya. The study was carried out in selected market centres of Western Kenya where the identified

Like botanical taxa, various species of animals are also used in traditional and modern health care systems. Present study was intended with the aim to document the traditional uses of herptile and fish species among the local communities in the vicinity of the River Chenab, Punjab Pakistan. Data collected by semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were subsequently analyzed using relative frequency

It is only recently that written sources of local knowledge on plants are not being ignored by scholars as not belonging to “traditional” knowledge. Ethnobotanical texts, however, if they at all focus on knowledge from written sources, hardly ever pay any attention to the actual processes of interaction with written texts and illustrations. During our research, we examined people’s interactions with

In Europe and the Mediterranean, over-exploitation and destructive harvesting techniques have been identified as two critical threats affecting the sustainable harvesting of wild medicinal plant (WMP) species. However, unsustainable harvesting is not an issue everywhere and localized assessments are needed. Local knowledge has been praised for its potential for local short-term assessments. In this

Missions were established in California in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to convert Native Americans to Christianity and enculturate them into a class of laborers for Californios (Spanish/Mexican settler). The concentration of large numbers of Native Americans at the Missions, along with the introduction of European diseases, led to serious disease problems. Medicinal supplies brought to

This study has focused on the Garrigues district, one of the most arid regions in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula), which, in general terms, has remained unexplored from the ethnobotanical point of view. This area, of 22,243 inhabitants, comprises 33 municipalities distributed across 1123.12 km2. The natural vegetation is dominated by holm oak forests and maquis called ‘garriga’, the latter giving

Despite a rapidly accumulating evidence base quantifying ecosystem services, the role of biodiversity in the maintenance of ecosystem services in shared human-nature environments is still understudied, as is how indigenous and agriculturally dependent communities perceive, use, and manage biodiversity. The present study aims to document traditional ethnobotanical knowledge of the ecosystem service

Birds have been among the most important element in lives of humans around the world, due to their presence and abundance in practically all ecosystems. Zapotitlán Salinas, a community of the Tehuacán Valley, has been a site of interest for studying ecology of bird communities, but no previous studies addressing the relationship between humans and birds have been conducted in the area. Based on their

Since ancient times, man has learned to use plants to obtain natural dyes, but this traditional botanical knowledge (TBK) is eroding. In the late, during, and the early 1800s, there was an increase in research related to dye species, and this allowed the development of industry and economy in rural contexts of Southern Italy. Today, dyes are mainly obtained from synthetic products, and this leads to

Human-animal interactions with mutual benefits in the wild are rare. Such positive interactions seem to require an intricate knowledge from the human side on the animals’ behavior and their habitat. In southern Brazil, dolphins and human net-casting fishers have specialized in a cooperative foraging, in which fishers report being able to identify and name dolphins. Here, we evaluate the consensus in

BACKGROUND Indigenous communities use wild plants to cure human ailments since ancient times; such knowledge has significant potential for formulating new drugs and administering future health care. Considering this, the present study was undertaken to assess use value, diversity, and conservation concerns of medicinal plants used in traditional herbal care system of a marginal hill community in Bageshwar

BACKGROUND The consumption of bear gallbladders and bear bile in Southeast Asia is a persistent threat to bear populations. As part of a larger effort to understand the characteristics of bear part consumption in Cambodia, we uncovered a consumer base of women seeking treatment for post-partum and uterine ailments. METHODS To better understand this aspect of consumption, we interviewed 122 women in

BACKGROUND Ethnic groups throughout the world have developed their own cultures expressed in the form of customs, taboos, and traditional healthcare systems. Traditional medicine system is one of the widespread cultures known throughout the world which is very much tied to cultural practices of the community or ethnic group. Medicinal plant treasure found in Gurage and Silti zones remained poorly characterized

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to record wild plants and fungi sold in the capital of Armenia. This is the first large market survey in the Caucasus region. The area of the Caucasus is characterised by a very high diversity of climates, flora and languages which results in very rich traditions of plant use. METHODS Interviews were conducted and photos and voucher specimens were taken during multiple

BACKGROUND Ethnoveterinary medicine is crucial in many rural areas of the world since people living in remote and marginal areas rely significantly on traditional herbal therapies to treat their domestic animals. In Pakistan, communities residing in remote areas, and especially those still attached to pastoralist traditions, have considerable ethnoveterinary herbal knowledge and they sometimes use

BACKGROUND Pigeonpea is a multipurpose food legume crop that contributes to food security in the Republic of Benin. For the establishment of conservation and breeding programs, previous ethnobotanical surveys on pigeonpea were done in Benin but restricted to south and central regions. In previous years, pigeonpea landraces were introduced in northern Benin for soil fertility management; it is therefore

BACKGROUND Bridging the gap between local and scientific knowledge can have useful implications in the teaching-learning process because it can create environments conducive to the valorization of sociocultural diversity in schools. The present review aims to analyze the profile and contributions of scientific publications dealing with articulations between local and scientific knowledge in basic formal

BACKGROUND Most reports of domesticated plants that involve a domestication gradient or inter-specific hybridization in Mexico have focused on those used as food. This study provides knowledge about these processes in two aromatic medicinal plants, Agastache mexicana (Lamiaceae) and A. m. subsp. xolocotziana, widely used in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments

BACKGROUND In addition to playing a key role in the dynamics of ecosystems, animal diversity, especially that of wild vertebrates, is intimately linked with human evolutionary history, which has resulted in diverse interactions that must be emphasized in formal education processes. We analyzed several methods of approaches used for biological education in order to teach about wild vertebrates and their

BACKGROUND Cultural and religious practices of African origin have decisively influenced traditional health practices in the Americas since the African diaspora. Plants are core elements in the religions of African origin. Compared with other parts of Brazil where the Afro-Brazilian presence is widely recognized, in Southern Brazil, these cultural practices are often socially invisible. Yet, there