Because traditional food systems, once lost, are difficult to recreate, there is an imperative need for documentation, collection and dissemination of knowledge of biodiversity and its uses, especially in the face of erosion due to acculturation and globalization. This research will contribute to: (1) documentation of Mapuche ethnobotanical knowledge of forest edible plants in the temperate forests, (2) promoting the revitalization and dissemination of traditional management practices, strengthening the cultural identity of the community, and (3) reconstructing local memories and history in relation to edible plants and the landscape. On a broader scale, the study will: (1) provide a basis for understanding in what way local families depend on forest biodiversity for subsistence, (2) offer insights on how traditional practices of resources, designed over centuries of community-nature relations, may result in biodiversity conservation, and therefore (3) it will help visualize the impacts of forest loss on the lifeways and wellbeing of those families and vice versa.
Antonia is a current ISE Darrell Posey Master Fellow (2014). This project is funded by the Rufford Small Grants Foundation, CONICYT Scholarship and the Namkoong Family Fellowship.
Antonia Barreau abarreau@alumni.ubc.ca