Contribuciones del conocimiento etnobotánico local en el valle de Ubaté.

Abstract

The study of ethnobotany makes it possible to develop interdisciplinary knowledge about the relationship between humans and flora, promoting a dialogue of knowledge. From this, the identification of the contributions of ethnobotanical knowledge towards biocultural diversity allows for the construction of a reflection that makes it possible to understand the way nature is understood, the relationships between actions and their consequences, especially in regions where deforestation, the transformation of ecosystems due to agricultural production and urban development predominate as a cause of the loss of biodiversity. In the case of this research, the aim is to categorise the most commonly used plants and characterise the biocultural relationships present in the ethnobotanical knowledge of the inhabitants of the municipality of Ubaté. Taking into account the above, a mixed research approach was proposed, carrying out a qualitative analysis through discourse analysis and a quantitative analysis through the analysis of ethnobotanical indices. It was found that the highest VU indices are between 0.35 and 1 and the highest RQZ index was 0.02. On the other hand, the biocultural relationships identified were medicinal, food, agroecological, ritual, cosmetic, domestic, ornamental and industrial, in which the great diversity of knowledge around ethnobotany could be evidenced. Those plants with the highest OU index belong to the medicinal, food and agro-ecological relationships, thus showing that the most important relationships that the inhabitants of the Ubaté valley have with plants, according to their local knowledge, refer to the uses they give to plants in their daily lives.