Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

iotic diversity it represents. This term is, as far as I was able to ascertain, a unique
one among tree names in the Wapishana language, in that several terminologically
distinguished categories of trees are all, in the first instance, referred to under the
same name. The specific names for these trees, all of which are themselves primary
lexemes, are more rarely employed. In interviews, for example, I always had to prompt
people for these specific names when they used the term 'koram' in its more general
(and usual) sense.
Table 4.10. Percentage of households interviewed in Maruranau indicating the use of wild
fruits to report the use of fruits of particular tree species.
Latin name English name Percentage of respondents
reporting use
Oenocarpus spp. Turu 83
Anacardium giganteum Wild Cashew 83
Manilkara bidentata Balata 81
Inga spp. Whitee 79
Mauritia flexuosa Etai 75
Attalea regia Kokerite 73
Hymenaea oblongifolia Locust 46
Spondias mombin Plum 44
Astrocaryum sp. Akuyuro 15
Bertholletia excelsa Brazil Nut 13
Of the remaining trees mentioned in interviews on the collection of fruits, locust
(Hymenaea oblongata) is a tree of both forest and bush islands in the savannah,
whose fruits are commonly collected in the latter, and which is occasionally cultivated
in the vicinity of homesteads on the savannah. The Brazil nut, Bertholletia excelsa,
was mentioned at an exceedingly low frequency, probably because only one specimen
of this species is known within the reservation, and its consumption within the village
is therefore fairly rare. Trips are also made to gather nuts from stands of trees
outside the reservation, between the Kwitaro and Rewa Rivers, but somewhat less
frequently as their location is several days' journey from the village.
The ecological consequences of the collection of fruit are mixed. A recurrent
theme among those concerned with conservation in the South Rupununi is the
damage caused by the felling of fruit trees, especially palms, for their fruits. As all of
the trees concerned are also important food plants for forest animals, many of which
are themselves commonly hunted, when this takes place on a large scale the
ecological consequences, particularly from the perspective of provision of human
needs, could be devastating. This problem is only currently manifest within the most