Create your own conference schedule! Click here for full instructions

Abstract Detail


70 Years After Schultes: Economic Botany from the Andes to the Amazon

Fadiman, Maria [1].

Pambil:Use, conservation and socioeconomics of the palm Iriartea deltoidea, (Arecaceae) in the Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, Ecuador.

The palm, pambil, Iriartea deltoidea, (Arecaceae) provides material for shelter, construction, and food. This study examines how locals use the palm, and how that relates to their conservation incentive for the palm, and the forest in which it grows. The study area is in the Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, a protected area of the humid tropical rainforest in Ecuador. This is an area of interest for conservationists and development groups as it is one of the hotspots of biodiversity with only 5% remaining of this kind of forest in Ecuador. Three different ethnic groups live in and around this area: Mestizo and Afro-Ecuadorian colonists and the indigenous group of Chachi. This paper looks at how these different groups utilize the palm for thatch, building and food and how the importance of plant use relates to rainforest conservation. Particular attention is focused on deforestation, economic incentives, ease of collection, socioeconomic associations, and cultural differences in collection and management. Uncut forest provides the best habitat for the palm, thus there is a growing awareness of how deforestation affects this resource. Although many leave the palm standing in their fields, it is common knowledge that these palms are weaker, and this less useful than those growing in primary forest. This case study explores the concept that using forest species can act as an internal incentive for ecosystem conservation.

Broader Impacts:


Log in to add this item to your schedule

1 - Florida Atlantic University, Geosciences, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA

Keywords:
Palm
Ecuador
conservation
thatch
ethnobotany.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY07
Location: Maryland Room/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Time: 2:45 PM
Number: SY07006
Abstract ID:171


Copyright © 2000-2011, Botanical Society of America. All rights reserved