Local ecological knowledge of rural women living in the buffer zone of a conservation unit in Brazil

Abstract

Conservation Units are recognized worldwide as the best strategy to promote the protection of biodiversity. The local ecological knowledge of women who live in the surroundings of these spaces can be used to record the cumulative sets of knowledge passed down through generations by cultural transmission. The objectives of this study were to identify the wild tree/shrub species of the useful flora known/used in each cultural domain, verify the existence of cultural consensus in each domain indicated, and verify the similarity between species in the cultural domains. Forty interviews were conducted with residents of three communities located in the buffer zone of the Sete Cidades National Park using semi-structured forms and the free list method. Sixty six species belonging to 24 families and 62 genera were recorded, and the existence of three cultural domains was identified: health (36 species), nutrition (35 species), and timber (34 species). Cultural consensus was observed for the three domains. There was a low similarity between the mentioned species in the domains, indicating high versatility. The knowledge of the women about wild vegetation reaffirms their autonomy in different aspects, especially in the family’s health care and food security and sovereignty in these rural populations. It can also contribute to the elaboration of public policies aimed at the conservation of ecological and cultural biodiversity.