TradiTional Knowledge and BiodiversiTy - UNU-IAS - United ...

4 4
Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Use
while others took jobs in other towns in addition to being
healers (locally known as manghihilot and mananabang).
In the study, about 73 plant species were identified
belonging to 36 families and 63 genera. Out of the
73 plant species, plants from the Malvaceae, followed
by the Fabaceae and Rutaceae were most frequently
mentioned and therefore have a high importance index
in all categories. According to Toledo and colleagues in
2009, medicine and foods among other plant uses have
high importance because they are vital to human survival.
(Toledo et al 2009). This was also observed in the result of
the study as 41 species (55.4%) of plants were identified
to have medicinal value, followed by 34 species (51.4%)
obtained as food sources, 11 species (14.9%) used as cash
crops, 10 plant species (9.5%) for construction and nine
species used as sources of fuel.
Most inhabitants of the area have their own kaingin or
cultivated areas of land granted to the local people, which
can be used for agricultural purposes. Some residents
do not use these lands anymore because they work
in the neighbouring towns and therefore do not have
time to tend their kaingin. However, some also prefer to
work as farmers and plant crops in their kaingin because
the nearest markets are very inaccessible. They would
have to travel to Lutopan or Tabunok, the neighbouring
progressive barangays. They therefore need to plant their
own crops in case they don’t have money to spend to go to
neighbouring towns. Some plants are also readily available
because they grow almost everywhere in the area.
Plants consumed by the locals, planted and sold in the
markets, and cash crops were mapped. Kamote (Manihot
esculenta) is planted for food and sold as well. Saging or
banana (Musa paradisiaca) and gabi (Colocasia esculenta)
are plants that are almost ubiquitous in the area. Fruits of
nangka or jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), lubi (Cocos
nucifera), saging (Musa paradisiaca) and kamatis or tomato
(Solanum lycopersicum) are sold by the residents in the sitio
proper and are also sources of income.
Generally, the locals rely on commercial and traditional
medicine for treatment of diseases. Many residents still use
herbal knowledge for treatment of common ailments, but
some residents have also adapted to recent advancements
in medicine and do not rely on herbal treatments anymore.
Some residents also use medicine only if the herbal plants
seem to have no effect against the ailments. Others who
do not have easy access to the local markets, especially
those on the remote sitios rely heavily on herbal medicine.
Most of the plants identified in this study are used for
medicine. The residents were able to name 41 plants that
had medicinal value to them. Plants used for medicine
were usually weeds, shrubs and trees. The most common
plant part used are the leaves. Most common preparations
of these plant medicinals was boiling or soaking parts or
the whole plant in water. The plants were usually used
for treatment of bughat (relapse from illnesses), wounds,
stomach problems, diarrhea, fever and high blood
pressure. Most of the plants are shrubs or trees and are
available and abundant in the area. Tambuko (Kyllinga
monocephala), dila-dila sa iro (Elephantopus scaber),
mangagaw (Euphorbia hirta), sinaw-sinaw (Peperomia
pellucida), cogon (Imperata cylindrica) and bila-bila (Eleusine
indica) are very common weeds but were identified by
some informants to have specific medical uses.
The study also identified some plants with multiple uses
in a variety of categories. Cocos nucifera is the plant with
the most uses, as it is used in all categories. Gmelina
arborea, Mangifera indica, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Musa
paradisiaca and Sandoricum koetjape are utilised in at least
three use-categories.
Conclusion
Today, the creation of community biodiversity registers
(CBRs) is central to any biodiversity related intervention
and it is a strategy that is being increasingly recognised by
many National Biodiversity Authorities. It is also becoming
an increasingly important component of Local Biodiversity
Strategic Action Plans (LBSAP). Such systematic
documentation gives precise data for preventing loss of
biodiversity resources, their sustainable use, as well as
protection of community knowledge from piracy.
In this case, the study was able to identify a total of 73
species of plants belonging to 35 families. These plants
were recognised as having numerous ethnobotanical
uses. Plants used for food and medicine have the most
frequency of identified species because they are important
for survival and therefore have a greater importance to
locals. Most of the residents have their own kaingin and
therefore get their food sources from their own harvests.
Trees were also significant sources for construction and
fuel. However, only a few species were identified for these
categories because residents were not able to point to
individual stands of specific trees and would instead use
general terms such as kahoy sa lasang (trees in the forest)
to refer to those trees. Medicinal plants have the highest
number of species among all categories. The use and
preparation of these medicinal plants can be verified by
studying their biochemical components.
References
RCE-Cebu 2006. Concept Paper, http://www.ias.unu.edu/resource_centre/
RCE%20Cebu.pdf [Accessed 29 August, 2012].
Regional Center of Expertise-Cebu. 2008. Socio-Demographic Community
Survey of Barangay Camp 7, Minglanilla, Cebu, Philippines.
Toledo, B, L. Galetto and S. Colantonio. 2009 Ethnobotanical Knowledge in
Rural Communities of Cordoba (Argentina): The Importance of Cultural and
Biogeographical Factors. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
5:40, doi:10.1186/1746.-4269-5-40.
46 47