Palm Use by the Chachi of Ecuador (A 30-Years Reappraisal)
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Palm use by the Chachi of Ecuador (a 30-years reappraisal) Master Thesis by Eliane Schneider Institute of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany University of Zurich Supervised by Dr. Caroline Weckerle Co-supervised by Dr. Rodrigo Cámara Leret Submitted to Prof. Dr. Peter Linder May 2016 2 "Los Chachi el pueblo olvidado" (Medina 1992) Contact: Eliane Schneider [email protected] Institute of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany University of Zurich Switzerland Front cover: Edible palm heart of Bactris setulosa, Chontilla. 3 Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ 8 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Chocó history............................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Palm diversity and palm use in Ecuador ..................................................................... 11 1.3 Palm use among the Chachi of Ecuador ..................................................................... 12 1.4 Aim of the project ........................................................................................................ 14 2. Study area ................................................................................................................................ 15 2.1 Communities ................................................................................................................ 15 2.2 Climate and vegetation ................................................................................................ 20 2.3 Chachi history and plant use ....................................................................................... 20 2.5 Chachi culture ............................................................................................................. 23 3. Methods .................................................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Selection of communities ............................................................................................. 25 3.2 Interviews (techniques and informants) ...................................................................... 25 Community history and socioeconomic issues ...................................................... 26 Census .................................................................................................................... 26 Socioeconomic questionnaire ................................................................................ 27 Ethnobotanical questionnaire ................................................................................ 27 Ethnobotanical questionnaire for comparing palm use with Barfod and Balslev (1988) ..................................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Research permits and plant documentation ................................................................ 29 3.4 Challenges ................................................................................................................... 29 3.5 Data analysis ............................................................................................................... 30 4. Results ...................................................................................................................................... 32 4.1 Socioeconomic and census data .................................................................................. 32 Communities .......................................................................................................... 32 Households ............................................................................................................ 33 Livelihood activities ............................................................................................... 41 4.2 Ethnobotanical data .................................................................................................... 43 Palm use................................................................................................................. 43 Palm Species Information ...................................................................................... 50 Cultivation and harvest practices .......................................................................... 69 Comparing data to Barfod & Balslev 1988 ........................................................... 71 4 Palm knowledge ..................................................................................................... 75 6. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 78 6.1. Which palm species do the Chachi people use? ......................................................... 78 6.2 How do they use the species? ...................................................................................... 79 Palm knowledge ..................................................................................................... 80 6.3 How has palm use changed among the Chachi since 1985, as compared to Barfod and Balslev 1988? ............................................................................................................. 81 Deforestation ......................................................................................................... 81 Market access ........................................................................................................ 82 Community building and destructive harvesting ................................................... 82 Outlook .................................................................................................................. 85 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 86 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 87 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................. 91 Appendix 1.1. Community map .......................................................................................... 91 Appendix 2.1. Socioeconomic and historic questionnaire................................................. 92 Appendix 2.2. Census questionnaire ................................................................................. 92 Appendix 2.3. Socioeconomic questionnaire ..................................................................... 92 Appendix 2.4. Palm use questionnaire .............................................................................. 92 Appendix 2.5. Categories .................................................................................................. 92 Appendix 2.6. Change of palm use questionnaire ............................................................. 92 Appendix 2.7. Voucher Specimens ..................................................................................... 92 Appendix 2.8. Animals per household ............................................................................... 92 Appendix 2.9. Tools per community .................................................................................. 92 Appendix 3.1. Market activity ............................................................................................ 92 Appendix 3.3. Most important food (general and palm specific) ...................................... 92 Appendix 3.2. Cultivated crops ......................................................................................... 92 5 ABSTRACT The Chocó belongs to one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world, but also ranks among the most threatened forests in the western Ecuadorian coast and on earth. The Chocó region counted once with the highest concentration and abundance of palm species in Ecuador. Palms are still widely used by different indigenous people and are of great importance for subsistence activities. The Chachi indigenous people are one of the three ethnic groups living in the Ecuadorian Chocó (or coast) and have amassed a wealth of knowledge about their surrounding ecosystems and about the utility of local plant species. However, they are under intense pressure, mostly because of economic drivers related to unsustainable logging, expansion of agriculture and oil palm plantations. As a result, much traditional knowledge is at risk of vanishing rapidly. This thesis documented the traditional knowledge about palms (Arecaceae) of the Chachi indigenous group in the Chocó. Specifically, this study reappraised Chachi knowledge about palm uses 30 years after the first study on Chachi palm ethnobotany was conducted. To gather information semi-structured interviews and participant observation were done from March to July 2015 in two representative Chachi communities. Palm specimens were gathered and deposited in the National Herbarium of Ecuador (QCNE). Nine useful palm species, and a total of 457 use reports (UR) were documented. Most UR fall into the categories Food (103), Construction (76), Utensils and tools (19). Stems and fruits are the most often used palm parts.