| Abstract Detail
Society for Economic Botany/BSA Economic Botany Section Rakotoarivelo, Nivo Hariniaina [1]. Vohibe Forest: an invaluable source of useful plants. The low to mid elevation evergreen rainforest of Vohibe is classified as New Protected Area, and covers 3117 ha. It is located in the Ambalabe rural Commune, at 72 km northwest of Vatomandry in the Eastern Region of Madagascar. This Commune is very isolated in geographic terms and was threatened before by the practice of slash and burn cultivation. But this forest is still very rich in biodiversity and has a high specific endemic up to 80%. This richness prompted us to do an ethnobotanical study about useful plants and the local people knowledge to ensure their sustainable use and their future conservation.
In Madagascar's rural areas, forests are the only source for people's daily needs, such as water, food, medicinal plants, and materials for construction, handcraft, tools and firewood. Vohibe forest is no exception. Our initial ethnobotanical survey found that of ca. 180 species of plants used by local people, about 50% are collected in the forest. The leaves, bark and root are commonly used as medicine and for handcrafts, while the trunk is mainly used in construction and for manufacturing tools. Fruits are often used as food. The choice of species depends also on the needs: hard wood and resistant species are used for building, healing plants for traditional medicine and fiber plants for handcrafts. Broader Impacts:
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1 - Missouri Botanical Garden, Research and Conservation Program, PO Box 3391, Antananarivo, Analamanga, 101, Madagascar
Keywords:
ethnobotany
useful plants
Vohibe
Madagascar.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 14
Location: Maryland Room/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Monday, July 11th, 2011
Time: 2:45 PM
Number: 14006
Abstract ID:27 |
