Rarámuri Ethnobotany: Peasant Subsistence and Biodiversity Conservation at Local Scale

Abstract

This study documents and analyzes from ethnoecological approaches the Rarámuri forms of use, management, and conservation of plant resources and forests. It was part of a participatory work that started from an initiative of the Rarámuri community of Cuiteco, Chihuahua, Northern Mexico, in connection with the local NGO CONTEC A.C. We analyzed the general role plants have had in people’s subsistence and the species with higher potential for improving their lives while conserving both plant species and ecosystems. The research started with meetings in the General Assembly of the community, and then a series of workshops directed to: (1) recognize and map the main environmental units within the territory of the community; (2) methods for sampling vegetation to obtain information about distribution and abundance of plant species; (3) methods for collecting plants, preparing herbarium specimens, and documenting the Rarámuri knowledge on plant uses and ecology, and (4) methods for evaluating amounts of plants used. After a period of training, people organized groups of volunteers, including women and men who participated in different activities together with the researchers. We firstly analyzed people’s spatial view of their territory, the environmental units they recognize, their role as sources of specific plant resources, and conditions for sustainable forms of using forests. Local people identified the following environmental units: (1) the Sierra or repárabo, (2) the slops or gallena, (3) the lajero or í'pichí, (4) the crop lands (agrachí), including the milpa or mawechi and homegardens (kumerachi), (5) the rivers or gomichi, and (6) the plains or valleys (eepó). Our study reports a general floristic inventory of the ejido, which is composed by 356 plant species, 226 (63%) of which are used in some way by local people. A total of 14 general use categories were identified: medicine (116 species, 31.1% of all plant species used), fodder (89 species, 23.9%), food (56 species, 15.0%), domestic goods (35 species, 9.4%), firewood (31 species, 8.3%), building materials (21 species, 5.6%), ornamental (10 species, 2.7%), ritual (5 species, 1.3%), and tannins (3 species), among others. For the main-use categories, we documented 12 subcategories and 42 specific uses of plants. The most extended vegetation type is pine forest, which also provides the highest number of plant resources. However, other ecosystems are sources of specific resources. The study reveals the high importance of plants in the multiple use of resources of the Rarámuri subsistence, outstandingly, the high volume of species used as firewood, food, medicine, and fodder. The highest economic potential was identified among some medicinal plants like Cosmos pringlei (babiza), Zornia reticulate (hierba de la víbora), Ligusticum porteri (chuchupate), and Psacalium decompositum (matarike). These resources have demand in national and international markets and may be profitable. However, their sustainable use require ecological studies for designing the bases of sustainable harvesting, as well as the construction of local institutions to guarantee equity in work and benefit sharing.