Assigning Medicinal Plant Value and Estimating Traditional Environmental Knowledge in Ghana, Africa Using Ethnobotanical Measures

Assigning Medicinal Plant Value and Estimating Traditional Environmental Knowledge in Ghana, Africa Using Ethnobotanical Measures

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Over the past 15 years, the West African country of Ghana has lost roughly 25% of its forest cover, leading to a decline in both traditional environmental knowledge and species. This research contributes to the literature by exploring how to best assess knowledge loss and identify important species that provide incentives for conservation. I apply and evaluate ethnobotanical measures to meet the objectives of 1) documenting knowledge of medicinal plants, 2) identifying the most locally important medicinal plants, and 3) assessing current level and distribution of traditional plant knowledge. I assign plant importance by several measures (including frequency cited, number of uses, and informant consensus), while developing and testing three new applications of the informant consensus method. Medicinal plant knowledge is well established in the area, and identified important plants are confirmed by literature as being effective. There is no difference between sexes or ages in the number of medicinal plants named (suggesting little knowledge loss), but there is a difference in which species are named (suggesting knowledge change and potential for future losses). Accessibility to and use of western medicine drives the traditional knowledge loss, and thus, I recommend the encouragement of sustainable use to conserve knowledge. An informant consensus measure, which uses a logarithmic function to assign value to plant use, is identified as the most appropriate estimator of plant importance.


Managing Knowledge Resources and Records in Modern Organizations

Managing Knowledge Resources and Records in Modern Organizations

Author: Jain, Priti

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2016-12-21

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1522519661

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Modern organizations and businesses are growing rapidly every day. With these advances comes the need for more progressive forms of knowledge management and record keeping techniques. Managing Knowledge Resources and Records in Modern Organizations is a pivotal reference source that discusses the current trends, technologies, and ethics associated with knowledge management. Featuring comprehensive coverage on a spectrum of topics, such as leadership roles in knowledge sharing, knowledge governance, electronic resources for public sector reform, and record keeping for information in public and private sector organizations, this publication is a comprehensive resource for educators, professionals, practitioners, academics, and researchers interested in the latest information on knowledge management for business and organizations.


Indigenous knowledge systems and climate change management in Africa

Indigenous knowledge systems and climate change management in Africa

Author: Ajayi, O.C. (ed)

Publisher: CTA

Published: 2017-11-15

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9290816198

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Climate change presents a profound challenge to food security and sustainable development in Africa. Its negative impacts are likely to be greatest in the African region, which is already food insecure. In the face of global climate change and its emerging challenges and unknowns, it is essential that decision makers base policies on the best available knowledge. In recent years, the knowledge of local and indigenous people, often referred to as indigenous knowledge (IK) has been increasingly recognised as an important source of climate knowledge and adaptation strategies.


Impact of Deforestation on Medicinal Plants in Ghana

Impact of Deforestation on Medicinal Plants in Ghana

Author: Emmanuel Boon

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 3640143086

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Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2008 in the subject Forestry / Forestry Economics, Vrije University Brussel (Human Ecology Department), 52 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The role of medicinal plants in traditional health care delivery in Ghana cannot be overemphasized. More than 250 indigenous trees and plants with healing properties have been scientifically catalogued in Ghana. Unfortunately, the very foundation upon which the medicinal plant species and the traditional health care system survive is threatened by deforestation. The rate of deforestation has increased by 50% over the last ten years, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The current area of intact forest is now estimated at between 10.9 and 11.8% of the original cover and 6.9% of the country's total area. Deforestation is changing the habitats of disease-carrying insects and creating conditions that may help to spread malaria, river blindness and other devastating illnesses. Moreover, since the majority of the rural poor in Ghana depends on traditional medicine for their health care needs, the present high rate of deforestation will have a detrimental effect on the heath care delivery system in the country. Important plant species will be lost to deforestation unless urgent measures are taken. This paper examines the impact of deforestation on medicinal plants in Ghana.


Ethnobotany

Ethnobotany

Author: Gary J. Martin

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-07-29

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1461524962

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Ethnoecology has blossomed in recent years into an important science because of the realization that the vast body of knowledge contained in both indigenous and folk cultures is being rapidly lost as natural ecosystems and cultures are being destroyed by the encroachment of development. Ethnobotany and ethnozoology both began largely with direct observations about the ways in which people used plants and animals and consisted mainly of the compilation of lists. Recently, these subjects have adopted a much more scientific and quantitative methodology and have studied the ways in which people manage their environment and, as a consequence, have used a much more ecological approach. This manual of ethnobotanical methodology will become an essential tool for all ethnobiologists and ethnoecologists. It fills a significant gap in the literature and I only wish it had been available some years previously so that I could have given it to many of my students. I shall certainly recommend it to any future students who are interested in ethnoecology. I particularly like the sympathetic approach to local peoples which pervades this book. It is one which encourages the ethnobotanical work by both the local people themselves and by academically trained researchers. A study of this book will avoid many of the arrogant approaches of the past and encourage a fair deal for any group which is being studied. This manual promotes both the involvement oflocal people and the return to them of knowledge which has been studied by outsiders.


Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge

Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge

Author: Sarah A. Laird

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-09-23

Total Pages: 537

ISBN-13: 1136534601

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Biodiversity research and prospecting are long-standing activities taking place in a new legal and ethical environment. Following entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1993, and other recent policy developments, expectations and obligations for research and prospecting partnerships have changed. However, to date there are few guides to integrating these concepts with practice. This book offers practical guidance on how to arrive at equitable biodiversity research and prospecting partnerships. Drawing on experience and lessons learned from around the world, it provides case studies, analysis and recommendations in a range of areas that together form a new framework for creating equity in these partnerships. They include researcher codes of ethics, institutional policies, community research agreements, the design of more effective commercial partnerships and biodiversity prospecting contracts, the drafting and implementation of national 'access and benefit-sharing' laws, and institutional tools for the distribution of financial benefits. As part of the People and Plants initiative to enhance the role of communities in efforts to conserve biodiversity and use natural resources sustainably, Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge will be invaluable to students, researchers and local communities, academic institutions, international agencies, government bodies and companies involved in biodiversity research, prospecting and conservation.


The Miombo in Transition

The Miombo in Transition

Author: Bruce Morgan Campbell

Publisher: CIFOR

Published: 1996-01-01

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 9798764072

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Miombo woodlands and their use: overview and key issues. The ecology of miombo woodlands. Population biology of miombo tree. Miombo woodlands in the wider context: macro-economic and inter-sectoral influences. Rural households and miombo woodlands: use, value and management. Trade in woodland products from the miombo region. Managing miombo woodland. Institutional arrangements governing the use and the management of miombo woodlands. Miombo woodlands and rural livelihoods: options and opportunities.


Plants, People, and Culture

Plants, People, and Culture

Author: Michael J Balick

Publisher: Garland Science

Published: 2020-08-19

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 1000098486

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Is it possible that plants have shaped the very trajectory of human cultures? Using riveting stories of fieldwork in remote villages, two of the world’s leading ethnobotanists argue that our past and our future are deeply intertwined with plants. Creating massive sea craft from plants, indigenous shipwrights spurred the navigation of the world’s oceans. Today, indigenous agricultural innovations continue to feed, clothe, and heal the world’s population. One out of four prescription drugs, for example, were discovered from plants used by traditional healers. Objects as common as baskets for winnowing or wooden boxes to store feathers were ornamented with traditional designs demonstrating the human ability to understand our environment and to perceive the cosmos. Throughout the world, the human body has been used as the ultimate canvas for plant-based adornment as well as indelible design using tattoo inks. Plants also garnered religious significance, both as offerings to the gods and as a doorway into the other world. Indigenous claims that plants themselves are sacred is leading to a startling reformulation of conservation. The authors argue that conservation goals can best be achieved by learning from, rather than opposing, indigenous peoples and their beliefs. KEY FEATURES • An engrossing narrative that invites the reader to personally engage with the relationship between plants, people, and culture • Full-color illustrations throughout—including many original photographs captured by the authors during fieldwork • New to this edition—"Plants That Harm," a chapter that examines the dangers of poisonous plants and the promise that their study holds for novel treatments for some of our most serious diseases, including Alzheimer’s and substance addiction • Additional readings at the end of each chapter to encourage further exploration • Boxed features on selected topics that offer further insight • Provocative questions to facilitate group discussion Designed for the college classroom as well as for lay readers, this update of Plants, People, and Culture entices the reader with firsthand stories of fieldwork, spectacular illustrations, and a deep respect for both indigenous peoples and the earth’s natural heritage.