Etnobotânica nos Areais da Ribanceira de Imbituba: compreendendo a biodiversidade vegetal manejada para subsidiar a criação de uma Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável

Abstract

The research and valorization of knowledge, traditional use and management of plant
resources can contribute to the effectiveness of protected areas for sustainable use, as they allow for the
involvement of local communities in management and decision making processes related to conservation.
The purpose of this paper was to gather the results of a project with ethnobotanical approach which had
the aim to investigate the traditional knowledge about native plant resources and the agrobiodiversity,
collaborating to build participatory guidelines for the use, management and conservation of these speciesin the region of Areais da Ribanceira de Imbituba, where a Sustainable Development Reserve (SDR) is
proposed. Different plant resources are used within the environmental mosaic that constitutes the Areais
da Ribanceira. These features include plant agrobiodiversity (mainly Manihot esculenta Crantz) and native
biodiversity (Butia catarinensis Noblick & Lorenzi and medicinal plants). Data were collected through semistructured interviews, participatory workshops and identification of botanical material. Interviews were
conducted on agrobiodiversity (n= 37), extraction of Butia palm (n= 20) and medicinal plants (n= 21). The
annual planting areas range from 0.5 to 5 ha and are used between 6 months to 2 years, with 1 to 5 years
of fallow. Thirty varieties of bitter cassava and 15 of sweet cassava were cited, used to feed local families
and livestock. We identified 197 species of medicinal plants belonging to 70 botanical families, many of
them gathered from areas of native vegetation. Eighteen different uses were recorded for the Butia palm,
an important native species that can occur in high densities amidst the mosaic of environments traditionally
used. In the case of Areais da Ribanceira, there is an innovative opportunity in the context of conservation
areas in the south Brazil, since an SDR can guarantee the reproduction of practices that result in in situ
conservation of species of local flora and biodiversity, including both native species of vegetation types in the
region as well as the cultivated species and varieties.