Valuation of forests and plant species in Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro-Secure, Bolivia

Valuation of Forests and Plant Species in Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro-S,cure, Bolivia. A quantitative ethnobotanical study was conducted in Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro-S,cure (TIPNIS), Bolivia, to assess the usefulness assigned by local Yuracar, and Trinitario ethnic groups to different terra firme and floodplain forests. Furthermore, we investigated which variables are good predictors for the use value attributed to plant species in the research area. Plants were collected during transect, walk-in-the-woods and homegarden sampling. Ethnobotanical and ethnoecological data of the inventoried plants were obtained from 12 Yuracar, and 14 Trinitario participants through semistructured interviews. On average, 84% of species in transects were claimed to be useful to people. The understorey (2.5 cm a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand dbh < 10 cm) of the sampled forest types contained more useful species than the overstorey (dbh a parts per thousand yenaEuro parts per thousand 10 cm), particularly for species with a medicinal and/or social use function. The local use value of plant species can be predicted, in part, from their botanical family, growth form, density, frequency, mean and maximum dbh, and ecological importance value. Our data confirm the hypothesis that density and frequency of plants in the landscape are both related to perceived plant accessibility. Accessibility of plants partly seems to guide their usefulness in TIPNIS. Indigenous assessment of accessibility and abundance of plants also covaried with their perceived usefulness and therefore has a potential for uncovering patterns in the perceived utility of plants