Use of Native Tree Species by an Hispanic Community in Panama Author(S): Salomón Aguilar and Richard Condit Source: Economic Botany, Vol
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Use of Native Tree Species by an Hispanic Community in Panama Author(s): Salomón Aguilar and Richard Condit Source: Economic Botany, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 2001), pp. 223-235 Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256423 . Accessed: 29/07/2011 18:56 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=nybg. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. New York Botanical Garden Press and Springer are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Economic Botany. http://www.jstor.org USE OF NATIVE TREE SPECIES BY AN HISPANIC COMMUNITY IN PANAMA1 SALOMON AGUILAR AND RICHARD CONDIT Aguilar, Salomon and Richard Condit (Centerfor Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian TropicalResearch Institute,Unit 0948, APO AA 34002-0948 USA;fax 507-212-8148 (Pana- ma); email [email protected]). USE OF NATIVE TREE SPECIES BY AN HISPANIC COMMUNITYIN PANAMA.Economic Botany 55(2):223-235, 2001. We investigatedthe use of plants collected in the wild by a smallfarming communityin CentralPanama to documentthe importanceof noncultivatedplants by tropical,nonforest-dwelling, nonindigenous people. Wevisited the com- munityto observe what wood was used to build houses and interviewedlocal people about medicinal and edible plants collected in the wild state. The communityreported use of 119 noncultivatedplant species, including 108 tree species, three shrubs, two herbs,four lianas, and two vines. The majority(71) of the species were usedfor buildinghomes. Otherproducts built with wood collected in the wild were diverse kindsof tools, containers,cages, andfences. The second most importantuse of wild plants, in terms of numberof species, was firewood, for which 40 species were mentionedby the community.Other uses includedfruit for human consumption(20 species). Most of the species (82 of 119) were collected in secondaryforests near the community,whereas another large group (47 species) were collected in matureforest. Fewer species were harvestedin shrubbyregrowth or from isolated trees in farm land. Nearly all the species (111 of 119) were native to the area, and never cultivatedlocally, but 15 species were consideredespecially valuable, and were often protected whenfound as juveniles. Only six of the species are commonlyused in reforestationprograms in Panama. We concludethat even hispanic communitiesin tropical LatinAmerica, living outside theforest, with no Amer- indian inhabitants,make frequent use of the great diversityof trees native to the region. Key Words: native trees; Panama;local plant uses; Hispaniccommunity. Forests contain many resources of economic tershed. For Panama'sgovernment, the protec- value, such as seeds, fruits, medicine, or wood. tion of these forests is of great importancefor Many of these values remain undocumented be- maintaining the water supply of the Canal cause the products are used locally, never enter- (Heckadonet al. 1999; Conditet al. 2001). Also, ing national or international markets. For many the SmithsonianInstitution, a research arm of conservationists, it is important to document the United States government, maintains near these resources to provide more complete infor- the Canal one of the oldest reserves in the world mation on the value of forests. Although there for tropicalforest research-the BarroColorado are many studies on tropical forest use among Nature Monument (Rubinoff and Leigh 1990). indigenous peoples in the Americas (Armella To improve the informationbase available for and Giralda 1980; Forero Pinto 1980; Hazleett the managementof the watershedand the pro- 1986; Herrera 1991), and more regarding com- tection of the Monument,we have started sev- mercially important woods (Record and Hess eral agroforestryand socioeconomic studies in 1943; Allen 1964), there has been little work on the area, includingthis study on forest resources Hispanic colonists who do not depend mainly on used by inhabitantsof a communitynamed Las forest resources for their livelihood. Do these Pavas, close to the monumentand immediately people have an interest in native plant resourc- outside the Reverted Zone, formerly known as es? the PanamaCanal Zone (Fig. 1). In Panama, these colonists exert a strong pres- We focus this study on uses of plants that are sure on forested areas of the Panama Canal wa- collected in the wild state, that is, plants regen- erating on their own as opposed to those delib- ' Received 13 July 2000; accepted23 January2001. erately cultivated.The principalsource of these Economic Botany 55(2) pp. 223-235. 2001 C 2001 by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A. 224 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 55 ~~~~~~~BI Forest~~~~~~~~~>0 .ea .... Fomst~~~~~~~~~5-5 ye|| Sm. <~~~~~~~~5 yearsK_ Forse outfbr cultiv.a_o. _93_ Pasture' _ Took *, _ 3 s I * * La Paa IComlunity clsdlieidcae_h Paam Cana waesed(el Codi et al,201. OntelrempIh oni iniatdbyalag black sqae Not Is up on a9ll as h atr oiaigi h otws ato h map is onpiaeln,adteRvreLoei ewe ti n h ar ooaoNtr ouet(h budr bewe prvt_adadRvre oecnb enjstnrhades ftetw sacerln 2001] AGUILAR& CONDIT:USE OF TREE SPECIESIN PANAMA 225 plants would be the forest, but also, we consid- Zone with annualpermits grantedby the Pana- ered plants that occur naturallyin shrublandand manianEnvironmental Authority (ANAM). For- pasture.Most of the plants collected in the wild est cutting was always illegal, but between 1977 are native to the area,but there are some exotics and 1994, almost all the forest was eliminated that have escaped and grow without cultivation. (Fig. 1 shows sites cleared illegally in 1993 for cultivation). Farming is no longer permittedin STUDY AREA the Reverted Zone. The third region near Las Las Pavas is about midway between Atlantic Pavas is the Barro ColoradoNature Monument, and Pacific Oceans, in centralPanama, just west which is well-protected forest (Rubinoff and of the PanamaCanal and in the Canal's water- Leigh 1990). shed, at 09006' N, 79053' W (Fig. 1). The area The communityat Las Pavas was established is <150 m in elevation on mostly rolling terrain. in the 1930s, mainly by immigrantsfrom prov- The climate is humid but seasonal, with 2500 inces to the west: Cocle, Herrera,and Los San- mm of precipitationannually, falling mainly be- tos (Herrera1984). Their standardof living is tween May and December, with a strong dry low; the town has neitherelectricity nor running season between December and April (Leigh et water,and most residentsdepend on subsistence al. 1990; Windsoret al. 1990). agriculture.They plant crops in small plots ad- Las Pavas is adjacentto the Barro Colorado jacent to their homes, or until recently, in the NatureMonument (Fig. 1). This monumentcon- RevertedZone. Few have cash to buy much con- tains 5900 ha of completely protected forest, structionmaterial or other equipment. borderedby the Reverted Zone that was U.S. territoryuntil 1977, when it revertedto Panama METHODS underthe Carter-TorrijosTreaty. Las Pavas is lo- Most of our work was conducted during a cated on private lands immediately outside of three month period, July-September 1992, but the RevertedZone (Fig. 1). we have continuedvisiting the village since. In- Vegetation around Las Pavas corresponds formation was obtained by consulting with 40 with the three political regions (Fig. 1). First is families of the area, mostly husbands,but wom- the private land outside the Reverted Zone, en participatedin some of the interviews at mostly pasture owned in abstentia by people home. The subjects were selected by consulting who live in larger cities nearby. Among these with a researcherwho had worked on an exper- large farms are small holdings of the local farm- imental farm in Las Pavas for several years. He ers. The second region is the Reverted Zone, knew many locals, and recommended several owned and managedby the Panamaniangovern- who had ethnobotanicexperience. Because the ment, until recently a sea of the African grass entire community of Las Pavas comprises only Saccharum spontaneum L. In 1998, though, a about 60 families (Herrera 1984), our sample Swiss timbercompany was granteda concession was quite extensive. All interviews were carried to establish a teak (Tectona grandis L.f) plan- out by the senior author,who was broughtup on tation on 3500 ha of Saccharumgrassland in the a farm in a similar ruralregion of Panama,and Reverted Zone near Las Pavas, and by 2004 is thus familiar with local customs and ethno- most of the Saccharum grassland will be re- botanic practices. placed by teak. There are small ribbons and is- The first part of each interview was carried lands of native vegetation within the teak plan- out in the subject'shome. We asked what plant tations (Fig. 1), and these have been largely pro- species were used in house construction, for tected. Priorto the teak plantation,many people tools, firewood,food, or medicine.Most of these from Las Pavas cultivated within the Reverted questions were accompaniedby a discussion of between pastureand teak plantation).BCI is Barro ColoradoIsland, part of the NatureMonument.