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This paper describes a biocultural heritage project, carried out from an educational approach, in the altiplano of Argentina. In the town of Barrancas, at 3600 meters above sea level, the girls, boys, teachers, and the headmistress of the school, Abdon Castro Tolay, went out to interact with an ancestral space with valuable cave paintings: the "Caravaner's cave." The girls and boys interpreted possible messages left by their ancestors in the art of the cave, experimented with cave painting techniques on rocks in the classroom, and decided and agreed on heritage conservation strategies, with a poster of their authorship. This montology learning based on interaction with a cave with ancestral environmental information, made it possible to achieve attitudes of recognition of one's own ethnicity and biocultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capitalism and colonization systematically extracted, persecuted, and destroyed the knowledge of the original peoples. Today many authors argue the need for a new paradigm based on the dialogue of knowledge, which reverses positivist cosification, claims traditional knowledge, decolonizes knowledge, and establishes epistemic justice. In this article we argue that since Nikolái Vavílov put forward the theory of the centres of origin of cultivated plants, they have become an important space for dialogue of knowledge between various scientific disciplines and the traditional knowledge of numerous cultures on the conservation of wild and domesticated biodiversity. The beginning of this dialogue sparked a scientific revolution, transformed the organization of knowledge, and contributed significantly to the birth of multiple ethnosciences. In this text we ask ourselves: how important is it for the history of science to have the fact that the centres of origin have served as spaces for dialogue of knowledge? What benefits has this dialogue of knowledge brought to various scientific fields? What are the main threats to the continuity of the centres of origin? and finally, how could they protect themselves? To answer these questions, we follow bibliographically the steps of Nikolai Vavílov, we integrate a wide body of authors from many different disciplines who recognize contributions of traditional knowledge; the factors that threaten them and the proposals to protect them. As a result, we proposed that the dialogue between scientists and villagers in the centres of origin provoked a real scientific revolution, reorganized the fields of knowledge, and helped to base ethnosciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local maize and beans are the Ch'ol families most important crops for their diet. These crops are part of their identity, biocultural heritage, and agrobiodiversity. The local varieties of maize and beans of the Amado Nervo ejido have been registered to contribute for the dissemination of their cultivation, conservation, and protection in situ. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and quantitative data from the measures of corn cob varieties were included to create a mix investigation. Interviews were applied mainly in Ch'ol language to 61 farmers to find out crop preferences, agricultural cycle consumption, type of compost used for their crops, animal consumption, storage practices and uses of the varieties of maize and beans. Six local farmers provided specific information about maize cultivation. Each farmer gave cobs that we used to realize morphological description of maize varieties. This analysis included qualitative characteristics such as corn grain color, uses and preferences of corn by local people. Furthermore, we incorporated quantitative characteristics into the analysis like grains per row, number of rows, weight, diameter, large and width of the cobs. We summarized these results in central tendency and dispersion measures. As a result, we found six local varieties of maize that include three of white corn cob variety, and other three that correspond to yellow, red, and purple corn cob varieties. Concluding that the yellow corn cob is the most consumed by local people. On the other hand, this study collects twelve bean varieties, identified by the local names that the crop receives, seed shape, flower color, local preferences, and flavor. Our results suggest that the black bush bean is the most consumed by Ch'ol people. In conclusion, the varieties of Ch'ol maize resembles to Tepecintle, Tuxpeño and Comiteco races but in sensu stricto are not the same. Finally, five varieties of bean crops correspond to Phaseolus vulgaris, one to Phaseolus sp., one to P. lunatus, and the other three belongs to species of the genus Vigna, and the presence of two varieties P. coccineus into the area was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The markets and tianguis from Mexico are relevant spaces for the analysis of the exchange of the different plants, animals and fungi that the societies where they develop have incorporated as part of their relationship with nature. The present investigation was developed in the tianguis of Ixtlán de Juárez, which is located in the Sierra Norte region of the Oaxaca state. There are three central elements: the edible greens that are put into circulation, the merchants that make this process possible, and the mechanisms that are generated for their exchange. The market in that municipality was visited at least once a month, from the second semester of 2018 to the beginning of 2020. The total market stalls, as well as the main commercial lines found, were documented and classified. Of the 43 that sell products from the field, surveys were applied to 21 that had some type of edible herbaceous plants, of which we documented 16. In addition, it was asked if they are produced or collected where they come from and availability in the year; as well as the name they receive in Zapotec, the main language. Also, a minimum profile of merchant was generated, establishing characteristics of gender, age, education and language; if they are their own sellers, or the market circuit they cover. It closes with a recount of the characteristics of the commercial exchange, or barter system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is celebrated every November 25th in the city of Santa Catalina, Jujuy, Argentina. Before this event, a 3-4 day bi-national fair takes place where local and foreign vendors and artisans come from different districts in Bolivia and Argentina, traveling in caravans of donkeys (Equus africanus asinus), llamas (Lama glama) and motor vehicles (called "caravanas" in Spanish). In this study, an ethnobiological framework was used to evaluate traditional practices at the fair, changes in these practices over time, and the use and exchange of products at the fair. During the three days the fair was held, proceedings were documented and interviews were conducted with participants of different roles ("caravana" participants, salespeople, fair workers and others), based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and specific dialogue methodologies. During 2015 and 2016, arrivals of caravanas of llamas, donkeys and vehicles were registered. Findings show an increased use of vehicles related to a drop in the use of animals to carry products, which was evidenced by a reduced number of caravanas and an increased number of pick-up trucks carrying goods and Bolivian producers. Traditional Andean practices including, but not limited to, traveling in caravanas are undergoing remarkable cultural "erosion", a global phenomenon manifesting itself in the local herding lifestyle in Andean areas. Despite this cultural "erosion," the Santa Catalina fair provides an opportunity to continue observing a system of caravanas that may prove to be resilient in the context of unstable economic circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulque is a fermented beverage elaborated with the sap of 46 taxa of Agave. Through the 19th and part of the 20th Centuries, the production of pulque was one of the most important productive activities in Mexico, however, its success went down due to a combination of political, economic and ecological factors. This work evaluates the current status of five of the main management systems for pulque agave in Mexico: 1) extensive plantations (Tlaxcala), 2) agave remnants (Mexico City), 3) "metepantles" (Hidalgo), 4) edges of agave (Michoacán) and 5) management of wild agaves (Puebla). We conducted 25 semi-structured interviews, ethnobotanical walks and identification of the species and varieties with agave managers from each system. An index of management intensity was constructed with 18 indicators to compare the systems. The most intensified system is the extensive plantation, with a daily extraction of 3,000 l of sap, whereas the least system is the management of wild agaves (Agave marmorata) where the producers daily collected 30 l of sap. We found 6 Agave species and 17 traditional varieties. The main species used for pulque production is A. salmiana var. salmiana, with 6 traditional varieties in four of the systems. In none of the systems people manage sexual reproduction of agave, which could determine vulnerability of the cultivated plants to pests and diseases. Some systems are inserted into highly transformed landscape matrices, such as the agave remnants and extensive plantation, while other systems include native vegetation, as in "metepantles". The differences between the systems reflect the diversity of agave varieties, practices and knowledge, an example of the agrobiodiversity of Mexico. The management of pulque agaves is a current activity in rural and suburban areas of Mexico, with economic importance for the producer households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]