1. Why should ethno botanist focus so much attention on indigenous/local people?

(3pts). Because:
 Indigenous communities have been caretakers of the environment, protecting their lands,
respecting wildlife and utilizing traditional knowledge passed down through generations,
fight climate change, and build resilience to natural disasters, yet their rights aren’t
always protected. While Indigenous Peoples own, occupy, or use a quarter of the world’s
surface area, they safeguard 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity.
 Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities are more likely to be poor.
Although Indigenous Peoples make up only 5% of the global population, they account
for about 15% of the world’s extreme poor.
 Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities continue to face exclusion and marginalization,
and lack equal access to basic services. Indigenous Peoples’ life expectancy is up to 20
years lower than the life expectancy of non-indigenous people worldwide.
 Indigenous people can help preserve natural resources by preventing damage to the
environment and protecting traditional buildings, along with the creation of handicrafts
to attract tourists and create economic conditions in their own environment.
 Much of the land occupied by Indigenous Peoples is under owner ship and yet many
governments recognize only a fraction of this land as formally or legally belonging to
Indigenous peoples. Even when Indigenous territories and lands are recognized,
protection of boundaries or external parties’ uses of natural resources are often weak.
 Indigenous Peoples are distinct social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral
ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have
been displaced.
2. Enumerate the main factors that need to be focused in the study of ethnobotany
(2points).

Answer

There are the main factors that need to be focused in the study of ethnobotany. Some of
them are listed below.

 It conserves plant species including varieties of crops and other forms of

biological diversity.
 Botanical inventories and assessment of the conversation status of the species.
 Sustainability in supplies of in wild plant resource.
 Enhanced food security, nutrition and healthy.
 Preservation, recovery and diffusion of local botanical knowledge and
wisdom.
 Reinforcement of ethnic and national identity.
  Identification and development of new economic products from plants, for
instance food, craft, herbal formulation and horticultural plant.

3. Summarize the method of ethno botanical data analysis?

Answer

 There are several quantitative tools for Ethnobotanical data analysis. Among these
some standard quantitative tools are as follows:
•Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC)
• Consensus value for Plant Part (CPP)
• Informant Consensus Factor (ICF ), Informant consensus
• Fidelity Level (FL)
• Percentage of respondents who have knowledge (PRK)
• Importance value (IV)
• Use Values (UVs)
• Rank Order Priority (ROP)
• Informant Agreement Remedies (IAR)
• Cultural Significance Index (CSI)
• Simple Preference Ranking (SPR)
• Direct preference Ranking (DMR): Family Use Values (FUVs)

a. Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC)

•It is an index which is obtained by division of thenumber of informants mentioning the use of
speciesto the total number of informants who participated inthe survey.
• The most popularly used plant species will get thehighest number for the citation frequency
among thecommunity members.This is calculated using the following formula.
• RFC = FCs / N
• Where, RFC = Relative Frequency of Citation
• FCs = Number of informants who mentioned the use of species
• N = Total number of informants.
• Theoretically, it varies from zero to 1.
• When few informants quote the species, a value close to zero is obtained.
• The upper limit one is seldom obtained, it is possible only when all the informants quote a
particular species for a given use.

b. Consensus value for Plant Part (CPP)

• It is the measure of the degree of agreement among informants concerning the plant part used.
• The formula is as follows:
• CPP = Px / Pt
Where
• CPP = Consensus value for plant part
• Px = number of times a given plant part was cited • Px = number of times a given plant part
was cited
• Pt = total number of citation of all parts

c. Informant consensus
• is a method by which the relative importance of different plants species in a given community
is directly determined from the consensus in informants responses.
• Data for informant consensus can be produce from free listing exercise.

• It can also be performed on a single informant by asking the same question in different contexts
and at different times during the research.
• Plants with high informant consensus are considered to have a greater importance.
• It can be measured by means of percentage informant consensus.
• Species will have higher IC (%) when they are frequently cited by a number of informants.

d. Informant Consensus Factor (ICF)

• It was developed by Trotter and Logan which tests the consistency of informant’s knowledge
regarding plants species for treating a particular illness category.
• This parameter accounts for the degree of agreement among the different informants
interviewed concerning the use.
• ICF value also reveals the cultural coherence of the selection of medicinal plants for curing of
certain disease category.

• This method helps the researcher in case of lesser familiarity with the community; lesser
subjective thereby suitable for statistical analysis.

ICF = Nur – Nt / Nur – 1

Where
Nur= the number of mentions in each usage category.
(Nt)= the number of taxa used in each category
• A citation of each plant is recorded separately and it is an event.
• Thus, the same plant and same informant may participate in many such events.

• A high ICF value indicates the use of relatively few species in a certain use category.
• Its value ranges between zero and 1.
• The ICF value is near to zero indicates there is no exchange of information about their use,
among the informants.
• In case of well-defined usage information, its value reaches one. This indicates high
effectiveness of the plant species among the inhabitants of a community.
e. Fidelity Level (FL)

• It is used to quantify the percentage of informants who claim the use of a certain plant for the
same major purpose and is calculated as:
FL= Np / N x 100
Where

Np = number of informants who cited the species for a particular disease

N = total number of informants that cited the species to treat any given disease.

f. The percentage of respondents who have knowledge(PRK)

The percentage of respondents who have knowledgeregarding the use of species in the treatment
of diseases was estimated using the formula:
• PRK = (No of people interviewed citing species / total no of
people interviewed) x 100

g. Importance Values (IVs)

Importance Values (IVs) measures the proportion ofinformants who regard a species as the most
important.It is calculated as:
• IVs=nis/n
Where, nis = No. of informants who considers the speciesimportant;
• n = total no. of informants.
h. Use value
 Species importance was estimated
 uses were categorized in to three classes, no use, minor use, and major use.
 The use value scores assigned to these classes were, 0, 0.5, and 1 respectively
 the plant use value was determined to evaluate the importance of each plant species to the
ethnic people
• Uv is= ΣUis/nis
Where,
Uv is= the use value (Uv) attributed to a particular species (s) by one informant (i)
ΣUis= summation of all the uses mentioned in each event by the informant
nis = total number of events in which that informants gave information on the species
Many use-reports indicate high informant Use Values of a plant. This implies that the plant is
important. Fewer reports results in the value approaching zero. This methodology was used to
analyze eight (8) Hordeumvulgare varieties collected in the farm:
• ABSHLo, Malt, INJERA, BESO, Roasted grain, Porridge, Bread
• Mesnogebs , Weynogebs , Tkurgebs , Temejgebs , Nechtie
gebs , Dnbulogebs , Nechgebs, Tkursenefkollogebs , Dnbulogebs , Nechgebs,
Tkursenefkollo
i. Informant Agreement Remedies (IAR)
• Informant Agreement Remedies (IAR) is an index to determine the importance of the
individual species.
• IAR was calculated by using formula: IAR = nr – na / nr – 1
Where, nr = the total no of citations registered for species
na = the no of illness categories that are treated with this species

j. Cultural Significance Index (CSI)

Cultural Significance Index (CSI) was proposed by Turner. Itwas later modified by
Stoffleet.al.,Lajones and Lemas, andda Silva et. al., in 1990, 2001 and 2006 respectively.
• It is calculated by formula CSI=∑(IxExC)CF.

Where, I = species management

E = preference of use
C = frequency of use

CF = Correction Factor. It is the no. of citations of a species divided by the no of citations of the
most mentioned species
k. Family Use Values (FUVs)
It was first formulated by Phillips and Gentry. This indexcalculates the use value of a family and
the formula is asfollows:
• FUVs=∑UVs/NS.Where,

FUVs = Family Use Value

∑ UVs = Sum of the Use Values of all the species quoted from a family
NS = Total number of species quoted from the family
l. Preference ranking
Preference ranking is one of the simplest analytical tools thatinvolve asking each informant to
think of some items (usuallyfive to seven) in a category which is the focus of the researchor an
issue which is being discussed in the community.Each person arranges the items according to
personalpreference, perceived importance in the community or anothercriterion.The rank is given
an integer value (1, 2, 3 and so on) with themost important or most preferred item being assigned
thehighest number.Whenever possible this order of preference is cross-checked with data
obtained from interviews and other source to see if there isconsistency in the responses. In
preference ranking of a few widely-recognized items, the task can be carried out orally or can be
sketched on a large piece of paper which everyone can see. As the number of items grow it is
preferable to have actual samples in hand and to randomize their order before asking each
participant to rank them.

m. Direct matrix ranking

This method is more complex version of preference ranking inwhich ranking of the items is
basically up on multipledimensions.Instead of arranging a series of objects on one characteristic
suchas value or desirability informants are asked to order the items by considering several
attributes one at a time.Using numerical scale in which the highest number is equal to themost
preferred item and the lowest number to the least one, the results of numerous individual
responses can be added together tocreate a matrix that is representative of the community.
Alternatively, direct matrix ranking can be done as a group exercise in which participants reach
consensus on the ranking of each item or vote according to their individual assessments.
n. Paired comparison
It can be used for evaluating the degree of preference or level ofimportance of creating selected
items.In this analytical tool, informants are shown items which have been arranged in sets of
two.Based on discussions with the informants or on previous interviews in community, define
five to ten important options or objects which characterize the subject to be explored.Once the
items to be paired are identified a list or a matrix of allpossible combinations will be prepared.
This will allow to keep track of the task. The total number of possible pairs is given by the
formula n(n-1)/2 where n is the number of the items being compared.Each informant is asked,
then, chooses the best item fromevery pair according to personal perception. A total order is
obtained by summing the number of times each item was chosen. An item with the highest
frequency of choices will have the highest score. Table Paired comparisons for five fruits
randomized for thesequence of the pairs and the order within each pairinformant preference with
each pair in bold face.

4. Outline the different techniques of interviewing informants and their applications

(2pts).
Answerer
The word ‘interview’ implies an interaction between two or more people. Interviews vary
in style and format. The following are some of the many techniques that used to
collecting data available to ethnobotanist.
A. Informal interviews without structure or control. Interviewers record details of
conversations or discussions they have in the community.
B. Unstructured interviews based on a clear plan or a list of topics that the interviewer
follows.
C. Semi-structured interviews based on written lists of questions or topics that need to
be covered in a particular order. These lists are called interview guides.
D. Structured interviews based on a questionnaire or interview schedule which is
closely followed during the interview. The course of the interview is mostly
predetermined and little leeway is left for follow-up questions.
E. In-depth interviews in which questions and topics are built upon the responses to
previous questions. It is probing and flexible. The purpose is to uncover details about
the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘when, ’‘how,’ and ‘why’ of practices, technologies,
beliefs, or tools. In-depth interviews help draw out the perceptions and experiences of
individuals, expressed in their own words.
F. Participant observation
This technique is based on observing human‐plant interactions, such as wild plant gathering or
home garden management. The ethnobotanist accompanies the local people and participants in
the gathering of fruit or other forest products, in hunting activities, in farming or in the use of
medicinal or hallucinogen plants. The advantage of participant observation include,It gives the
researcher a better understanding of what is happening in the culture and lends credence to one's
interpretations of the observation. Participant observation also enables the researcher to collect
both quantitative and qualitative data through surveys and interviews.

G. Ethnobotanical inventory or field interview

It is also termed as a “bagging interview”, “walk in the woods interview”. It consistsof walking
in the field or in the forest with an informant, listens to him and asking him about plant and
collecting and taking notes on them and their uses. The selection of plants for discussion may be
decided up on by the informant, by ethnobotanist, or by both, depending on the degree of control
the ethnobotanist wishe4s to exert over the choice of plants and subjects discussed. The
application of field interviews include the facts that informants get to see the plants in their
natural state, thus minimizing the risk of misidentification, and that the context of the interview
itself can lead to the discovery and discussion of new important questions, the time consuming
nature of the procedure does place, however, a constraint on the number of informants and the
plant species that can be included in the sample.

H. Plant interview

It consists of collecting plant in the field, bringing back to the village and presents them to them
to informants. Pressed plant specimens can also be used in this way. If no fresh or pressed plant
specimens are available pictures of the plant specimen can be very useful. This technique is very
helpful during preliminary or short studies or in order to reconfirm collected data.

I. Artifact interview

In the artifact interview the researcher asks the informants. This technique is a good way of
beginning an Ethnobotanical study, as it is simple and will familiarize the local community with
research. It helps gain a direct understanding of the participant on an abstract topic. Artifacts
used can include diagrams, relational maps, photographs, drawings and arts, writings,
scrapbooks, maps, television programs, and video diaries.

J. Checklist interview

The researcher compiles a list of plant names and presents it to the informants. This option is
interesting for well-known plants, but error can occur as the names can vary from one local
group to other. Photographs, drawings and herbarium sheet may be used us complementary aid
during the interview. This approach is useful as part of a structured interview.

Interviews can be nerve-wracking for everyone involved. And when nerves are involved, things
don’t always go as planned. Having an interview checklist can keep you, your client, and the
informant on track during the process.

Interview checklists are also good for consistency between informants. You can use the same
interview structure for each candidate and ask the same questions, which makes it possible to
compare.

K. Group interview

As he name indicate, the ethnobotanist conducts interviews with a group of informants. Group
discussion can produce wealthy of data and lead to discovery new topic and questions. Some
people will be more willing to share their knowledge in a group of environment, while others
will be reluctant to disclose certain types of knowledge in front of other community members.
M. Simulation
Simulation is a technique used to get participants to reenact activities that are no longer
performed or to perform them out of context. The technique is considered valid aslong as
participants are able to remember accurately what to doand provided it is socially or
psychologically possible to performthe actions, given the "artificial" context. Ethnobotanical
simulations could include observing the manufacture of outmoded plant-based artifacts or the
preparation of a rarely used remedy.
N. Market survey
Markets are rich sources of ethnobotanical information, since they are sites at which medicinal,
ornamental, edible and other useful resources are sold. Ethnobotanists can trace the path of
locally useful plants from their growing sites to local, regional and central markets where
gatherers and intermediate traders operate. Ethnobotanists must be able to identify local plant
collectors, local traders, brokers, whole sellers and even exporters. The business channel is
sometimes complicated and many hidden stakeholders may get involved. One can use the
information from a market survey to describe the economic value of useful plants, and
recommend those which need prior conservation and mass production efforts.

5. Discuss the application of ethnobotany (2pts).

Answer
1. In Rescue Mission – When cultures are either extinct, or undergoing rapid change, so that a
significant proportion of ethnobotanical knowledge will be saved from loss through unless
systematic recording.

2. In Industrial Investigation – Looking for plants which can be developed commercially

3. In Cultural Enhancement – Looking at ways to revive or strengthen traditional uses

4. In qualitative evaluation of the use and management of botanical resources

In rural development – by identifying and promoting useful plant resource for local use.

– In natural resource management and conservation identifying and promoting good

conservation practices from among many local practices.
– In biodiversity prospecting
• Selecting plants for drug development
.Identifying medicinals, edibles, other useful plants including climate genes
• Applied Ethnobotany
• Applied ethnobotany is ethnobotany applied to conservation, sustainable development,
agriculture, medicine, and other fields
• Ethnobotany is considered to be a key to conservation and sustainable development
• Ethnobotany today is an applied subject
– We study ethnobotany to be able to apply it in various areas
– It is the objective of this course to explore the various areas in which ethnobotany has been
and could be applied Areas of Applications of Ethnobotany
• Biodiversity conservation
– Eco agriculture
Ethnobotany touches various areas including:
 Ecotourism and Community development projects
 Home gardening
 Natural product chemistry and Resource management
 Agroethnobotany
 Drug discovery, etc.
 Economic botany/bio prospecting
Ethnobotany and Conservation

1. Applying traditional ecological knowledge

2. Ethnobotanical research & community development

3. Forests

• Agro forestry & agro ecosystems

• Social forestry/community forestry
 • Ethnobotanical forest reserves
• Protection & sustainable use of NTFP

4. Conservation of wild crop relatives & endangered useful plants

• Botanic gardens
• Community herbaria

5. Conservation of traditional crops & landraces (farmers’ varieties

• Traditional farming systems (traditional field cropping, traditional home gardening,

agro forestry)
• Application in ethnobotanical gardens

6. Conservation of useful plants in places of worship (churchyards, mosque yards, cemeteries,

sacred groves), field margins, riverbanks, roadsides, etc.

7. Education

• Education programmers for the young

• Newsletters
• Popular publications, exhibits and workshops

8. Use of protected areas

• Resource use in protected areas

• Conservation areas and indigenous people
• Searching for new products
• Arts and crafts promotion
• Ecotourism
• Healthcare

9. The local perspective on ethno biological research

• Local people’s guidelines for collaboration

• Local peoples wisdoms

10. The future of ethno biological conservation

• Quantitative ethno biology

• Comparative ethno biology

6. Divide the history of ethnobotany in to 3-5 major periods (Phases) and characterize each
phase clearly indicating the change that took place as its history moved from the earliest
time to present. Tell whose approach you choose in dividing the history of ethnobotany
(3pts).
Answer

Period Feature

The pre-class  Characterized by studies that aimed to understand the knowledge of

period (1860- different peoples and cultures regarding plants and animals. The
1953) descriptive approach of plants and animals.
 This period corresponds to ethno biology’s colonial or pre-classical
period.
 It was important to prepare the path for future studies natural
environment and different cultures of the new world.
 It focused primarily on utilitarian interests for natural resources.
Ethnobotany and ethnozoology was appeared.
 Studies of the interrelations between biota, especially plants, and human
populations began to take shape.
 The work of European and American researchers, mostly
anthropologists, prevailed.
 It was important to prepare the path for future studies.
 Studies on utility carried out by researchers affiliated with major
museums and universities, general lack of appreciation of the
sophistication of local knowledge and subsistence systems from an emic
perspective.
 Greater empirical depth in research, but continued emphasis on
economic uses of plants and animals;
 Better appreciation of complexity of local knowledge and use of plants
and animals, especially as reflected in systematic attempts to record
local terminology, myths and beliefs, and knowledge of anatomy and
behavior;
 Emergency of comparative studies & standard methods. Generally in
this period dominated by the perspective and interests of the scholars,
who were often utilitarian, a search for plant or animal products that
might have economic value and thus justify the funding provided for the
research. Classical ethnobiology pursued indigenous knowledge as a
means to understand how humans make sense of their living
environment, an explicitly emic perspective inspired by Conklin and
elaborated in the 1960s as ethno science, subsequently more generally
known as cognitive anthropology
The Classic  This period is marked by the pursuit of indigenous knowledge as a
period (1954- means to understand how humans make sense of their environment.
1980)  Considered a turning point in the history of ethnobiology. This period is
known as cognitive ethnobiology.
 This period involves understanding not only how people relate to the
biota (plants and animals) but also how the biota relates in full to all
physical (soil, water, topography, climate, etc.) and biological factors, as
well as the perceptions and uses that different cultures have for these
different elements.
 A response to the lack of a more holistic view on the broader ecological
context in which interrelations between values and beliefs of traditional
peoples’ systems, knowledge possessed regarding natural resources, and
management practices of these resources occurred.
 Descriptive approach shifted in to appreciation of emic or indigenous
perspectives, with careful attention to local language uses.
 Emergence of ethnoscience, leading to a focus on the organization of
knowledge systems from the local perspective, with insights from
linguistics and empirical anthropological methods.
 Relegation of the study plant and animals resources themselves of
secondary importance.
 Beginning of interest in ethnobiological classification and appreciation
of the scientific basis of traditional knowledge.
 Classification 1969- 1980 focus on ethnobiological classification,
including principles of categorization and nomenclature, and the
analysis of correspondence between scientific and local classification.
 Accumulation of evidence for the scientific basis of local biological
knowledge.
 Growing interest in ethnobiology beyond the United States and Europe,
especially in Latin.
Postclassical  International Society of Ethnobiology was found.
Period  Organized the first International Congress of Ethnobiology in Belém,
Pará, Brazil.
 The importance of indigenous and traditional no indigenous peoples, as
well as their knowledge and management practices for the conservation
of biological diversity and natural resources was recognized.
 The definition of the role of ethnobiologists in the awareness of
indigenous peoples regarding their own knowledge and the disclosure or
return of the results of their research in native languages.
 Introduces the study of the relationships between people and plants in
the context of changes in historical, social, and cultural dynamics of
different cultures over time.
 Currently, ecological and evolutionary approaches have been
incorporated into ethnobiological studies with the objective of increasing
scientific knowledge regarding the interrelations between people and the
biota, considering that these dynamic interactions occur in different
ecosystems and, therefore, are established in time and space.
 Evolutionary ethnobiology considers it necessary to understand which
factors shape the current behaviors of cultures and knowledge of plants,
animals, and other biological resources.
 Emergence of marked cooperation between Western scientific
researchers and Native peoples.
 Production of major empirical works based on close collaboration
between academic and local researchers.
 Development of theoretical approaches beyond classification, including
gender relation in resource use, cultural significance of plants and
historical reconstruction of ethnobiological knowledge systems.
 Emergence of academic societies and specialized journals of
ethnobiology, especially in developing countries.
 Resource management Publication of standard methods manuals,1993
quantitative techniques and innovative empirical studies.
 Emergence of concern about applying ethnobiology to conservation and
development.
 Renewed interest in economic botany, including nutritional and
medicinal benefits of plants, but incorporating novel theoretical and
methodological approache
 Ethnobiology in five phases

Phase Feature

Ethnobiology I  It begins well before the formal naming of ethnobiology as a scholarly

endeavor at the end of the 19th century. Initial phase widely characterized,
with some over simplification, as essentially utilitarian.
 This 'first phase' essentially has a utilitarian purpose – Focuses on identifying.
 The focus of Ethnobiology I is to document plant (or occasionally animal)
uses, Spring/Summer particularly uses that might prove profitable to the
‘‘Western’’ scientist and his readers. Nevertheless, some excellent, careful
work was done in this spirit.
 At its earliest and most rudimentary stage: Involved listing the names & uses
of plants & animals in native non-Western or 'traditional' populations.
 Ethnobiology is taken as the descriptive biological knowledge of 'primitive
peoples.
 This 'first phase' essentially has a utilitarian purpose – Focuses on identifying
those 'native' plants, animals & technologies of potential use/value.
 Operated within increasingly dominant western economic systems.

Ethnobiology  It was elaborated in the cognitive/linguistic anthropology of the 1960s.

II (Cognitive  The central focus of Ethnobiology II is cognitive with strong links to
Ethnobiology) cognitive psychology and linguistics.
 Arising out of the practices in Phase I: Researchers started striving to better
document and better understand how other peoples' themselves
"conceptualize and categories" the natural world around them.
 By the mid-twentieth century – Utilitarian-focused studies started to give way
to more cognitively framed ones.
 Notably studies that centered on elucidating classificatory scheme.

Ethnobiology  Integrates knowledge with practice, stressing the ecological consequences of

III knowledge applied to make a living.
(Ethnoecology)  The key issues for Ethnobiology III are the links between knowledge and
action, in particular, with respect to resource/habitat management. The
concept of TEK (Traditional Ecological/Environmental Knowledge) and its
cousins, IK (Indigenous Knowledge), TKW (Traditional Knowledge and
Wisdom), and LEK (Local Ecological/Environmental Knowledge),
encompass this broader perspective, not being limited to an inventory of
named plants and animals and their uses, but investigating also knowledge of
soils, climates, plant and animal communities, succession stages, etc.
  By the turn of the 20th century ethnobiological practices, research, and
findings have had a significant impact and influence across a number of fields
of biological inquiry including ecology, conservation biology, and
developmental studies.
 Ethnobiology is a rapidly growing field of research.
 Gaining professional, student and public interest.
 Internationally Ethnobiology has come out from its place as an ancillary
practice in the shadows of other core pursuits.
 Arose as a whole field of inquiry and research in its own right.
 Taught within many tertiary institutions and educational programmed around
the world.
 With its own methods manuals, its own readers, and its own textbooks.

Ethnobiology  Emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to control their traditional

IV (Indigenous knowledge.
Ethnobiology)  During the 1990s the study of ethnobiology (of whatever type) has come
increasingly to be seen as linked to the exploitation of indigenous
communities by global powers, whose agents the ethnobiological researchers
are presumed to be, wittingly or unwittingly.
 Knowledge is increasingly defined as an instrument of ‘‘power,’’ following
the philosophical lead of, to name just the most prominent example, Michel
Foucault.
 Documenting TEK in the public domain is interpreted as ‘‘stealing’’ the
intellectual property of indigenous or local communities. From this
perspective, the only legitimate ethnobiology is that conducted by and for the
community.

Ethnobiology  In addition to the historical periods of ethnobiology described thus far,

V Wolverton (2013 ) believes that we are experiencing a contemporary phase
of ethnobiology’s developmental history, i.e., the fifth phase.
 He emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature that ethnobiology should have
regarding its objects of study and reaffirms the importance of ethnobiological
research in the context of complex environmental and cultural changes.
 Emphasize that studies of the impact of global climate change and the effects
of these changes on humans and their cultures are urgent and important issues
for ethnobiologists now and in the future.
 One of the striking features of this phase, a challenge to contemporary
ethnobiologists, is the need to expand the borders of this area through the
incorporation of scholars from other fields of knowledge in addition to
 anthropology and biology.
 Most ethnobiologists come from, through a greater dialogue with other
applied research areas such as environmental management, conservation
biology, environmental ethics, and others.
 Another important aspect is the expansion of ethnobiological research in
southern hemisphere countries. According to Wolverton ( 2013 ),
ethnobiology can (and should) be configured as a discipline that provides a
more propitious environment to address bicultural conservation,
environmental co management, environmental ethics, respect for the
intellectual property rights of indigenous and local peoples, and other relevant
issues, such as climate change, to solve modern local, regional, and global
environmental and cultural issues.
 Ethnobiologists have been notable pioneers in collaborative research and
publication.