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Bai people in the Dali Prefecture of Northwest Yunnan, China, have a long history of using plant extracts to dye their traditional costumes and maintain this culture for posterity. However, the development of modern technology, while vastly improving the dyeing efficiency, is also replacing indigenous knowledge which threatens the indigenous practice, causing the latter disappearing gradually. This study sought to examine the indigenous knowledge of plants used for textile dyeing in Bai communities, so as to provide a foundation for their sustainable development. We conducted a semi-structured interview among 344 informants (above age 36) selected through a snowball sampling method. Free lists and participant observation were used as supplementary methods for the interviews. Three quantitative indicators (informant consensus factor [ICF], use frequency, and cultural importance index [CI]) were used to evaluate the indigenous knowledge of the dye-yielding plants. Twenty-three species belonging to 19 plant taxonomic families were used for dye by Bai communities. We summarized them into four life forms, eight used parts, five colors, three processing methods, and four dyeing methods. Among them, Strobilanthes cusia (Nees) O. Kuntze was the most traditional dyeing plant and has an important cultural value. Location, age, and gender were found to have a significant effect on indigenous knowledge, and the dyeing knowledge was dynamic and influenced by social factors. Diverse plant resources and rich indigenous knowledge of textile dyeing persist at settlements of Bai communities in Dali Prefecture. However, high labor costs and thinning market of traditional products that use plant dye cause repulsion toward traditional practice. To that, a good income in other profession attracts indigenous people to shift from their tradition of making plant-based dye and associated cultural systems at risk of extinction. More research for market development for products that use plant-based dye is necessary for the conservation of this valuable knowledge and biodiversity protection in Bai communities.

Peru is what Peruvian anthropologist Lupe Camino calls the “health axis” of the old Central Andean culture area stretching from Ecuador to Bolivia. In particular in the North of the country the traditional use of medicinal dates back as far as the first millennium B.C. Both healers, and the wider population, often buy their medicinal plants in local markets, but there is very little comparative information available about which plants are sold under which vernacular name at any given time, for which indication, and which dosage information and information about side effects is given by vendors. For this study we used two traditionally used species groups “Hercampuri” Gentianella spec. (Gentianaceae) and “Pasuchaca” Geranium spec. (Geraniaceae.), found in the Mercado Aviación in Lima, as small, clearly circumscribed plant group frequently used to treat symptoms of diabetes as a test case to study the taxonomy, indications, dosage, indicated side effects, and additional species used as admixtures and hypothesized that: 1. A wide variety of different species is sold under the same common name, and often several common names exist for one species. 2. There is no consistency in the dosage, or a relationship between dosage and species marketed under one name. 3. However, there is consistency in the knowledge about usage and side effects. Surveys focusing on medicinal plants sold and their properties were conducted at the Mercado Aviación in Lima in December 2012. Vouchers of all specimens were deposited at the National Herbarium of Peru. Our surveys in Mercado Aviación in Lima yielded four species of Gentianella, two of Geranium, and three additional species from three genera used as common additives that were sold as anti-diabetic. These results indicate that even in case of only a few plant species, used for a very clearly circumscribed application, patients run a considerable risk when purchasing their remedies in the market. The possible side effects in this case are the more serious because diabetes has to be treated long term, and as such the patients are ingesting possible toxic remedies over a long period of time. Much more control, and a much more stringent identification of the material sold in public markets, and entering the global supply chain via internet sales, would be needed.

Plants have traditionally been used as a source of medicine in Ethiopia since early times for the control of various ailments afflicting humans and their domestic animals. However, little work has been made in the past to properly document and promote the knowledge. Today medicinal plants and the associated knowledge in the country are threatened due to deforestation, environmental degradation and acculturation. Urgent ethnobotanical studies and subsequent conservation measures are, therefore, required to salvage these resources from further loss. The purpose of the present study was to record and analyse traditional medicinal plant knowledge of the Bench ethnic group in Southwest Ethiopia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Bench informants selected during transect walks made to houses as well as those identified as knowledgeable by local administrators and elders to gather data regarding local names of medicinal plants used, parts harvested, ailments treated, remedy preparation methods, administration routes, dosage and side effects. The same method was also employed to gather information on marketability, habitat and abundance of the reported medicinal plants. Purposive sampling method was used in the selection of study sites within the study district. Fidelity Level (FL) value was calculated for each claimed medicinal plant to estimate its healing potential. The study revealed 35 Bench medicinal plants: 32 used against human ailments and three to treat both human and livestock ailments. The majority of Bench medicinal plants were herbs and leaf was the most frequently used part in the preparation of remedies. Significantly higher average number of medicinal plants was claimed by men, older people and illiterate ones as compared to women, younger people and literate ones, respectively. The majority of the medicinal plants used in the study area were uncultivated ones. The study revealed acculturation as the major threat to the continuation of the traditional medical practice in the study area. Awareness should, therefore, be created among the Bench community, especially the young ones, by concerned organizations and individuals regarding the usefulness of the practice.

Myanmar is one of the hotspots of biodiversity and is a rapidly developing country. Performing floristic research in Myanmar is an urgent issue, and ethnobotanical studies of wild edible plants (WEPs) will provide new information on natural plant resources. Ethnobotanical data were collected in three villages with different historical backgrounds in Southern Shan State, Myanmar. A total of 19 key informants were interviewed, and specimens were collected in the fields with the participation of key informants in June–July 2015. Group discussions were organized during 2016 and 2017 to reinforce the information on use of WEPs. DNA barcoding was used to facilitate species identification. A total of 83 species from 44 families of angiosperms were recorded as WEPs. Most of the species were used as wild vegetables (47 species), followed by fruits and nuts (31 species). Eighteen WEPs were consumed as medicinal foods. Differences in use of WEPs between the communities of the villages were observed. The age class of 30–39 years was more familiar with the environments where they could collect WEPs and had more knowledge of WEPs than did the older groups. The use of Elaeocarpus floribundus as an edible oil is a very interesting tradition. WEPs play an important role in the livelihood of local communities. The indigenous society has maintained traditional knowledge of the WEPs. Historical background, land use system and surrounding vegetation could have effects on the variation in the traditional uses of WEPs. Increasing awareness of the importance of WEPs will encourage the conservation of traditional knowledge of indigenous populations.

The Mountains of the Western Lesser Caucasus with its rich plant diversity, multicultural and multilingual nature host diverse ethnobotanical knowledge related to medicinal plants. However, cross-cultural medicinal ethnobotany and patterns of plant knowledge have not yet been investigated in the region. Doing so could highlight the salient medicinal plant species and show the variations between communities. This study aimed to determine and discuss the similarities and differences of medicinal ethnobotany among people living in highland pastures on both sides of the Georgia-Turkey border. During the 2017 and 2018 summer transhumance period, 119 participants (74 in Turkey, 45 in Georgia) were interviewed with semi-structured questions. The data was structured in use-reports (URs) following the ICPC classification. Cultural Importance (CI) Index, informant consensus factor (FIC), shared/separate species-use combinations, as well as literature data were used for comparing medicinal ethnobotany of the communities. One thousand five hundred six UR for 152 native wild plant species were documented. More than half of the species are in common on both sides of the border. Out of 817 species-use combinations, only 9% of the use incidences are shared between communities across the border. Around 66% of these reports had not been previously mentioned specifically in the compared literature. Only 33 species have similar use reports in both countries, most important of which are Plantago major, Urtica dioica, Picea orientalis, Anthemis spp., Sambucus ebulus, Achillea millefolium, Helichrysum rubicundum, Mentha longifolia, Pinus sylvestris var. hamata, Hypericum perforatum, Tussilago farfara, Helichrysum plicatum, Rumex crispus, Berberis vulgaris, and Origanum vulgare. More than half of species reported in each country were found to have more than one part of the plant valued for medicinal use. The most common way of using plants medicinally in both countries is drinking the water infusion of aerial parts with flowers. Based on CI index value, two-thirds of the salient 15 genera in both countries have use reports in at least seven medicinal use categories. While the most cited category with highest FIC is digestive in Georgia, it is skin category in Turkey. Patterns of medicinal plant knowledge among studied communities appear to be connected with more than one cultural factor, in particular ethnolinguistic diversity, cultural background, and access to multilingual written folk and scientific literature, or probably a combination of various factors. Considering the regions’ floral similarity, common historical-cultural contact, and similar livelihood strategies of the communities, shared ethnomedicinal knowledge across the Georgia-Turkey border is quite low. Even though the impacts of accessing multilingual folk and scientific literature are likely to be significant, the factors that shape the medicinal plant knowledge patterns of the communities are shown to be variable among species, needing further research into intracultural diversity and socio-economical conditions, as well as the political history across the border.

Animals from various taxonomic groups are commonly used in folk medicine, and their selection seems to be directly linked to their availability and accessibility. In the present study, we analyzed the use of animals as a source of folk medicines in a community in northeastern Brazil with access to aquatic and terrestrial animals. We hypothesize that the medicinal fauna is well represented by species of both habitat types. For the collection of information, semi-structured questionnaires were applied to local residents. We recorded the use of 22 animals used as medicinal resources in the community, distributed among eight taxonomic categories, which are used to treat 38 types of diseases. Of the therapeutic animals, 14 species are terrestrial and 8 species can be considered aquatic occurring in marine or estuarine habitats. Our data confirm the tendency of human communities to use affordable medicinal animals in local ecosystems. We also found that medicinal use represents a strategy of optimizing the use of resources and is related to the economic, historical, social, cultural, and ecological contexts in which the community is inserted.

The present study addresses the use of zootherapy in the traditional healthcare system of the Biate tribe of Dima Hasao district, Assam, India. It sought to identify the different species used for zootherapeutic use with the detailed methods of usages to create awareness and contribute to the conservation and sustainable utilization of the resources. 15 Biate villages within the district of Dima Hasao were surveyed through semi-structured questionnaires and informal interviews. Detailed information on the uses of each animal was recorded. Species were identified using standard literature. Fidelity level (FL) was calculated to demonstrate the percentage of respondents claiming the use of a certain animal for the same major purposes. The study documents 34 species for the treatment of about 34 different ailments. The largest number of species reported was mammals with17 species. Maximum number of species has been reported for the treatment of diabetes and its high fidelity levels warrants in-depth studies to establish its pharmacological activity. The usages documented herein are unique to the Biate tribe. Very often, these animals are hunted and sold openly at the local markets in the lure of quick money. A 300 gm live Gekko gecko may fetch a sum of 2,50,000 Indian Rupees (INR), and smoked meat of Hoolock hoolock cost approximately 250–300 INR per kg. Animals are also hunted for its hide. The unrestricted hunting of species like Capricornis sumatraensis has almost wiped out the population within the district. Some species are also reared as pets while some are used for display as a sign of expertise in hunting. The present study has documented the usage of at least 15 animals listed in the IUCN Red List. The study illustrates the in-depth knowledge of the Biate tribe on zootherapy. Systematic investigation to identify the active ingredient may lead to the development of new drugs, which would prompt protection of these valuable resources.