Traditional Botanical Knowledge &

Sustainable Livelihoods
BDY 4073 Ethnobotany
By Dr Jarina Mohd Jani (Lecture 4)
 Watch “Tending the
Wild” a movie that
will provide a very
good exposure on
this topic.
 Go to: https://youtu.be/TbxLv9EEzs8
What is “Traditional Botanical Knowledge”?
 Traditional knowledge:
A body of knowledge built by a group of people living in close contact with nature. It
includes a system of classification, a set of empirical observations about the local
environment and a system of self-management that governs resource use. The
characteristics of traditional knowledge include:
• Creation over a long period of time in which it has been passed down from
generation to generation;
• Constant improvements as new knowledge is integrated to the existing;
• Both creation and improvement of knowledge is a group effort.
See: Johnson, M. (1998). Lore: capturing traditional environmental knowledge. Dene
Cultural Institute Publishing.

 So, Traditional Botanical knowledge is….

Who is Indigenous People?
 from the Latin – Indigena – native or long-adapted to an area.
 How many years in residence does it take to become
indigenous?
 Criteria of indigenous people?
 before or its subsequent colonization or annexation; or
 alongside other cultural groups during the formation and/or reign
of a colony or nation-state; or
 independently or largely isolated from the influence of the
claimed governance by a nation-state; or
Who is Indigenous People?
 have maintained at least in part their distinct
cultural, social/organizational, and/or linguistic
characteristics, and in doing so remain
differentiated in some degree from the
surrounding populations and dominant culture of
the nation-state; or
 peoples who are self-identified as indigenous,
and/or those recognized as such by other groups
by means of law.
Why study the use of plants by
indigenous people?

1. The relationships
between plants and
people are often clearer
in indigenous societies
than in modern societies

Collecting data in Polynesia

Why study the use of plants by
indigenous people?

2. Indigenous cultures
may represent living
analogues of the pre-
historical stages of
modern civilization

Greek bas relief

 Why study the use of plants by
indigenous people?

3. Indigenous cultures
retain much knowledge
concerning plants that
modern peoples have
largely lost

Ethnobotany class sampling teas

 Why study the use of plants by
indigenous people?

4. Indigenous peoples are

stewards of some of
the most sensitive
ecosystems on earth

Amazonian Shaman
Why study use of plants by
indigenous people?
5. Indigenous people are
very vulnerable to
rapid cultural and
economic change -
understanding
traditional ways,
including use of plants,
can point to strategies
to minimize negative
consequences of that
change
Two Aims of Ethnobotany Are:
1. To document facts about plant use and
plant management

2. To elucidate the ethnobotanical contexts

by defining, describing and investigating
ethnobotanical roles and processes
Scientific Traditional Knowledge:
Approaches
 Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK)
 Technical knowledge by traditional farmers
 Use of beneficial crop combinations
 Use of plant toxins in pest control
 Methods in food preparation
 Useful for local commercialization (i.e. SMEs)
 Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge (IAK)
 Include ITKs plus methods of crop management & livestock
production (ethnoveterinary practices & crop-animal breeding)
 Useful for indigenous experimentation & innovation
Scientific Traditional Knowledge:
Approaches (cont)

 Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

 Based on environmental perceptions on the nature and
development of local knowledge
 Rural People’s Knowledge (RPK)
 Based on the influence of social structure & institutional
organization on the generation and distribution of
knowledge within a community.
 Traditional Botanical Knowledge (TBK)
 Based on total botanical knowledge held by non-industrial
community incorporating all utilitarian, ecological &
cognitive aspects of plant use & management.
Scientific Traditional Knowledge:
Approaches (cont)
 Integrated Knowledge System (IKS)
 Basedon synergistic integration of traditional &
modern knowledge on plant use and management.
 i.e.
Integration of TBK with empirical Western
knowledge from both the natural & social sciences.
Traditional Knowledge System VS. Modern
Scientific System
 Traditional Botanical Knowledge:
Principles & Methods

 Issues: failure to distinguish between

ethnobotanical evidence and traditional
knowledge
 In any ethnobotanical study, any evidence
collected is interpreted strictly within its specific
ecological and socio-cultural contexts.
E.g. Field paddy and hill paddy by lowland people
and hill dwellers respectively with different
ecological & socio-cultural approaches.
Traditional Botanical Knowledge:
Basic Approaches
 Utilitarian Ethnobotany Approach
Observation /
 How different plants are used based Experimentation
on scientific analysis?
 Identification of useful plants Objective Plant
Characters:
Physical Empirical
 Elucidation of methods used in structures, Knowledge:
production & processing Chemical Objective reality
contents,
 Weakness: generalization & not Behavioral traits.
consider different cultures perceive
natural world differently.

Sources of
Evidences:
Behavior,
Information,
Artifacts.
Traditional Botanical Knowledge:
Basic Approaches
 Cognitive Ethnobotany
Altered
Approach Perception

 How plants are perceived

Subjective
by socio-cultural make- Plant Cultural
up? Characters: Modification:
Magico- Subjective
 Based on belief-systems, religious, reality
folklores, orally inherited Social
knowledge
 Important data to support
utilitarian data by Sources of
answering the “why plants Evidences:
Symbolic
are used as such?” Linguistic
Sociological
 Traditional Botanical Knowledge:
Basic Approaches
 Ecological & Cultural-Ecological
Artificial
Ethnobotany Approach Selection

 On alteration of floral environment

Anthropogenic
and its effects (by ecologists) Environment:
Plant-Human Plant
 On cultural practices that are Interaction domestication,
ecologically adaptive (by cultural Vegetation
structure
ecologist)
 With exception of hunter-gatherer
community
Artificial
Adaptive Selection
Behavior
maintained
Collecting Ethnobotanical Evidences:
TBK Approach
 TBK Approach:
 Interpretation of symbolic, linguistic and behavioral evidence
within the context of local spiritual & political ideology.
 Knowledge system’s requirements:
 How information is passed to successive generations?
 How knowledge may vary in spatial and temporal terms?
 Current assumptions:
 Traditional knowledge changes in response to local innovation and
experimentation and environmental constraints
 Knowledge distribution can be influenced by numerous
demographic factors, i.e. age, gender and social class.
Collecting Ethnobotanical Evidences:
Sources of Knowledge
 Dissemination of TBK
 Orally (inter-generational teaching & learning)
 Symbolically (in art and ceremony)
 In situ practical skills (i.e. hunting skills, plant gathering skills for food or/and
medicines)
 Collecting Ethnobotanical
Evidences: Sources of Knowledge
 Distribution of TBK
 Influenced by:
Intracultural Influences Intercultural Influences

◼Gender ◼Mode of production

◼Age ◼Biological environment
◼Social Class ◼Level of external contact (acculturation)
◼Place of Birth ◼Ethnicity
◼Education ◼Religion
◼Literacy ◼Mixed marriage
◼Occupation
◼Migration for work / marriage
◼Age at marriage
◼Kinship & marriage relation
◼No. of children
◼No. of generations in household
◼Language ability
TBK and Sustainable Livelihoods
 Discussion: What is Sustainable Livelihoods? How is it
linked to TBK?
 Case study: Setiu Flora Women
The women of Setiu use various plants in their
livelihood-making. Three most common plants are
Lepironia articulata, Pandanus tectorius and Nypa
fruticans. Choose one plant resource for your group
discussion