Plant Knowledge in Children Who Inhabit Diverse Socio-Ecological Environments in Northwestern Patagonia

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed plant knowledge in children living in three environments of northwestern Patagonia. Given the differential socio-ecological circumstances of children's lifestyles that condition their daily activities and perception-action patterns, we hypothesize that their plant knowledge will differ according to their socio-ecological environments. We conducted semi-structured interviews, in which children were asked to mention which plants they knew, what they used them for, how and where they had learned about plants, and whether they gathered or cultivated plants. We interviewed 73 children who were 11 to 12 years old from urban, semi-urban, and rural contexts. Our results showed similarities in the plant knowledge of children inhabiting the same type of socio-cultural environment. Children from rural habitats mentioned a greater diversity of plants, more native species, more plants for medicinal and edible use, and more trees and herbs than children from semi-urban and urban areas. Additionally, children from semi-urban schools cited higher plant richness and more native species, medicinal uses, and life forms than children from urban areas. Most of the plants named by all children were edible species, followed by medicinal, and then ornamental; they also cited more exotic than native plants. Most children referred to species used in their daily lives, suggesting the importance of embodied experience in relation to plant knowledge. The present study showed differential patterns of plant knowledge in children inhabiting distinct environmental contexts, indicating how experience promotes diverse cognitive abilities related to children's connection with plants.

The role of schools as an opportunity for transmission of local knowledge about useful Restinga plants: experiences in southeastern Brazil

“…This can reinforce the importance of these species in the local knowledge system, especially when analyzing the categories of use. A study by Eyssartier et al [ 58 ] in urban, peri-urban, and rural schools showed that students of the latter had greater knowledge about plants, especially in the edible, medicinal, and ornamental domains, the same domains highlighted in this study. Our data suggest adaptive knowledge, since native plants used for food were the best known, and the medicinal category was the second most important.…”

“…However, almost a third of the interviewees did not know about restinga plants. This may indicate a distancing of young people with natural resources and time spent in nature, reducing connecting with plants, as is observed in areas undergoing urbanization and livelihoods changelings [ 27 , 28 , 57 , 58 ], which may be occurring in the Cabo Frio region, recently urbanized. In this sense, the restinga plants are low present in the daily activities of those students.…”

Colheita de pinhões da Pewen (Araucaria araucana): uma situação significativa que liga as crianças Mapuche à Natureza

“…Varios estudios etnobiológicos muestran que en comunidades rurales y originarias gran parte del conocimiento sobre el entorno se adquiere durante la infancia, asociado a eventos en los cuales niños y niñas participan junto a pares y adultos (obtención de alimentos y plantas medicinales, cuidado de animales domésticos, etc. ), y que se transmite principalmente de forma vertical (Setalaphruk y Price 2007;Eyssartier et al 2008;Remorini 2015;Eyssartier et al 2017). Otros autores señalan la importancia de las experiencias directas en la naturaleza a edades tempranas (Matsuba et al 2012;Conrad 2017) ya que moldean las conexiones "humano-naturaleza", con consecuencias duraderas en los sistemas socio-ecológicos, siendo entonces un paso crucial hacia el desarrollo sostenible (Giusti et al 2018).…”

Scientific Landscape Related to Mapuche Indigenous Peoples and Wallmapu Territory

“…The work with highest centrality gave insight about chemosensory perception, nutritional and medicinal value of plants used by a Mapuche community [107]. Research on medicinal plants was also closely linked to the cultural transmission and loss of knowledge about medicinal and edible plants [108][109][110], and the conservation of ecosystems where they are found [111]. This cluster was intimately linked with cluster #3 labeled "wild food plants."…”