Culturally Inportant Plants from Southern Belize: domestication by Q'eqchi' Maya Healers and Conservation

摘要

This study highlights an innovative and challenging medicinal plant project initiated by traditional healers. The garden, both as an education tool and as a way to increase access to plants for the healers, is very important to the long-term practice of traditional Q'eqchi' medicine. Curiosity and interest expressed by community members coupled with educational activities held at the site might spark a renewed interest in traditional Q'eqchi' medicine on the part of the younger generation, thereby ensuring the transmission of their traditional knowledge and strengthening the bond between them and their environment. Furthermore, as long as harvesting practices are sustainable, in situ conservation methods can easily include nontimber forest product harvesting, which is vital for the continued practice of their traditional ways.