Biodiversity conservation in home gardens: traditional knowledge, use patterns and implications for management

Abstract

There is increasing interest in home gardens (HGs) as biodiversity hot spots. However, knowledge on how sociocultural characteristics and environment influence knowledge and management of HG species is still limited. Eliciting these links helps illustrate how HG could conserve biodiversity. This study addressed the following hypotheses: (i) age and gender shape the knowledge of HG species; (ii) knowledge on HG species varies across phytochorological zones; (iii) use values (UVs) of HG species are correlated to their ecological importance and (iv) HG species is mostly used for food and medicinal purposes. Data were collected from 285 HGs, across three phytochorological zones of Benin, using semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analyses were performed using ethnobotanical indexes and statistical tests. Our results confirmed our assumptions except for hypothesis (i). Gender and age did not determine knowledge on HG species. Nevertheless, noticeable differences were encountered among the zones regarding species, knowledge and use types. UV and ecological importance were highly correlated. Our results support the point that HGs sustain food and medicine supply while contributing to conservation of local biodiversity. However, with modern mutations, HGs are unlikely to be preserved if they are not actively mainstreamed in production and conservation policies.