Non-timber forest product use in two human populations from NW Patagonia: A quantitative approach.

LADIO A H; LOZADA, MARIANA

HUMAN ECOLOGY

Plenun

Lugar: New York; Año: 2001 vol. 29 p. 367 - 380

0300-7839

The ancestral tradition of gathering non-timber products in the Andean forests of Patagonia seems to be on the verge of disappearance. Edible wild plant knowledge and differential patterns of use have been compared in two populations of different economic and cultural backgrounds, one is a small rural Mapuche community (Rams), and the other is an outlying  population (El Frutillar). The first is located in an herbaceous steppe far from the nearest Andean forest and the second one, is  located outside the town of Bariloche, near the forests of  Nahuel Huapi National Park. Semi-structured interviews  and related ecological variables were compared in both communities. In the past, both communities utilized non-timber forest products from the Andean Temperate forests.  However, at present,  wild plant gathering is being practiced  in a different way. Cost and benefit trade-offs appear to be considered when edible resources are collected. The people from El Frutillar, gather a lesser amount of wild plants, in spite of the high plant abundance growing near their surroundings and the notorious food scarcity this population is suffering from. The Mapuche people use more nutritious resources, more native species and spend a longer traveling time to the gathering site and a longer handling time in preparing  edible plants.