The Future of Ethnobotany

What is Ethnobotany?

Ethnobotany is the study of the interactions of plants and people, including the influence of plants on human culture.

Oaxaca, Mexico

Two Aims of Ethnobotany Are:

1) To document facts about plant use and plant management

2) To elucidate the ethnobotanical text by defining, describing and investigating ethnobotanical roles and processes

- Janis Alcorn, 1995

Problems with Funding Ethnobotanical Research

Sir Ghillean Prance Robert Carneiro

Map of Indian Groups in Eastern Amazonia

The Kuikuru People

Ethnoecology

Bolivia

Ethnoecology

• Ethnoecology is the study of the way different groups of people in different locations understand their environment and their relationship within it. It seeks to understand how we as humans have interacted with the environment and how these intricate relationships have been sustained over time.

• Often referred to as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

The Kayapo People

Kayapo Chiefs

Pourouma cecropiaefolia – uvilla or tree grape

Poraquieba sericea - umari

Terra preta dos Indios – Indian black earth

Terra preta dos Indios – Indian black earth

Campesino Culture

Campesino Culture• One of the most neglected areas of study today is the

use of plants by the campesinos, caboclos, mestizos, peasants, or whatever the group of poor, traditional farmers is called locally (Hill People in Appalachia).

• They often have an extensive knowledge of plants and of management of the environment in which they live.

• They are in contact with modern foods and medicines, but often can’t afford them, and so by necessity are required to widely use local food plants and to maintain large plant pharmacopeias and to use native plant remedies.

Campesino Culture

Trinidad Cuba

Caboclos – People of the Amazon

Ver-o-Peso Market Belem, Brazil

Ver-o-Peso Market Belem, Brazil

Ver-o-Peso Market Belem, Brazil

Our Rapidly Changing World