Reyes-Garcia, V and Huanca, T and Vadez, V and Leonardo, W and Wilkie, D (2006) Cultural, practical, and economic value of wild plants: a quantitative study in the Bolivian Amazon. Economic Botany, 60 (1). pp. 62-74. ISSN 0013-0001
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Abstract
Researchers have developed several indices to estimate the significance of plant species for humans. We build on previous methods in ethnobotany and anthropology to develop a new way to value plant species along three dimensions: cultural, practical, and economic. We used interview and observational data on the use of wild plants by the Tsimane', a foraging-horticultural society in the Bolivian Amazon. We calculated the cultural, practical, economic, and total values of 114 plant species from 46 families. We found a low correlation between the practical and the cultural values of species: some species rarely used were frequently mentioned in interviews, whereas some species frequently used were rarely mentioned in interviews. Indices of cultural, practical, and economic value measure different dimensions of the importance of plant species to society. The combination of the three indices offers a more comprehensive valuation of the significance of plants for humans than the use of only one index
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | UNSPECIFIED |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Ethnobotanical knowledge, uses of plant, Tsimane’ indigenous peoples, Bolivia, indices of cultural significance |
| Subjects: | Others |
| Depositing User: | Ms K Syamalamba |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Nov 2011 03:24 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Nov 2011 03:24 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/4239 |
| Official URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2006)60[62:CPA... |
| Projects: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Funders: | National Science Foundation (SBR-9731240 and SBR-9904318), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Conservation, Food and Health Foundation, the Central de Pueblos Indígenas del Oriente Boliviano, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Gr-7250) |
| Acknowledgement: | Funds for this research came from the National Science Foundation (SBR-9731240 and SBR-9904318), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Conservation, Food and Health Foundation, the Central de Pueblos Indígenas del Oriente Boliviano, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Gr-7250). We would like to thank Wendy Townsend for encouraging the research. We thank the Gran Consejo Tsimane’, L. Apaza, E. Byron, D. Ista, A. Nate, J. Pache, and E. Pérez for their support with fieldwork and logistics, and ICRISAT-Patancheru for providing office facilities to Reyes-García.. We thank R Godoy, W. McClatchey, D. Moerman, and one anonymous reviewer for comments on previous versions of the article |
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