Ethnobotany and Conservation Rattan harvest Southeast Asia Belize

Ethnobotany and Conservation Rattan harvest Southeast Asia

Belize Ecoregions

Belize Reserves

Belize Ethnobotany • 1988, the Belize Ethnobotany Project was initiated to inventory, understand conserve as much ethnobotanical data as possible in a country that is undergoing rapid change largely due to a loss of natural habitat and erosion of existing cultures as the nation becomes more westernized • Over 2000 plant samples have been sent to the US for testing by the National Cancer Institute’s Developmental Therapeutics Program as it tests for anti-cancer and anti-HIV drugs

Belize Ethnobotany • 1992 the Belize Association of Traditional Healers was formed and Rosita Arvigo was elected its president - this group has been active in getting land preserved because, as they say, “we can’t do our work without our plants” • 2400 hectare “ethno-biomedical” forest reserve was set aside in June 1993 to preserve medicinal plants - it was intended to set aside an area where medicinal plants would flourish and allow young apprentices to learn how to identify and collect medicinal plants

Rosita Arvigo with Mayan healer, the late Don Elijo Panti - Belize

Rosita Arvigo with herbalist Leopoldo Romero on left and Michael Balick in center - Belize

Map of Western Samoa and Savaii Island

Falealupo Covenant - 1989 • Funds donated from Forever Living Products from Phoenix, Arizona, and Murdock International in Springville, Utah and a firm that dealt in antique botanical prints – James Mc. Cewan and Associates of London • Donors renounced any rights to or interest in the rainforest and land pledged to build the school in exchange for the village promising to protect the rainforest for 50 years • Covenant allows ethnobotanists to investigate medicinal plants in the forest but mandates that 33 percent of any income from any commercial discoveries be returned to the village

Falealupo Rain Forest Preserve – Savaii Island

Homolanthus nutans – source of anti-HIV drug prostratin

Prostratin • Prostratin, a protein kinase C activator, was isolated from the stems of the small Samoan tree Homalanthus nutans. • H. nutans plays an important role in Samoan ethnopharmacology: the leaves are used to treat back pain, the root is used to treat diarrhea and the stem wood is used to treat yellow fever

Ake Lilo prepares H. nutans bark for use in traditional medicine for hepatitis - Samoa

Map of Western Samoa and Savaii Island

Tafua Rainforest Preserve • A new foundation, Seacology, was formed to help preserve Pacific island rain forests and culture. • Obtained funding from Swedish Nature Foundation and World Wildlife Fund that established Tafua Rain Forest Reserve and allowed a school and other village improvements to be built in Tafua.

Tafua Rainforest Reserve

Future of Ethnobotanical Conservation • There are two main concerns for ethnoconservation efforts - one is to preserve the land necessary for survival of indigenous people and the plants and animals they use • The other is the preservation of indigenous cultures itself

Future of Ethnobotanical Conservation • C. Earle Smith has said that: “Ethnobotany is the sum total of human subsistence knowledge. Without a thorough understanding of the world’s plant resources, the human race would cease to exist. ”

Ethnobotanical survey – Simlipal Biosphere Reserve Forest, Odisha, India

Swidden Agriculture

Interactions between industrial and nonindustrial people • Acculturation – changes in the cultural patterns of either or both groups • Westernization – accumulative influence of exposure to Western (Industrialized) culture on indigenous people and their cultures

Grandfather and granddaughter - Australia

Reasons to Conserve Land Species 1. Esthetic – all nature has inherent beauty and must be protected as part of our global heritage 2. Ethical – no one species has the right to drive another species extinct 3. Diversity and stability – ecosystems are complex entities, the continued existence of which is dependent up the presence of key species 4. Scientific value – species must be protected and studied for their value to science 5. Utilitarian – species must be preserved because of their utility to humanity

Esthetic – South African Shrublands

Ethical - Biophilia

Ethical – use of species Petroglyphs from Utah – circa 2000 YA

Diversity and Stability Brazil nut tree – Bertholletia excelsa

A castañero – Brazil Nut collector with pile of nut pods

Open Brazil Nut pod showing the many nuts it contains

Scientific Value - Welwitschia

Utilitarian Zea diploperennis