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Globalization and Loss of Plant Knowledge: Challenging the Paradigm

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  • Ina Vandebroek
  • Michael J Balick

Abstract

The erosion of cultural knowledge and traditions as a result of globalization and migration is a commonly reported phenomenon. We compared one type of cultural knowledge about medicinal plants (number of plants reported to treat thirty common health conditions) among Dominican laypersons who self-medicate with plants and live in rural or urban areas of the Dominican Republic (DR), and those who have moved to New York City (NYC). Many plants used as medicines were popular Dominican food plants. These plants were reported significantly more often by Dominicans living in NYC as compared to the DR, and this knowledge was not age-dependent. These results contradict the popular paradigm about loss of cultural plant knowledge and is the first study to report a statistically measurable increase in this type of knowledge associated with migration.

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  • Ina Vandebroek & Michael J Balick, 2012. "Globalization and Loss of Plant Knowledge: Challenging the Paradigm," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(5), pages 1-6, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0037643
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037643
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vandebroek, Ina & Van Damme, Patrick & Van Puyvelde, Luc & Arrazola, Susana & De Kimpe, Norbert, 2004. "A comparison of traditional healers' medicinal plant knowledge in the Bolivian Andes and Amazon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 837-849, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yen Yen Sally Rahayu & Tetsuya Araki & Dian Rosleine, 2021. "Predictors of the Use of Traditional Medicines in the Universal Health Coverage System in Indonesia," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(6), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Matsushita, Kyohei & Hori, Masakazu & Yamane, Fumihiro & Asano, Kota, 2023. "Incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into holistic watershed management: Fishery forests in Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    3. Eduardo Estrada-Castillón & José Ángel Villarreal-Quintanilla & Luis Gerardo Cuéllar-Rodríguez & Martí March-Salas & Juan Antonio Encina-Domínguez & Wibke Himmeslbach & María Magdalena Salinas-Rodrígu, 2022. "Ethnobotany in Iturbide, Nuevo León: The Traditional Knowledge on Plants Used in the Semiarid Mountains of Northeastern Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-43, October.

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