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ECUADOR 2001 Annual Report Contents

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Participatory Ethnobotanical Field Studies

GO works with Indigenous and Mestizo communties throughout the Upper Amazon to carry out detailed ethnobotanical studies of local plants.

The purpose of field studies is to research and document the following critical information:

• The exact use, dosage, administration, and application of medicine
• Admixtures and/or plants used in specific preparations or mixtures
• Dietary restrictions
• Contrary effects or side effects
• Information pertaining to the harvest considerations
• The study of ecological niches, pollination, dispersal, flowering and fruiting cycles, habitat, and soil types, abundance or scarcity
• Associated mythologies and, particularly with cultivated plants, stories of their specific origins
• Stories of effective healing
• Incantations and prayers associated with plant use

GO has carried out extensive ethnobotanical field studies with the Huaorani, Secoya, and Quichua People of Ecuador, and with Mestizo "Vegetalistas" in Perú. Nearly 1,500 herbarium specimens have been collected and deposited at the National Herbarium and the Herbarium of the Catholic University in Quito, Ecuador.

"Jonathon S. Miller-Weisberger ethnobotanical collaboration fulfills an important contribution in collecting medicinal plants and fruit seeds of the area and contributing to the National Herbarium of Ecuador from areas not visited, such as Napo-Galeras, slopes of Cerro de La Plata Mountain Range, and the Headwaters of the Shiripuno River. His seriousness, delivery, and professional talent are a valuable assistance in complementing our objectives." - Dr. David Neill, Curator of the Museo de Ciencia Nacionales Herbarium, Quito, Ecuador