Globalization and Loss of Plant Knowledge: Challenging the Paradigm

Abstract

The erosion of cultural knowledge and traditions as a result of globalization and migration is a commonly reported phenomenon. We compared one type of cultural knowledge about medicinal plants (number of plants reported to treat thirty common health conditions) among Dominican laypersons who self-medicate with plants and live in rural or urban areas of the Dominican Republic (DR), and those who have moved to New York City (NYC). Many plants used as medicines were popular Dominican food plants. These plants were reported significantly more often by Dominicans living in NYC as compared to the DR, and this knowledge was not age-dependent. These results contradict the popular paradigm about loss of cultural plant knowledge and is the first study to report a statistically measurable increase in this type of knowledge associated with migration.

Medicinal Plant Use Influenced by Health Care Service in Mestizo and Indigenous Villages in the Peruvian Amazon

“…The results indicate that the health insurance system effectively works and promotes the use of more health care services. Therefore, as previous studies (Caniago & Siebert, 1998;Vandebroek & Balick, 2012) have found, it is safe to say that the health care service contributes to the decrease in medicinal plant use and knowledge, although not directly. What this study found is that indigenous people seemed to be more influenced by the health care service than the mestizo population, in turn, knowledge loss would be a concern, and too much knowledge may have already been lost.…”

“…However, Aguilar--Støen and Moe (2007) report that 3.3% of medicinal plants found in studies in eight countries were cultivated species. Another aspect of NTFP studies is whether plants are used for household consumption or trade (Godoy et al, While in some developing countries medicinal plants are important in primary health care (Estomba et al, 2006;Kitula, 2007;Lozada et al, 2006;Milliken & Albert, 1997), reliance on modern medicine increases (Caniago & Siebert, 1998;Vandebroek & Balick, 2012) in other places. Choice between traditional and modern medicine depends on the users' social and cultural values with respect to each medicine (Janes, 1999;Wayland, 2004) or their knowledge of medicinal plants (Dahlber & Trygger, 2009).…”

“…Modernization and globalization are also considered to cause a loss of medicinal plant knowledge (Benz et al, 2000;Voeks & Leony, 2004;Case et al, 2005;Voeks, 2007;Quinlan & Quinlan, 2007;Srithi et al, 2009;Meretika et al, 2010). The presence of the health care service also affects the loss of knowledge about medicinal plants (Caniago & Siebert, 1998;Vandebroek & Balick, 2012). Meretika et al (2010) show urbanization to be one of the important factors for the decrease in plant use and knowledge.…”

Les Plantes Médicinales De La Région Montagneuse De Kahuzi- Biega en République Démocratique Du Congo : Utilisation, Accessibilité Et Consensus Des Tradipraticiens

“…Pour les besoins de soins de santé primaires, l'utilisation des plantes médicinales tient encore une place de choix sur le continent. Cependant, l'accès à ces plantes utiles devient un problème croissant à cause de la dégradation progressive de la végétation naturelle et l'érosion des connaissances traditionnelles (Vandebroek et Balick, 2012 ;Malan et al, 2015). L'ethnobotanique est une discipline récente, décrite par Turner (1988) comme une science des interactions entre les humains et les plantes.…”

Drivers of Management of Spider Plant (Gynandropsis gynandra) Across Different Socio-linguistic Groups in Benin and Togo

“…Investigation of their knowledge of medicinal plants revealed that in all three countries they abandoned specific medicinal plants and related practices from the original pharmacopeia when the plants were neither available nor cultivated in the country of arrival (Pirker et al 2012). Migrants might also actively preserve the flora and knowledge from their home country or region as an attempt to conserve their cultural identity, as for example, the case of the Dominicans living in New York City (Vandebroek and Balick 2012) or the Surinamese in the Netherlands (van Andel and Westers 2010).…”