Culture and use of plants: popular knowledge in the municipality of Santa Bárbara doTugúrio - MG

Abstract

The quest for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity requires knowledge about native
vegetation as well as how local people use the available natural resources. In this scenario,
ethnobotanical studies aim to record the different uses of resources, the forms of management,
their potentialities and how they are used by traditional communities. In this way, the objective
of the present work was to survey the plants used by a traditional community belonging to the
municipality of Santa Barbara do Tugúrio-MG, in order to identify the diversity of resource use
as well as the distribution of knowledge about useful plants. Data were collected from semi-structured
interviews conducted between April and May 2016. Five representatives of different
communities, aged between 27 and 83, were interviewed. A total of 78 plant species were collected, distributed in 36 families, of which 3 species were not identified. The family with the
highest number of species cited was Lauraceae. Among the categories in which the plants
were grouped, the category civil construction was the one that obtained more quotes, being
the main use as mourões. However, most of the raised plants presented more than one use.
Respondents also reported the disappearance or lack of use of certain plants often used in the
past. In this way, it is essential to know the species in the region and to create a management
plan for Sustainable Development, aiming at the conservation of these remnants.