Resumen

ESTUPINAN-GONZALEZ, ANA CRISTINA  y  JIMENEZ-ESCOBAR, NÉSTOR DAVID. Plants use by rural communities in the tropical zone of the Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo (Córdoba, Colombia). Caldasia [online]. 2010, vol.32, n.1, pp. 21-38. ISSN 0366-5232.

A qualitative assessment of traditional knowledge of plants used by rural communities in the tropical zone of the Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo is given. The surveyed area, in the tropical rainforest, included two locations inside the park and two locations in the adjacent buffer zone. There were 178 useful species associated with 216 common names found. The most used plant families were: Leguminosae (22 species), Arecaceae (15), Annonaceae (11), Rubiaceae (10) and Bombacaceae (7). A total of 39 uses in eleven categories were found. The categories with a high number of species included Construction (109), Medicinal (40), Food (37), Technology (34) and Firewood (22). The species most recognized by the community were: abarco (Cariniana pyriformis), almendro (Dipteryx oleifera) and guamo (Inga spp.). The milpesos palm (Oenocarpus bataua) was the plant with most uses reported (seven in total). Based on the data collected, potential species are proposed to be incorporated in the strategy of development for the native forest in the adjacent buffer zone of the park. The cultural implications, the conservation of the knowledge and the traditional uses are necessary for the sustainable development of the forest used by the rural communities. We propose the incorporation of similar studies in other areas of the Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo.

Palabras llave : Ethnobotany of Colombia; Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo; traditional knowledge; tropical rain forest.