Understanding the Influence of Socioeconomic Variables on Medicinal Plant Knowledge in the Peruvian Andes.

In this study, we analyze the impact of 18 socioeconomic factors at individual, family, and locality levels to understand their influence on medicinal plant knowledge (MPK) in four provinces and 12 localities of the northern Andes of Peru. We interviewed 50 participants per locality (totaling 600 people) from lowlands and highlands ecoregions. The participants were balanced in terms of generations and gender. We performed multivariate statistical analyses-generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations-that showed the influence of each socioeconomic variable on the medicinal plant knowledge of people in the different sites. At the individual level, we found that most participants with higher MPK were women, elders, people with lower levels of education and job qualifications, non-migrants, and participants who have lived for a long period in the same region. At the family level, we found that participants living in low economic conditions with few material goods, including their means of transport, tools possession, access to technology, farm size, number of farm animals, and house quality, had higher MPK. At the locality level, we found that people living in more isolated areas with scarce regional services, such as access to paved roads, hospitals, big markets, tourist development, and chlorination of drinking water, had higher MPK. In short, people with less access to modern services and with low economic resources are the main depositaries of MPK. Policy makers and decision makers should consider the significance of MPK in alleviating health problems and diseases in Andean regions, especially for people with rural livelihoods. This local botanical knowledge of medicinal plants should be preserved in the area as a great natural heritage for humanity.

Medicinal Plants for Rich People vs. Medicinal Plants for Poor People: A Case Study from the Peruvian Andes.

Traditional knowledge (TK) of medicinal plants in cities has been poorly studied across different inhabitants' socioeconomic sectors. We studied the small city of Chachapoyas (~34,000 inhabitants) in the northern Peruvian Andes. We divided the city into three areas according to the socio-economic characteristics of its inhabitants: city center (high), intermediate area (medium), and city periphery (low). We gathered information with 450 participants through semi-structured interviews. Participants of the city periphery showed a higher TK of medicinal plants than participants of the intermediate area, and the latter showed a higher TK than participants of the city center. The acquisition of medicinal plants was mainly through their purchase in markets across the three areas, although it was particularly relevant in the city center (94%). Participants of all socioeconomic levels widely used the same medicinal plants for similar purposes in Chachapoyas, which is likely based on a common Andean culture that unites their TK. However, participants with the lowest socioeconomic level knew and used more plants for different medicinal uses, indicating the necessity of these plants for their livelihoods. City markets with specialized stores that commercialize medicinal plants are key to preserve the good health of poor and rich people living in Andean cities and societies.

Different patterns in medicinal plant use along an elevational gradient in northern Peruvian Andes.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Through the study of mestizo people that share a common culture in a large geographic region and where traditional knowledge (TK) is still poorly documented, we compared medicinal plant use in the northern Andes of Peru. AIMS OF THE STUDY: (1) To compare patterns of the distribution of TK for a human group living between two ecoregions: high tropical montane forests vs. low tropical montane forests; (2) to understand the TK at the gender level; and (3) to analyse TK transmission over five generations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted in two ecoregions, four areas and 12 localities. We gathered information with 600 participants through semi-structured interviews. We worked with 3-7 expert informants per locality using the "walk in the woods" methodology for gathering ethnomedicinal information in the field. We annotated local vernacular names, medicinal indications, and collected the plants in their habitats. Then we interviewed the rest of the participants in their homes. To evaluate significant differences between highlands and lowlands, we use general mixed linear models test and its corresponding post hoc LSD Fisher test of multiple comparisons (p < 0.05) at ecoregion, gender and generation level. RESULTS: A total of 416 species belonging to 107 plant families and 13,898 use-reports were found in both ecoregions. Overall, significant differences indicated that people in the highlands had higher TK than people in the lowlands for most of the medicinal categories. Women showed higher knowledge on medicinal plants in all medicinal categories and areas in both ecoregions. However, transmission of TK showed different patterns between ecoregions. In the highlands, the TK increased from the youngest to the senior group (51-60 years), with a slight decreasing for those over 60 years, whereas in the lowlands the findings were less clear and generations with highest TK were divergent across localities. CONCLUSION: TK on medicinal plants is still widely applied in the tropical montane forests of northern Peru. The localities with less prosperous socioeconomic development (highlands) were the areas with higher TK on medicinal plants. Women are mainly the depositories of the traditional medicine. The older generations maintain most of the TK in the highlands, whereas in the lowlands the TK is more widespread across generations. Future conservation programs on medicinal plants should understand who are the generations depositaries of the TK before dedicate any effort.