Importance of local knowledge in plant resources management and conservation in two protected areas from Trás-os-Montes, Portugal

Abstract

Many European protected areas were legally created to preserve and maintain biological diversity, unique natural features and associated cultural heritage. Built over centuries as a result of geographical and historical factors interacting with human activity, these territories are reservoirs of resources, practices and knowledge that have been the essential basis of their creation. Under social and economical transformations several components of such areas tend to be affected and their protection status endangered.Carrying out ethnobotanical surveys and extensive field work using anthropological methodologies, particularly with key-informants, we report changes observed and perceived in two natural parks in Trás-os-Montes, Portugal, that affect local plant-use systems and consequently local knowledge. By means of informants' testimonies and of our own observation and experience we discuss the importance of local knowledge and of local communities' participation to protected areas design, management and maintenance. We confirm that local knowledge provides new insights and opportunities for sustainable and multipurpose use of resources and offers contemporary strategies for preserving cultural and ecological diversity, which are the main purposes and challenges of protected areas. To be successful it is absolutely necessary to make people active participants, not simply integrate and validate their knowledge and expertise. Local knowledge is also an interesting tool for educational and promotional programs.

Factors influencing local ecological knowledge maintenance in Mediterranean watersheds: Insights for environmental policies

“…The relevance of LEK in a changing semi-arid environment and the role of environmental policies in promoting LEK Our results and those from other studies (Gómez-Baggethun et al 2010;Carvalho and Frazão-Moreira 2011;Gómez-Baggethun et al 2012) continue to confirm that existing bodies of LEK remain in rural areas of industrialized countries, often concurrently with protected areas. In fact, LEK and its associated practices have been pivotal for the design and maintenance of these landscapes.…”

Homegardens in north-eastern Portugal: former features, roles, gendered knowledge and practices

“…Both a decline of agriculture and demographic trends have generated new approaches to gardens, which women have been able to incorporate (Carvalho and Frazão-Moreira, 2011;Frazão-Moreira et al 2007;Frazão-Moreira et al 2009). According to interviewees, in former times (at least in the 1950s and the 1906s), cortinhas and hortas were less diverse because other agricultural activities such as forestry, grain production and animal husbandry were considered much more important for the household economy.…”

“…Some crops and landraces are no longer cultivated in arable fields and wild species are threatened by new access roads, wild fires, reforestation activities and abandonment (Carvalho and Frazão-Moreira 2011). These species as well as popular heritage species and varieties were brought into the gardens and were maintained primarily by women.…”

“…The north-easterly part of Portugal (usually known as Nordeste Transmontano) (see Figure 1) is a mountainous area beside the Spanish border, with small villages scattered over a diverse landscape mostly influenced by harsh climatic and soil conditions and human activities carried out for a long time (Carvalho and Frazão-Moreira 2011). The most north-eastern extremity of this Portuguese region corresponds to a protected area created in 1979, known as Natural Park of Montesinho, and covering 734 km2.…”

The Consumption of Wild Edible Plants

“…However, in some instances the main objectives of such protected areas (e.g. conservation, sustainable development, public use, and community involvement) were not fulfilled, because communication was lacking and participatory approaches were not applied (Carvalho & Frazão-Moreira 2011). Other countries like the United States of America, New Zealand, and Australia have also defined an array of policies and programs to enhance indigenous involvement.…”