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These questions are still relevant for present-day ethnobotanical research (De Wet,
2005).
Indigenous women play a major role in the management of plant biodiversity. They
make an effort to preserve this biodiversity by collecting, cultivating and managing
different plants in their home gardens. They also exchange plant varieties that have
been brought informally from outside their gardens and naturalised in their
environments. Women show the importance of culinary traditions, as well as other
domestic arts and skills for the preservation of their culture and of their plant
biodiversity. There is also an interrelationship between the spiritual belief system,
plant management and biodiversity conservation (Howard, 2003). There is a
relationship between women’s specialized knowledge and skills in relation to plants,
in relation to their contribution to subsistence, and in relation to their social position
and status within their communities. The gendered nature of knowledge and the
importance of women’s intergenerational knowledge transmission for the
maintenance of biological and cultural diversity are revealed. The erosion of
indigenous knowledge, cultures and biodiversity, as well as the drive to counter this
erosion is illustrated by women. Outsiders who seek to conserve biodiversity are
able to recognize women’s knowledge and work to promote indigenous cultures,
women’s status and welfare, while at the same time, conserving the biodiversity that
constitutes their wealth (Howard, 2003).
3.2. PLANTS USED TO TREAT WOUNDS
The following plants, which are used to treat sores and wounds were collected at the
Ongoye area.
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