Background: The Tripuri people possess a rich cultural heritage, a deep-rooted tradition, and extensive knowledge of medicinal plants. However, their medicinal knowledge remains poorly documented. Therefore, this study aims to comprehensively report their ethnomedicinal knowledge with the following objectives: (1) exploring the relationship between socio-demographics and familiarity with traditional medicinal plants using statistical analysis, (2) creating a comprehensive record of the medicinal properties and applications of plants used by the Tripuri people, (3) identifying key indicator species utilized in the fringe villages of three contiguous reserve forests using multivariate statistical analysis, (4) examining the diversity and application methods of medicinal plants in contiguous reserve forests, and (5) consensus among informants regarding the use of medicinal plants for the management of diseases prevalent in the study area.
Methods: From 2024 to 2025, 200 respondents (n = 200), comprising traditional healers, farmers, traders, housewives, and employees aged 30-99, were interviewed via snowball sampling. Data collection involved observation, a semi-structured questionnaire, and individual interviews, followed by statistical analysis. Multivariate analysis identified key indicator species used by Tripuri people, and the information consensus factor (ICF) was also evaluated.
Results: A total of 105 plant species belonging to 53 families were documented, with leaves being the most commonly used plant part. Poultice and infusion were the primary application methods. Moreover, a comparison with previous works on novel reports, commonalities, and their cultural interpretations revealed the highest Jaccard index (JI) value of 10.65 from Barpeta District in Assam. In contrast, the lowest JI value of 1.15 was recorded from the Gingee Hills in Tamil Nadu. Additionally, most indicator species were found in the fringe villages of the Deo Reserve Forest (DRF). Notably, the ICF of 1 was recorded for disease categories related to pregnancy and childbirth, while other categories showed ICF values ranging from 0.97 to 0.98.
Conclusion: The present study reflects their extensive knowledge of medicinal plants, cultural beliefs, and their deep connection with nature. Traditional healers play a crucial role in conserving these medicinal plants. However, young people are gradually shifting away from traditional medical practices.
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.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：