Wild Plants Potentially Used in Human Food in the Protected Area "Sierra Grande de Hornachos" of Extremadura (Spain)

Abstract

Natura 2000 is a network of protected spaces where the use of natural resources is regulated through the Habitat Directive of the European Union. It is essential for the conservation of biodiversity in Europe, but its social perception must be improved. We present this work as a demonstration case of the potentialities of one of these protected areas in the southwest (SW) Iberian Peninsula. We show an overview of the catalog of native wild plants of the place, which have nutritional and edible properties, having been used in human food by the peasant local population over the last century, and whose consumption trend is being implemented in Europe mainly through the haute cuisine and ecotourism sectors. What is offered here is a study of the case of what kind of positive contribution systematized botanical or ethnobotanical scientific knowledge can make toward encouraging innovative and sustainable rural development initiatives. A total of 145 wild plants that are potentially useful for leading tourism and consumers toward haute cuisine, new gastronomy, enviromentally-friendly recipes, and Natura 2000 Conservation are retrieved. The methodology used for our proposal is based on recent proposals of food product development and Basque Culinary Center initiatives.

Food Identities, Biocultural Knowledge and Gender Differences in the Protected Area “Sierra Grande de Hornachos” (Extremadura, Spain)

“…These climatic and geographical characteristics allow the existence of an abundant fauna (with more than 220 vertebrates) and plant diversity, which, according to recent surveys, could exceed 1300 species [14].…”

“…The presence of interculturality persists in the gastronomy of the inhabitants of Hornachos, fundamentally that of the so-called Moors, of which the Moorish orchards are still preserved, and where planting techniques and knowledge have endured, as well as native varieties of enormous genetic, cultural, and commercial value [14]. This is, therefore, a territory with a rich cultural and agro-environmental heritage; however, this complexity has not been expressed in opportunities for the dynamization of the local economy and the creation of bonds of a union in the community.…”

“…The culinary identity, as well as the specificities and potentialities of rural territories through the rescue of the food cultural tradition and the value of traditional biocultural knowledge about natural and cultivated biodiversity within a specific territorial area, is proposed as a topic of study. We focus on the protected area "Sierra Grande de Hornachos" (Extremadura, Spain) a territory where there is a great plant diversity, where it is estimated that there may be more than 830 plants with known utilities for humans in the Spanish territory, uses that are determined by the culture and peculiarities of each place [14]. Hornachos owns strong agglutinates of identity-sources that are cultural, natural, historical, and geographical-and utilize an agroecological approach as a possible but not unique catalyst conceptual framework to energize the different dimensions of sustainable endogenous rural development, this makes it a place where there are determining factors for the existence of a wealth of culinary knowledge, associated with its natural environment.…”

Edible Biological Resource Use in an Agricultural Heritage System and Its Driving Forces: A Case of the Shuangjiang Mengku Ancient Tea and Culture System

“…The diversity of EBR usage is due to differences in culture and differences in traditional knowledge between minority groups [24], but conserving EBRs is critical to maintaining both ecosystem biodiversity and cultural diversity. In efforts to increase EBR conservation, researchers around the world have identified different types of EBRs [32,33], the intensity of EBR utilization [28,34], and human behavior surrounding EBR use and have gathered other related information [35,36]. Research has revealed the pressure on local biodiversity from the consumption behavior of local inhabitants [34] as researchers try to understand the driving forces of EBR consumption [20,[37][38][39].…”

The Close Linkage between Nutrition and Environment through Biodiversity and Sustainability: Local Foods, Traditional Recipes, and Sustainable Diets

“…It is worth mentioning the work by Blanco-Salas et al [8] on classification and cataloguing of wild plants potentially used in human food in the protected area Sierra Grande de Hornachos of Extremadura in Spain, that gives an example of how botany knowledge can effectively promote development, enhancement of territories, and biodiversity preservation, by guiding tourism and consumers towards an haute cuisine, new gastronomy, and environment-friendly recipes.…”