Abstract

LINO-VILLALBA, Oriana A. et al. Native plants with socioeconomic value of the Monkoxi people of Lomerío, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Ecología en Bolivia [online]. 2022, vol.57, n.2, pp.57-82.  Epub Sep 31, 2022. ISSN 1605-2528.

In this study, the importance and conservation status of native plants with socioeconomic value of the Monkoxi people of Lomerío (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) was evaluated. The evaluation was carried out based on the interview of 171 people in 12 communities. The reported species were grouped into eight use categories. The importance and value of the species was determined through ethnobotanical indices (Relative Importance, Cultural Value and Use Value); and conservation status by reviewing the Bolivian and IUCN Red Lists of Threatened Species. A total of 193 useful plant taxa were inventoried (176 species, 151 genera, 52 families, and 17 morpho-species). The categories of use that grouped the highest proportion of the species are medicinal (68.4%) and food (29.5%). The ethnobotanical indices highlighted Anadenanthera colubrina, Myracrodruon urundeuva and Handroanthus impetiginosus as the most important species and/or with the highest use value. 10.4% of the 193 inventoried taxa are threatened in Bolivia, and 3.1% globally, most of these grouped in the construction and timber categories. The useful native plants proved to be a natural resource that contributes significantly to the livelihoods of the inhabitants of the Lomerío region, and the quantification of the importance and value of use allowed the identification of the most well-known, exploited and relevant species. However, the high number of species without extinction risk assessment demonstrates a knowledge gap that must be filled.

Keywords : Chiquitania; Indigenous people; Quantitative ethnobotany; Traditional knowledge.

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