This ethnobotanical study in the spirit of transdisciplinarity, and in collaboration with Q'eqchi' Maya traditional healers, compares traditional Q'eqchi' Maya ecosystem constructs or environmental zones with scientific ecosystems. To determine which categorization method better accommodates Q'eqchi' Maya medicinal plant diversity, we analized 26 transects representing 160 medicinal plant occurrences. Our transect array encompasses a representative sampling of Q'eqchi' Maya medicinal plant repertoire with use values broadly distributed over 17 usage categories. With a cumulative frequency of 2,235 medicinal plants through ecological zones, we conducted one-way ANOVA on the mean number of medicinal plant species identified in transects of the two conceptual schemes being contested. Our analysis reveals the Q'eqchi Maya environmental zones are the most salient. That is, knowledge of the Q'eqchi' Maya environmental zones improves one's ability to predict whether there will be a high or low abundance of Q'eqchi' Maya medicinal plant species in a particular region, whereas knowledge of scientific ecosystems does not accomplish this feat as well. This is a notable finding as it suggests that if indeed Q'eqchi' Maya medicinal plant diversity is better accounted for by the zones as envisioned by the Q'eqchi' Maya, then it should be this mode of conceptualization that should be adopted by scientists and conservationists when trying to locate and protect regional Q'eqchi' Maya medicinal plant diversity. These efforts serve as a model internationally in the conservation of medicinal plant biodiversity supportive of culturally relative holistic health promotion.
Background: An ethnobotanical study of medicinal and poisonous plants used by the East Timor resistance was undertaken in the Lautem District of East Timor to study medicinal plant use in the region. Interviews were conducted with a single key consultant from the resistance army who belonged to the Fataluku culture. This study is of importance as a historical document and because no previous medicinal ethnobotanical studies on this region exist.
This review describes an Indigenous led project by Q’eqchi’ Maya healers of Belize to strengthen and improve traditional botanical healing. Goals of the project were to conserve medicinal plant knowledge, leading to ethnobotanical studies, and to conserve the plants themselves, by creating a community ethnobotanical garden. A total of 169 medicinal species were collected in the ethnobotanical survey, which provided unique knowledge on many rainforest species of the wet lowland forest of Southern Belize, not found in neighbouring Indigenous cultures. Consensus on plant uses by the healers was high indicating a well conserved codified oral history. After horticultural experimentation by the healers, the Indigenous botanical garden provided a habitat for and conservation of 102 medicinal species including many epiphytes that were rescued from forested areas. Ethnopharmacological studies by the university partners showed a pharmacological basis for, and active principles of plants used for epilepsy and anxiety, for inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, for dermatological mycoses, and for type 2 diabetes complications. Overall, the project has provided a model for Indigenous empowerment and First Nation’s science, as well as establishing this traditional medicine as an important, unified healing practice, that can safely and effectively provide primary healthcare in its cultural context.
Abstract:The present work showcases a model for holistic, sustainable healthcare in indigenous communities worldwide through the implementation of traditional healing practices. The implementation of this model promotes public health and community wellness while addressing crucially important themes such as in situ and ex situ conservation of medicinal plant resources and associated biodiversity, generational transmission of knowledge, and the preservation of biological and cultural diversity for future generations. Being envisaged and implemented by Q'eqchi' Maya traditional healers
OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2010, 2 3384 of the southern Maya Mountains, Belize, this model can be replicated in other communities worldwide. A ethnobotany study in collaboration with these healers led to collection of 102 medicinal species from Itzama, their traditional healing cultural center and medicinal garden. Of these 102 species, 40 of prior reported 106 consensus study plants were present in the garden. There were 62 plants not previously reported growing in the garden as well. A general comparison of these plants was also made in relation to species reported in TRAMIL network, Caribbean Herbal Pharmacopoeia (CHP), the largest regional medicinal pharmacopoeia. A relative few species reported here were found in the CHP. However, the majority of the CHP plants are common in Belize and many are used by the nearby Mopan and Yucatec Maya. Since these 102 species are relied upon heavily in local primary healthcare, this Q'eqchi' Maya medicinal garden represents possibilities toward novel sustainable, culturally relative holistic health promotion and community based conservation practices.
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