Background: The traditional boat-shaped houses of the Li people on Hainan Island, China, reflect centuries of ecological adaptation to the tropical rainforest. These vernacular dwellings are now threatened by rural depopulation and rapid modernization. We explore the ecological function, material use, and cultural value of the boat-shaped houses of the Li people and support their nomination as a site of UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage.
Methods: We combined ethnobotanical surveys, environmental measurements, and literature analysis to evaluate plant-based construction, house-environment interactions, and traditional knowledge.
Results: The study identified four types of traditional boat-shaped houses of the Li people on Hainan Island, constructed using 26 plant species across 13 families. Environmental monitoring showed that in natural conditions, boat-shaped houses had lower indoor air temperatures (by 1.3 °C in Chubao Village), reduced relatively humidity (by 7.3% in Baicha Village), and significantly lower wet bulb globe temperatures (by 9.6 °C in Baicha Village), compared to modern brick houses. Boat-shaped houses thus provided a more thermally comfortable environment than modern brick houses, particularly during the dry season. The results emphasize the green, low-carbon construction cycle of boat-shaped houses and highlight the urgent need to conserve this ecologically sustainable traditional knowledge system.
Conclusions: Li boat-shaped houses demonstrate a low-carbon, climate-adaptive building system rooted in indigenous knowledge. Their preservation offers critical insights for sustainable design and biocultural conservation in tropical regions.
Background: This study explores the profound links between rituals and native trees in Guji society, focusing on their symbolic, cosmological, and socio-spiritual significance in the Gadaa system.
Methods: Employing interviews, transect walks, and focus group discussions, data were collected from 43 purposively and snowball-sampled participants, including Gadaa leaders, elders, women, youth, and cultural experts. The analysis was conducted through thematic analysis and qualitative description.
The findings: The findings reveal that native trees-such as Euphorbia candelabrum var. bilocularis (Hadaammaa), Ficus vasta Forssk (Qilxaa), Vachellia horrida subsp. Benadirensis (Hurbuu), Afrocarpus gracilior (Birbissa), and Olea europaea subsp. africana (Ejersaa)-are sacred entities central to rituals like supplication and ancestral commemoration, embodying ecological and cultural harmony as eco-cultural synergy. These trees are protected through taboos and customary rules, reflecting a belief system that personifies them as divine gifts essential for the prosperity and resilience of people. However, deforestation, agricultural expansion, and cultural erosion threaten this eco-cultural synergy. Despite challenges, the Guji employ adaptive strategies, including replanting sacred trees and restorative rituals.
Conclusion: The culturally constructed and symbolically validated connections between rituals and trees-forming an eco-cultural synergy-serve as a testament to a society's harmonious relationship with nature, where local belief systems and ecology coalesce into sustainable coexistence. Preserving these links underpins the conservation of trees as biocultural diversity hotspots and sustains cultural practices. Thus, there should be implementation of integrated conservation measures that address both ecological and cultural dimensions of native trees. This approach should prioritize community engagement, policy reinforcement, and sustainable practices to preserve the biocultural diversity of Guji society against the pressures of modernity.
Background: The Kazakh people of Altay, Xinjiang, possess rich traditional knowledge associated with medicinal food plants (MFPs), shaped by their nomadic pastoralist heritage and the unique mountain-grassland ecosystems of the region. However, this biocultural heritage remains insufficiently documented and is increasingly threatened by human's economic activities, rapid globalization, climate change, and generational knowledge loss. This study aimed to record MFPs, evaluate their cultural and ecological relevance, and assess their conservation challenges.
Methods: Ethnobotanical fieldwork was conducted in 2012 and 2017 across Altay Prefecture. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 100 key informants, including traditional healers, herders, and merchants, complemented by focal group discussions, field observations, and voucher specimen collection. Voucher specimens were deposited at the Herbarium of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ethnomedicine (XJNM). Use-value (UV) index was calculated to assess the relative importance of each species. Traditional knowledge, edible applications, and sustainability concerns were systematically documented.
Results: A total of 118 MFP species were identified, belonging to 37 families and 85 genera. Rosaceae (12.7%), Asteraceae (7.6%), Polygonaceae (7.6%) and Fabaceae (7.6%) were the most represented families. Herbaceous plants dominated (69.5%), with fruits (33.9%) and roots (20.3%) being the primary edible parts. Species with the highest medicinal UV included Glycyrrhiza uralensis (UV = 0.56), Taraxacum officinale (UV = 0.41), and Codonopsis pilosula (UV = 0.34). MFPs were primarily used to treat digestive (26.1%) and respiratory (17.7%) ailments, reflecting the health challenges associated with a nomadic lifestyle. These plants are also deeply embedded in cultural practices, including seasonal dietary customs (e.g., sea buckthorn jam), spiritual rituals, and ecological taboos such as phenology-based harvest timing. Key threats to MFPs sustainability include overharvesting (30.5% of species are now cultivated to mitigate pressure), climate change impacts on alpine habitats, and the erosion of traditional knowledge, as only 9% of informants with rich knowledge of MFPs were under the age of 30.
Conclusions: Kazakh MFPs represent a culturally integrated "medicine-food continuum" intricately adapted to local ecological conditions. Sustainable utilization requires the incorporation of traditional knowledge-such as phenology-informed harvesting practices-into conservation strategies, the promotion of community-led cultivation of vulnerable species, and the documentation of associated cultural practices. Given accelerating environmental and sociocultural shifts, urgent efforts are needed to preserve this fragile biocultural heritage.
Background: This study investigates how migration affects the culinary practices of Syrian, Afghan, and Egyptian Coptic communities living in Northwest Italy, specifically focusing on how these groups preserve, adapt, or abandon traditional foodways in a new socio-cultural environment. The objective is to understand the role of food in maintaining cultural identity and navigating integration in the host country.
Methods: Using a multidisciplinary approach, the research combines semi-structured interviews with 64 participants. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4 and R 4.4.2. Descriptive and frequency analyses summarized demographic and food-related patterns, while Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression assessed differences and predictors of traditional food maintenance. Qualitative data from interviews were thematically analyzed using an inductive approach, highlighting key themes such as adaptation, resilience, and cultural continuity.
Results: The findings reveal distinct culinary patterns shaped by each group's cultural and ecological heritage, Syrian horticultural traditions, Afghan pastoral legacies, and the Coptic plant-based diet. While culinary resilience, adaptation, and loss occur across all groups, the extent varies. Influencing factors include ingredient availability, economic constraints, and levels of social integration. Age, gender, religion, and migration history further shape food behavior.
Conclusions: This research underscores the dynamic relationship between migration and food, highlighting how culinary practices serve as a site of both cultural preservation and adaptation in diaspora contexts.
Ethnobiology explores the complex, evolving relationships between humans and the natural world, encompassing diverse subfields such as ethnobotany, ethnozoology, ethnopharmacology, and more. This scientific field of research has undergone several developmental phases since its inception in the late nineteenth century, evolving from colonial-era documentation of useful species to contemporary collaborative and decolonized approaches that emphasize community participation and interdisciplinary research addressing global crises. All ethnobiological studies are valuable especially if they ultimately help to foster science and conservation and improve the livelihoods of the populations whose plants and knowledge are studied. Hypothesis driven studies just serving scientific ego are borderline neocolonial, as is the transfer of values, opinions, beliefs, analysis methods that we personally regard as true onto societies we work with, without first obtaining prior informed consent. Great care must be taken when interpreting the results of molecular data and statistical analyses (indices), and much more care needs to be taken distinguishing between "knowledge" and actual "use". And we must remember that the basis of any Ethnobiological studies is a solid botanical, zoological, and ecological knowledge, i.e., especially the correct taxonomic identification of plants and animal species. Given the emergence of sharing knowledge as part of "online information", it is important to safeguard aspects such as data sovereignty, as data could be extracted from its original context to be misused or commercialized without proper consent or without sharing benefits. Contextualizing the development of research by considering the existence of digital tools that transform and influence the way knowledge is transmitted and learned and considering that community members have access to many of these tools and use them in their search for information is essential. Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), offer possibilities for new modes of analysis. By transforming their set of methodological tools, ethnobiologists can improve the rigor, inclusiveness, and social relevance of their work. Methodological innovation creates opportunities to include a greater diversity of perspectives, particularly those of underrepresented communities, and to respond more effectively to contemporary socioecological challenges. The impact of research must begin to be measured beyond the pure impact of publications. The social relevance of research must begin to be considered and evaluated.
In many rural regions of Ethiopia, traditional bone-setting remains a key form of healthcare, especially where formal medical services are scarce or inaccessible. Although deeply rooted in cultural practice, it is often dismissed in biomedical discourse due to its informal and non-scientific methods. This study investigates the lived experiences, knowledge systems, and treatment practices of traditional bone setters in Kelala Woreda, South Wollo Zone, within the Amhara Regional State. Using ethnographic methods, including participant observation and semi-structured interviews, the research captures how traditional knowledge is passed down through generations and explores the motivations behind patients' continued reliance on bone setters over modern medical alternatives. The findings indicate that this form of healing is more than a medical intervention; it is a socially and spiritually grounded practice that fosters community trust and cohesion. Furthermore, the research highlights a lack of scholarly and policy attention to the anthropological significance of these practices. By offering a nuanced understanding of traditional bone-setting from a cultural perspective, this study calls for a more integrated approach to health systems that recognizes and respects indigenous healing methods.
Background: This study documents the indigenous medicinal knowledge of the Ongota/Birale people in Hinchete Kebele (county) of Benna Tsemay Woreda (district), South Omo Zone, Ethiopia whose language is endangered, with only six speakers remaining. With their language endangered, documenting their heritage of ethnomedicine is necessary. The study was conducted from January 2023 to February 2024.
Methods: Data were collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with the remaining speakers, field observations, and medicinal plants specimen collection across 14 locations. The data were translated, transcribed, coded, and thematized. Thematic analysis was applied for identifying recurring themes and patterns in the data and interpreting. Frequency analysis was used for some quantifiable data.
Results: Ninety-eight sources were cataloged in this study including 31 plant taxa, 8 animal derivatives, 4 minerals, and 3 other materials. Thirty-seven distinct human health problems/Roosaa/ were treated by these. Solanaceae is the most frequently used plant family closely followed by Burseraceae and Tiliaceae. Herbs comprised the largest proportion (38.7%) of the identified medicinal plant species, followed by shrubs (25.8%), trees (22.58%), and climbers (12.9%). 83.87% were harvested from wild areas (natural forest) and 16.13% from home gardens. Grinding and crushing constituted (70%) as the dominant preparation method. The most common routes of administration are dermal (51.35%) and oral (35.13%). Animal-based products (milk, butter, honey, spleen, fat, blood), traditional drinks ('areke' and 'boordee'), and minerals (red soil, the salt mineral 'megaaddoo,' common salt, and copper) were also used. The most frequent therapies reported are cauterization (33.3%), bloodletting (33.3%), massage (22.2%), and acupressure (11.1%). From the 26 medicinal plants that grow in the study area, 7 i.e., Ocimum americanum, Acalypha fruticosa, Corchorus tridens, Adenium obesum, Terminalia brownii, Boswellia neglecta, and Sansevieria ehrenbergii were not reported for similar uses previously. Pharmacological studies have not yet been reported for 12 of the 26 medicinal plants against the causative agents of the diseases they reported.
Conclusion: The Birale/Ongota have rich indigenous medicinal knowledge and therapeutic practices that have been maintaining their health. However, due to threats by environmental challenges and the endangerment of their language and culture, further research on ways of conserving their biodiversity and indigenous livelihoods, preserving their medicinal plants, finding the active ingredients in them, and integrating their indigenous healthcare system with the modern are required.
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