Rapid Ethnonutrition Assessment Method Is Useful to Prototype Dietary Assessments with a Focus on Local Biodiverse Food Plants.

Ethnonutrition is the study of diets in the context of food systems of different peoples and cultures. Its scope comprises native or local categories used to classify food, and also includes biodiverse food availability, local culinary techniques, seasonality, and cultural perceptions related to diet with nutritional implications. Here, we describe a method useful for gathering ethnonutrition data to design dietary interventions or assessments, the Rapid Ethnonutrition Assessment (REA). REA is a tool that offers food and nutrition research a broad biocultural view of diets, considering food system-level, by prototyping dietary assessments with high efficiency. This method permits us to prevent misinterpretations that lead to wrong conclusions in nutritional research.

Animal-based food systems are unsafe: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) fosters the debate on meat consumption.

OBJECTIVE: The current pandemic restarts a debate on permanently banning wildlife consumption in an effort to prevent further public health threats. In this commentary, we offer two ideas to enhance the discussion on foodborne zoonotic diseases in food systems. DESIGN: First, we focus on the probable consequences that the loss of access to wildlife could cause to the status of food and nutrition security of many people in developing countries that rely on bushmeat to subsist. Second, we argue that all animal-based food systems, especially the ones based on intensive husbandry, present food safety threats. CONCLUSION: To ban the access to bushmeat without a rational analysis of all human meat production and consumption in the global animal-based food system will not help us to prevent future outbreaks.

Environmental heterogeneity influences plant resource use - A case study in a rural community of NE Brazil.

In regions of high environmental heterogeneity, it is important to observe if different landscape units are used differently by human populations, which can have consequences for the conservation of these units. Thus, the present study seeks to answer the following questions: (1) are different native vegetation units used for different purposes by the local population? (2) is there a difference between the conservation status of native vegetation units according to the local perception? The study was implemented in the rural community of Morrão de Cima, in the municipality of São Desidério (Northeast Brazil). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops. The main native vegetation units recognized by the interviewees were Brejo, Mata Seca, Serra and Chapada. The community uses the different units of native vegetation for different purposes. The extraction of medicinal resources was important in the Chapada, while the exploitation of food resources was important in the Brejo, and the collection of wood resources was more substantial in Mata Seca and in Serra. We also found differences in the perceived conservation status of the native vegetation units. Our findings indicate the need of caution when proposing conservation strategies in heterogeneous environments, since each landscape unit may be undergoing specific processes, requiring different strategies.

Local Knowledge and Conservation Priorities of Medicinal Plants near a Protected Area in Brazil.

We investigated the influence of socioeconomic factors (age, gender, and occupation) on the local knowledge of medicinal plants in the Araripe National Forest, Brazil, and the priority of conservation of the species as perceived by people. Additionally, priority species for in situ conservation were identified by calculating conservation priority (CP). Initially, free lists were developed with 152 informants in order to identify the plants known and used by them. Based on the most cited plants in these lists, a salience analysis was performed to identify the ten most prominent tree species. In a second moment, through a participatory workshop, these ten species were classified by the perception of local experts as to their environmental availability and intensity of exploitation. Then, the population size of the forest plant species was quantified through a phytosociological sampling and the conservation priority index (CP) of the species was calculated. A total of 214 ethnospecies were cited by the informants, which were identified in 167 species. Local knowledge was influenced by socioeconomic factors, with positive correlation between age and local knowledge and difference in knowledge among professions. Among the ten most prominent tree species in terms of their medicinal importance, Hancornia speciosa was highlighted as a priority for conservation in the experts' perception because it has low environmental availability and a high exploitation rate. The ten species were ordered by the CP differently from the ordering made by the local experts' perception, indicating that people's perception of species conservation status may not correspond to the actual situation in which they are found in the forests. Conservationist measures based on the perception of informants need complementary ecological studies on the species accessed.

Impact of collection on bark regeneration from Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart. in northeastern Brazil.

The growing commercial demand for products with medicinal use has caused overexploitation of several plant species worldwide. To prevent the decline of these populations, the collection of these resources should be done in a sustainable way considering the time of its replacement in natural stocks. This study was designed to identify the relationship between different intensities of extraction of bark from the trunk of Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart. and its regeneration speed. For this, we selected two areas of Cerrado in the Northeast of Brazil, where a monitoring experiment with duration of 24 months was performed. This experiment consisted in simulating different extractive damage to assess the regeneration of bark. In each area, we selected 20 individuals, among which four treatments with five repetitions were implemented. The data showed that in both study areas, the trees regenerated their shells faster when subjected to higher collection intensities. However, this regeneration was not related to variations in rainfall in the environment.

Knowledge and extractivism of Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart. in a local community of the Brazilian Savanna, Northeastern Brazil.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to understand how the stem bark of Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart. is used by a rural community in the savanna of Northeastern Brazil, associated with a preliminary assessment involving plant population structure and extractivism in the main sites of collection. METHODS: A population structure study and analysis of bark extractivism was conducted in two sites: one within the forest and another at its edge. We had the intention of testing whether there are differences between these sites; since the local extractive practice is prohibited, expecting more intense extraction in the forest interior than its edge by the local fiscalization. We interviewed 120 informants who reported knowing and using the species, and also the places of extractivism. We also calculated quantitative measures of local knowledge, and the influence of gender and age on the knowledge about this species. RESULTS: Knowledge of the uses was evenly distributed between men and women. A total of 28 specimens were recorded at Site 1, whereas 23 were identified at Site 2, with the specimens at both sites distributed in 4-diameter classes with 4-cm intervals. Nine of the specimens found in Site 1 (32.14%) showed some sign of extraction. No specimen from Site 2 showed signs of extraction. In Site 1, the total area of stem bark removed was 43,468 cm2, and the total area of stem bark available was 33,200 cm2. In Site 2, only the available stem-bark area of 44,666 cm2 was identified because no specimens were harvested. There is no difference in knowledge of this species regarding the gender and age. CONCLUSIONS: Stryphnodendron rotundifolium is a key resource for the studied community. A large proportion of bark collected from the first diameter size class may affect the growth of these individuals and may influence the recruitment process. Perhaps, this effect may explain the absence of individuals in some size classes.