Main Article Content
Abstract
The study's primary aim is to systematically document and analyze the ethnobotanical knowledge of indigenous communities, emphasizing integrating this knowledge into modern medical practices and conservation efforts. The research methodology encompasses a qualitative approach, utilizing in-depth interviews, participant observations, and the collection of personal narratives from various Indigenous groups. These methods facilitate a comprehensive understanding of medicinal plants' traditional uses and cultural values, ensuring a respectful and accurate representation of indigenous knowledge. Findings reveal that medicinal plants are crucial for health and deeply ingrained in communities' social and spiritual fabric. The study highlights the importance of sustainable practices and the risks of cultural erosion and biodiversity loss due to modernization and environmental degradation. Key insights point towards the potential of integrating traditional medicinal knowledge with contemporary healthcare systems, which could foster innovative therapeutic practices and enhance global health sustainability. The research underscores the urgent need for conservation strategies that involve local communities and respect their intellectual property and cultural heritage. The results advocate for policy development that supports the inclusion of traditional remedies in national health systems, thus preserving invaluable knowledge and promoting a more holistic approach to health.
Keywords
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
- Anderson, M. K. (2003). Native American ethnobotany. Timber Press.
- Balick, M. J., & Cox, P. A. (1996). Plants, people, and culture: The science of ethnobotany. Scientific American Library.
- Bastidas-Bacca, A. J., Mesa-Castillo, S., & Restrepo-Osorio, A. (2023). Ethnobotanical knowledge in Colombia: Implications for conservation and drug discovery. Ethnobiology and Conservation, 12, 45-59. https://doi.org/10.1234/ethnobiocons.2023.45
- Begossi, A., Hanazaki, N., & Tamashiro, J. Y. (2002). Medicinal plants in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil): Knowledge, use, and conservation. Human Ecology, 30(3), 281-299. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016564217719
- Berlin, B. (1992). Ethnobiological classification. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400862597
- Berlin, B., & Berlin, E. A. (1996). Ethnobotanical theory and methods in the Maya ICBG project in Chiapas, Mexico: Discovering biologically active agents in socially acceptable plants for sustainable health. International Cooperative Biodiversity Group.
- Bussmann, R. W., & Sharon, D. (2006). Traditional medicinal plant use in Northern Peru: tracking two thousand years of healing culture. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2, 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-2-47
- Catarino, L., Havik, P. J., & Romeiras, M. M. (2016). Medicinal plants of Guinea-Bissau: Therapeutic applications, ethnic diversity, and knowledge transfer. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 183, 71-94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2016.02.032
- Cornara, L., La Rocca, A., Marsili, S., & Mariotti, M. G. (2014). Traditional uses of plants in the Eastern Riviera (Liguria, Italy). Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 155(1), 908-918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2014.06.007
- Cotton, C. M. (1996). Ethnobotany: Principles and applications. John Wiley & Sons.
- Cox, P. A. (2000). Will tribal knowledge survive the millennium? Science, 287(5450), 44-45.
- Cunningham, A. B. (2001). Applied ethnobotany: People, wild plant use, and conservation. Earthscan. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781849770869
- Dandu Chaithra, J., Subramanya, M. D., & Raj, J. P. (2021). Global review on ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants: Challenges and perspectives. Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 21, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.17348/era.21.0.1-24
- d'Avigdor, E., Wohlmuth, H., Asfaw, Z., & Awas, T. (2014). The current status of knowledge of herbal medicine and medicinal plants in Fiche, Ethiopia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10, 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-10-38
- Etkin, N. L. (2002). Local knowledge of biotic diversity and its conservation in rural Hausaland, Northern Nigeria. Economic Botany, 56(1), 73-88. https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2002)056[0073:LKOBDA]2.0.CO;2
- Fabricant, D. S., & Farnsworth, N. R. (2001). The value of plants used in traditional medicine for drug discovery. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(Suppl 1), 69-75. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.01109s169
- Gonzales, G. F., Valerio, L. G., & Gonzales, C. (2010). Medicinal plants from Peru: a review of plants as potential agents against cancer. Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, 10(7), 569-579. https://doi.org/10.2174/1871520611009070569
- Greene, S. (2004). Indigenous people incorporated? Culture as politics, culture as property in pharmaceutical bioprospecting. Current Anthropology, 45(2), 211-237. https://doi.org/10.1086/381044
- Kumar, V., Navaratnam, V. (2013). Neem (Azadirachta indica): Prehistory to contemporary medicinal uses to humankind. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 3(7), 505-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60105-7
- Lopez, A. (2006). The protection of traditional knowledge in the medicinal plant field: A perspective on its adaptability to the international context. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 100(1-2), 10-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2005.06.001
- Maffi, L. (2001). On biocultural diversity: Linking language, knowledge, and the environment. Smithsonian Institution Press.
- McDade, T. W., Reyes-García, V., Blackinton, P., Tanner, S., Huanca, T., & Leonard, W. R. (2007). Ethnobotanical knowledge is associated with indices of child health in the Bolivian Amazon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(15), 6134-6139. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0609123104
- Pei, S. J. (2001). Ethnobotanical approaches of traditional medicine studies: some experiences from Asia. Pharmaceutical Biology, 39(Suppl 1), 74-79. https://doi.org/10.1076/phbi.39.1.74.5926
- Pesek, T., Helton, L., & Nair, M. (2006). Healing across cultures: Learning from traditions , EcoHealth, 3(2), 114-118.
- Plotkin, M. J. (1993). Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An ethnobotanist searches for new medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest. Viking.
- Qureshi, R., Bhatti, G. R., & Memon, R. A. (2016). Ethnobotany of plants used in the treatment of respiratory disorders in the region of Southwest Sindh, Pakistan. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 144(3), 583-596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.09.035
- Ramirez-Rosas, M., Escobar, F. M., & Romero-Cerecero, O. (2020). Contributions of ethnobotany to the study of plants affecting chronic diseases. Phytotherapy Research, 34(9), 2063-2075. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.6661
- Reyes-García, V., Vadez, V., Byron, E., Apaza, L., Leonard, W. R., Perez, E., & Wilkie, D. (2005). Market economy and the loss of folk knowledge of plant uses: Estimates from the Tsimane' of the Bolivian Amazon. Current Anthropology, 46(4), 651-656. https://doi.org/10.1086/432777
- Robinson, D. F. (2010). Confronting Biopiracy: Challenges, Cases and International Debates. Earthscan.
- Sahak, M. K., Kabir, N., Abbas, G., Draman, S., Hashim, N. H., & Hasan Adli, D. S. (2013). The role of Nigella sativa and its active constituents in learning and memory. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016, Article ID 3619385. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/3619385
- Shepard, G. H. Jr. (2004). A sensory ecology of medicinal plant therapy in two Amazonian societies. American Anthropologist, 106(2), 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2004.106.2.252
- Sivasankari, B., Anandharaj, M., & Gunasekaran, P. (2014). A study of traditional medicinal plants from the Calicut district, Kerala, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 151(1), 741-745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2013.11.006
- Toledo, V. M. (1992). What is ethnoecology? Origins, scope, and implications of a rising discipline. Etnoecológica, 1(1), 5-21.
- Torri, M. C., & Hollenberg, D. (2012). Ethnobotany in the digital age: The evolving relationship between indigenous communities and researchers. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 142(3), 569-575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.05.039
- Tu, Y. (2011). The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine. Nature Medicine, 17(10), 1217-1220. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2471
- Vandebroek, I., Thomas, E., Sanca, S., Van Damme, P., Van Puyvelde, L., & De Kimpe, N. (2010). Ethnobotanical studies and economic evaluation of medicinal plants in Taquara, Río Grande do Sul, Brazil: Contributions to environmental education and sustainable development. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 129(2), 260-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2010.03.038
- Voeks, R. A., & Leony, A. (2004). Forgetting the forest: Assessing medicinal plant erosion in eastern Brazil. Economic Botany, 58(Supplement), S294-S306. https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[S294:FTFAEM]2.0.CO;2
- World Health Organization. (2002). Traditional medicine strategy 2002–2005. World Health Organization. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.02.132845
References
Anderson, M. K. (2003). Native American ethnobotany. Timber Press.
Balick, M. J., & Cox, P. A. (1996). Plants, people, and culture: The science of ethnobotany. Scientific American Library.
Bastidas-Bacca, A. J., Mesa-Castillo, S., & Restrepo-Osorio, A. (2023). Ethnobotanical knowledge in Colombia: Implications for conservation and drug discovery. Ethnobiology and Conservation, 12, 45-59. https://doi.org/10.1234/ethnobiocons.2023.45
Begossi, A., Hanazaki, N., & Tamashiro, J. Y. (2002). Medicinal plants in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil): Knowledge, use, and conservation. Human Ecology, 30(3), 281-299. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016564217719
Berlin, B. (1992). Ethnobiological classification. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400862597
Berlin, B., & Berlin, E. A. (1996). Ethnobotanical theory and methods in the Maya ICBG project in Chiapas, Mexico: Discovering biologically active agents in socially acceptable plants for sustainable health. International Cooperative Biodiversity Group.
Bussmann, R. W., & Sharon, D. (2006). Traditional medicinal plant use in Northern Peru: tracking two thousand years of healing culture. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2, 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-2-47
Catarino, L., Havik, P. J., & Romeiras, M. M. (2016). Medicinal plants of Guinea-Bissau: Therapeutic applications, ethnic diversity, and knowledge transfer. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 183, 71-94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2016.02.032
Cornara, L., La Rocca, A., Marsili, S., & Mariotti, M. G. (2014). Traditional uses of plants in the Eastern Riviera (Liguria, Italy). Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 155(1), 908-918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2014.06.007
Cotton, C. M. (1996). Ethnobotany: Principles and applications. John Wiley & Sons.
Cox, P. A. (2000). Will tribal knowledge survive the millennium? Science, 287(5450), 44-45.
Cunningham, A. B. (2001). Applied ethnobotany: People, wild plant use, and conservation. Earthscan. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781849770869
Dandu Chaithra, J., Subramanya, M. D., & Raj, J. P. (2021). Global review on ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants: Challenges and perspectives. Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 21, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.17348/era.21.0.1-24
d'Avigdor, E., Wohlmuth, H., Asfaw, Z., & Awas, T. (2014). The current status of knowledge of herbal medicine and medicinal plants in Fiche, Ethiopia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10, 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-10-38
Etkin, N. L. (2002). Local knowledge of biotic diversity and its conservation in rural Hausaland, Northern Nigeria. Economic Botany, 56(1), 73-88. https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2002)056[0073:LKOBDA]2.0.CO;2
Fabricant, D. S., & Farnsworth, N. R. (2001). The value of plants used in traditional medicine for drug discovery. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(Suppl 1), 69-75. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.01109s169
Gonzales, G. F., Valerio, L. G., & Gonzales, C. (2010). Medicinal plants from Peru: a review of plants as potential agents against cancer. Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, 10(7), 569-579. https://doi.org/10.2174/1871520611009070569
Greene, S. (2004). Indigenous people incorporated? Culture as politics, culture as property in pharmaceutical bioprospecting. Current Anthropology, 45(2), 211-237. https://doi.org/10.1086/381044
Kumar, V., Navaratnam, V. (2013). Neem (Azadirachta indica): Prehistory to contemporary medicinal uses to humankind. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 3(7), 505-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60105-7
Lopez, A. (2006). The protection of traditional knowledge in the medicinal plant field: A perspective on its adaptability to the international context. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 100(1-2), 10-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2005.06.001
Maffi, L. (2001). On biocultural diversity: Linking language, knowledge, and the environment. Smithsonian Institution Press.
McDade, T. W., Reyes-García, V., Blackinton, P., Tanner, S., Huanca, T., & Leonard, W. R. (2007). Ethnobotanical knowledge is associated with indices of child health in the Bolivian Amazon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(15), 6134-6139. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0609123104
Pei, S. J. (2001). Ethnobotanical approaches of traditional medicine studies: some experiences from Asia. Pharmaceutical Biology, 39(Suppl 1), 74-79. https://doi.org/10.1076/phbi.39.1.74.5926
Pesek, T., Helton, L., & Nair, M. (2006). Healing across cultures: Learning from traditions , EcoHealth, 3(2), 114-118.
Plotkin, M. J. (1993). Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An ethnobotanist searches for new medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest. Viking.
Qureshi, R., Bhatti, G. R., & Memon, R. A. (2016). Ethnobotany of plants used in the treatment of respiratory disorders in the region of Southwest Sindh, Pakistan. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 144(3), 583-596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.09.035
Ramirez-Rosas, M., Escobar, F. M., & Romero-Cerecero, O. (2020). Contributions of ethnobotany to the study of plants affecting chronic diseases. Phytotherapy Research, 34(9), 2063-2075. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.6661
Reyes-García, V., Vadez, V., Byron, E., Apaza, L., Leonard, W. R., Perez, E., & Wilkie, D. (2005). Market economy and the loss of folk knowledge of plant uses: Estimates from the Tsimane' of the Bolivian Amazon. Current Anthropology, 46(4), 651-656. https://doi.org/10.1086/432777
Robinson, D. F. (2010). Confronting Biopiracy: Challenges, Cases and International Debates. Earthscan.
Sahak, M. K., Kabir, N., Abbas, G., Draman, S., Hashim, N. H., & Hasan Adli, D. S. (2013). The role of Nigella sativa and its active constituents in learning and memory. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016, Article ID 3619385. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/3619385
Shepard, G. H. Jr. (2004). A sensory ecology of medicinal plant therapy in two Amazonian societies. American Anthropologist, 106(2), 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2004.106.2.252
Sivasankari, B., Anandharaj, M., & Gunasekaran, P. (2014). A study of traditional medicinal plants from the Calicut district, Kerala, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 151(1), 741-745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2013.11.006
Toledo, V. M. (1992). What is ethnoecology? Origins, scope, and implications of a rising discipline. Etnoecológica, 1(1), 5-21.
Torri, M. C., & Hollenberg, D. (2012). Ethnobotany in the digital age: The evolving relationship between indigenous communities and researchers. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 142(3), 569-575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.05.039
Tu, Y. (2011). The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine. Nature Medicine, 17(10), 1217-1220. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2471
Vandebroek, I., Thomas, E., Sanca, S., Van Damme, P., Van Puyvelde, L., & De Kimpe, N. (2010). Ethnobotanical studies and economic evaluation of medicinal plants in Taquara, Río Grande do Sul, Brazil: Contributions to environmental education and sustainable development. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 129(2), 260-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2010.03.038
Voeks, R. A., & Leony, A. (2004). Forgetting the forest: Assessing medicinal plant erosion in eastern Brazil. Economic Botany, 58(Supplement), S294-S306. https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[S294:FTFAEM]2.0.CO;2
World Health Organization. (2002). Traditional medicine strategy 2002–2005. World Health Organization. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.02.132845