The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

Local expressions of indigenous knowledge
Other useful plants Spanish /Q'eqchi' name Scientific name
1. B'ache Croton sp.
2. Bayal Desmoncus orthacanthos
3. Chispa / sis Pteridium aquilinum
4. Izote de montaña / k'uk'iil Dracaena americana
5. Jicara / morro Crescentia alata
6. Kurarina k'aam
7. Lancetillo Astrocaryum sp.
8. Leetzeb'
9. Lookom kaam
10. Madre cacao / k'ante Gliricidia sepium
11. Majagua / chaip' Trichorpermum grewiaefolium
12. Manaco / mokooch Orbignya cohune
13. Mox Calathea microcephala
14. Oxib' xuqut
15. Pita roja / saq'I kaam
16. Talquetzal Poaceae
Source: Field identification with Sindy Hernández and informants
Home gardens
Apart from the above outlined cropping and gathering practices, home gardens
(*awiink re li rochoch) are a crucial element in the indigenous subsistence farming system.
Traditionally, this type of land use on small plots has been linked with other
forms of land use throughout Guatemala and Mesoamerica. Most often, home gardens
are integrated agroforestry systems that include trees and numerous annual and
perennial crops. Generally a mixture of useful species and minor crops, they provide
families with access to nutritious fruits and vegetables, herbs, spices, flowers, medicinal
plants, firewood, poultry feed and other tree crops. When they are not investing
their time and effort in intercropping activities, farmers engage in attending their gardens
during the period when the crops on their milpa are maturing. In the lowland
communities, we observed that the spatial structure of the gardens and the plant composition
can vary significantly. Although they commonly are located in the courtyards
of the homesteads, the gardens are not restricted to the residential zone and are occasionally
found in walking distance of the farmstead. The maintenance of this system
demands constant attention. Usually but not exclusively, women are dedicated to gardening,
while some work is frequently realised by men, such as the elaboration of
seedbeds.
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