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| Ethno-botanical knowledge
8.7. Remarks on potential uses of species
Saccharum spontaneum (Poaceae), which in Khe Tran is used for fodder, is a
valuable medicinal plant in India (Oudhia 2004). There may be some potential in
scoping further possibilities for this usage.
Caryota urens (Arecaceae) is recorded as food only in the past and the stems
of Caryota monostachya are used to build floors, while Le Van Lan, Ziegler and
Grever (2002) mentions that leaves of the Caryota sp. are used for building roofs
and sheds, and their stalks for fences. He also lists that Ageratum conyzoides
(Asteraceae) is medicinal plant against cold (Le Van Lan, Ziegler and Grever
2002).
More ethno-botanical and socio-economic studies are necessary to collect
data on potentially economically viable plants that could be developed in the area,
considering market demand and network, and the sustainability of resources.
Summary
The villagers use a large range of species for their livelihoods, not only from the
natural forests, but on the contrary, mainly from the cultivated areas. The reason
is that their main activities are near the village, and primary forests are of difficult
and restricted access. The plant with the most numerous uses, bamboo, can be
found everywhere near the habitations. Rice fields, Acacia and rubber plantations
and home gardens are places where villagers can find a lot of useful plants, mainly
for fodder, medicine and food. Very few species (only four) are not substitutable
for the usage villagers have of it, and local people are no longer relying as much
on forest products for their livelihoods as they once did, since their subsistence
activities have recently diversified, even if some forest products are still used.