Environmental change in Northern Thailand: Impact on wild edible plant availability

Abstract

Wild edible plants contribute substantially to the food security of traditional rural households throughout Southeast Asia, especially rural Thailand. Karen women in two communities in northern Thailand were surveyed (N = 32) to evaluate availability vs. decline of key edible wild plants since 1990. All interviewed reported wild plants had become more difficult to locate; 62% implicated increased population (with subsequent over-harvesting) and deforestation. Of 47 species once readily available and gathered for food, 37 had declined and 6 species had disappeared. The majority of the women interviewed (69%) transplanted wild edible species into their home gardens whether to preserve the plants or to increase household dietary diversity. Of the 43 species identified as in decline or disappeared, 17 were transplanted in Karen home gardens; 8 of these transplanted species were harvested exclusively from gardens and no longer were gathered from wild habitats: Acacia pennata, Alpinia galanga, Brassiopsis glomerulata, Curcuma longa, Musa spp, Trevesia palmata, Wallichia carytoides, and Zingiber bradleyanum. While this mechanism might be perceived as a traditional, indigenous means to conserve biodiversity and to maintain dietary quality, only species tolerant to soil and moisture conditions present in Karen gardens flourished.