Traditional knowledge of plant resources in a resettlement community, la Quetzal, Petén, Guatemala

Sammendrag

ABSTRACT The study investigates traditional knowledge of forest plant resources in a resettlement community in the Lacandon neotropical rainforest of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala. The relevance of vascular plant diversity regarding consumption and other daily needs of the population are explored. Relatively few species are presently being used, with the exception of timber species where knowledge seems to be increasing. Traditional knowledge has been maintained in certain cases such as for curing illnesses that are not recognized by western medicine. Nature as such is regarded as important primarily as potential capital not for its subsistence capital. We find that the refugee situation has led to processes of both deskilling and reskilling into a more global type of knowledge. Still there continues to be a dynamic local, intuitive knowledge arising directly from practical experiences, which is important as safety net for people living in or close to the forest. Two interlinked factors have been the driving forces altering the knowledge of and use of natural resources by the people in La Quetzal : change in the natural environment and change in the of social and economic environment.