Abstract
Most of traditional knowledge about plants and their uses is fast disappearing because of socio-economic and land use changes. This trend is also occurring in bio-cultural refugia, such as mountain areas. New data on Traditional Ethnobotanical Knowledge (TEK) of Italian alpine regions were collected relating to three valleys (Cogne, Valsavarenche, Rhêmes) of the Gran Paradiso National Park. Extensive dialogues and semi-structured interviews with 68 native informants (30 men, 38 women; mean age 70) were carried out between 2017 and 2019. A total of 3918 reports were collected, concerning 217 taxa (including 10 mushrooms, 1 lichen) mainly used for medicinal (42%) and food (33%) purposes. Minor uses were related to liquor making (7%), domestic (7%), veterinary (5%), forage (4%), cosmetic (1%) and other (2%). Medicinal plants were used to treat 14 ailment categories, of which the most important were respiratory (22%), digestive (19%), skin (13%), musculoskeletal (10%) and genitourinary (10%) diseases. Data were also evaluated by quantitative ethnobotanical indexes. The results show a rich and alive traditional knowledge concerning plants uses in the Gran Paradiso National Park. Plants resources may provide new opportunities from the scientific point of view, for the valorization of local products for health community and for sustainable land management.
Highlights
The traditional uses of plants express the resilient relationship between human communities and their environment
Regarding the Aosta Valley, previous ethnobotanical studies are limited and dated (e.g., the scientific studies done by Binel (1972) [15] on the traditional use of some local species and by Chimenti Signorini and Fumagalli (1983) [16] on the medicinal plants used in Valtournanche)
Our survey provided an exhaustive prospect of the Ethnobotanical Traditional Knowledge (TEK) in the territory of the Gran Paradiso National Park, located in the Aosta Valley, an area so far scarcely studied from the perspective of plant folk traditions
Summary
The traditional uses of plants express the resilient relationship between human communities and their environment. This cultural heritage, cumulated and evolved living in close contact with nature is fast disappearing owing to socio-economic and land use changes [1]. In areas historically exposed to very few external influences and centered around a subsistence economy, such as islands and alpine regions, this trend is less noticeable. These areas represent important BioRefugia for the conservation of the biodiversity of plants and animals as well as for the cultural differences [2,3,4]. Several informative books concerning the same topic are known [17,18,19,20,21]
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