Ethnobotanists study how people perceive and categorize plants and use them for purposes like food, housing, medicine, and ritual. Simply put, ethnobotany is the science of survival. The 2007, a group of 44 ethnobotanists gathered to write the Kaua‘i Declaration, a document that outlines the importance of ethnobotany in biocultural conservation efforts. The document describes the role of ethnobotany as a source of solutions to many of the global environmental crises we face today. Ethnobotany is a critical science for mankind and draws on concepts from disciplines such as anthropology, biology, linguistics, agriculture, ecology, conservation biology, genetics, horticulture, biochemistry, pharmacology, archaeology and botany. As a result, most ethnobotanists are highly interdisciplinary scientists. Their work is very relevant to the issues of biodiversity conservation, cultural conservation, global food security, drug discovery and many more.
Links to some resources relevant to the field of ethnobotany are posted on this site. This includes teaching materials and resources, links to ethnobotany news posts, lists of scientific journals and academic societies and links to research ethics resources.
