Cultural importance, availability and conservation status of Spanish wild medicinal plants : Implications for sustainability
Mateo-Martín, Jimena (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Departamento de Biología)
Benítez, Guillermo (University of Granada. Departmento de Botánica)
Gras Mas, Airy (Universitat de Barcelona. Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio))
Molina Simón, María (Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario)
Reyes-García, Victoria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Tardío, Javier (Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario)
Verde, Alonso (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Instituto Botánico)
Pardo-de-Santayana, Manuel (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Departamento de Biología)

Data:	2023
Resum:	The harvest of wild plants with medicinal uses is increasing globally, both for self-treatment and as a source of income. The increasing demand for these remedies could lead to the over-harvest of some species. Despite a recent surge in the number of studies analysing wild medicinal plants management, little is known about the effects of non-commercial harvesting on the conservation status of medicinal plants. We explore the connection between the cultural importance (CI) of medicinal vascular plants traditionally used in Spain for self-treatment and their availability, conservation and legal protection status, and discuss the implications of our results for sustainability. We focus on Spain, located in one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots and the most diverse country in Europe regarding vascular plants (7071 species, 1357 endemic), while also being culturally and linguistically diverse. Spain has a rich body of traditional knowledge referring to wild medicinal plants, with 1376 species with medicinal uses, which represents nearly a fourth (22%) of the total autochthonous vascular flora of the country (16% endemic). Species CI is positively correlated with abundance (ρ = 0. 466) and occupancy area (ρ = 0. 495). Only 8% of the wild medicinal plants traditionally used in Spain have an endangered conservation status and just 6% are fully or largely affected by protection measures. Most species used for self-treatment in Spain are common, highly available and not threatened. This suggests that domestic use alone does not result in overexploitation and that traditional knowledge systems of plant management might ensure their sustainability. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Ajuts:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CSO2014-59704-P European Commission 771056 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M
Nota:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Nota:	Altres ajuts: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente TEC0003351 y TEC0004583
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Biocultural conservation ; Ecosystem services ; Natural resources ; Pharmaceutical ethnobotany ; Spain ; Wild plants gathering
Publicat a:	People and Nature, (August 2023) , p. 1-14, ISSN 2575-8314

DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10511

14 p, 2.6 MB

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