People, Lemurs and Utilitarian Plants of the Littoral Forests in Southeast Madagascar

Abstract

Tropical forests support a diversity of plants. Many of them are threatened, emphasising that their shared use by people and wildlife may benefit their conservation. Litt forests of southeast Madagascar, home to seven threatened lemur species, provide the Antanosy people with natural resources. In the early 2000s, protected areas were established in two regions that historically incurred different levels of anthropogenic pressures: Sainte Luce and Mandena. We explored the local use of plants as medicine, construction materials and firewood, and examined the overlap of plants used by people and the red-collared brown lemur (Eulemur collaris), the largest lemur in this ecosystem and an important seed disperser. Between July and October 2018, 60 adults (30 women, 30 men) participated in semi-structured interviews. Our findings show 122 plants are locally used as medicines, 60 as construction materials, and 71 as firewood. Of all utilitarian plants, 52 were confirmed in this lemur’s diet. Sainte Luce participants reported they used a higher diversity of species in all three categories. Western medicines were available and preferred to medicinal plants, but the choice also often depended on the health condition being addressed. Firewood was preferred to charcoal for cooking. Resource restrictions of the protected areas has negatively affected the local people. Local ethnobotanical knowledge reflects the importance of plants, while differences in plant use of the two communities reflect differences in biodiversity and socio-economic circumstances. Emphasising this interdependence, especially in forest restoration, could be a path towards conservation of plants, lemurs, and people, as well as traditional livelihoods.

Provisioning services decline for both people and Critically Endangered wildlife in a rainforest transformation landscape

“…We know little about whether different types of plant species on the Masoala Peninsula-endemic, native, introduced and 'invasive'-provide meaningfully different services to local communities (see Lavialle et al, 2015;Raveloaritiana et al, 2023). In a study in southeastern Madagascar, as an example, however, introduced Eucalyptus species were perceived to be of lower quality for construction purposes than native plants (Račevska et al, 2022). Ultimately, the decline of timber provisioning services overall and the high number of medicinal plants accessed by local communities point to the considerable need for non-cultivated plants for these purposes.…”

“…Most food tree species used by V. rubra are also used by local people. The majority of V. rubra tree species may also be extracted as timber, as is true in southeastern Madagascar for the collared brown lemur ( Eulemur collaris ; Račevska et al., 2022). Both cases constitute a human–wildlife conflict, as timber trees are fully removed when used.…”

“…For every plant that had been identified across the botanical surveys and for additional plants named by the focus groups, we asked participants whether the species was used for any of the following purposes: (1) Construction (for housing and/or other purposes); (2) medicine; (3) food; (4) alcohol production; (5) cordage; (6) weaving; (7) fodder for livestock; and/or (8) ‘other’ purposes. While we asked what species might be used for firewood, fuelwood is collected as deadwood in the study communities (as it is elsewhere in Madagascar: Račevska et al., 2022) and is thus not considered in our analyses.…”

Sweet Basil between the Soul and the Table—Transformation of Traditional Knowledge on Ocimum basilicum L. in Bulgaria

“…The majority of edible plants have other uses, usually more than one, e.g., over 70% of them are also used for medicinal purposes [10]. It is generally accepted that societies/communities which are more reliant on natural resources are more deeply involved with nature [11,12]. However, these societies show less attention to endangered (often rare) wild plants compared to the interest toward common plants and those used for food, medicine, ritual purposes, etc.…”