Training Course in Applied Ethnobotany
Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany Khon Kaen University, Thailand

15 – 26 July 1999

I. One-page report

II. Course outline

III. Student List

IV. Descriptions of videos

V. Survey of videos

VI. Ethnobotany course final examination

VII. Final Evaluation

VIII. Recommendation for a field site for future courses

IX. Outlines of lectures

X. Outlines of exercises

I. One-page report

PEOPLE AND PLANTS: SOUTHEAST ASIA

TRAINING COURSE REPORT: KHON KAEN UNIVERSITY, THAILAND

WWF Project 9Z0556 - Ethnobotany and the sustainable use of plant resources

by Gary J. Martin and Agnes Lee Agama

Dates: 15 – 26 July 1999

Background: Among the activities of the People and Plants in Southeast Asia, the Certificate Training Course (CTC) in applied ethnobotany was focused on building skills and knowledge in a talented group of researchers and community workers who have at least an undergraduate degree. In an evaluation of the CTC, Danna Leaman suggested that future courses be held within a regional institution committed to ethnobotanical research and training. It was decided that Khon Kaen University would be an excellent choice: its Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany, headed by Dr. Chayan Picheansoonthon, has a strong record of ethn obotanical research. In addition, the Department had been seeking someone to design and teach an ethnobotany course that was already part of the curriculum but not yet taught at the University.

Objectives: There were three basic goals: (1) Design and give a course on ethnobotany to 28 fifth year pharmacy students of the Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany of Khon Kaen University, introducing them to theory, concepts and methods of applied ethnobotany; (2) write outlines of 20 lectures and 12 exercises covered in the class, posting them to People and Plants Online and distributing them to colleagues in Southeast Asia in collaboration with the local co-ordinator in Kota Kinabalu; (3) carry out an evaluation of the course, including recommendations for a field session of future courses.

Activities: The course was held in the Faculty of Pharmacy from 15 – 26 July 1999. Twenty-eight fifth-year students attended, and junior faculty members audited some of the sessions. There were six hours of instruction per day, Monday through Saturday. These were split into two 3-hour sessions per day, a morning session from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and an afternoon session from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Although there was some flexibility in the schedule, the morning session typically begin with a lecture from 9 – 9:45 a.m. on concepts and theory of ethnobotany, followed by a relevant video from 9:45 a.m. to about 10:45 a.m. and then a half-hour small group discussion and presentation. Just before lunch, there was a 45-minute slide-illustrated lecture presentation on plant use categories and key families in economic botany, with examples of useful plants from around the world. After a lunch break of two hours, there was a lecture from 2 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. on some aspect of ethnobotanical methodology. Demonstrations, field exercises and additional videos were presented from 2:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. each day. As it was difficult to estimate the time needed for some field exercises, some afternoon sessions ran over time.

Results: Twenty-eight university-level colleagues and several faculty members trained in theory, concepts and methods of ethnobotany. Twenty lectures and 12 exercises prepared for posting to People and Plants Online and distribution to colleagues in Southeast Asia in collaboration. Evaluation of the course and videos by students.

Lessons: Giving a course as part of a university curricular program is a good way to ensure that it has long term impact and continuity. The course at Khon Kaen University is likely to be offered to future fifth-year students.

Back to Top

II. Course outline

Course Organizer:
Gary J. Martin
B.P. 262
Marrakech-Medina
Morocco

Fax +212.4.329544
E-mail gj_martin@compuserve.com

The course took place from 15 – 26 July 1999. There were six hours of instruction per day, Monday through Saturday. These were split into two 3-hour sessions per day, a morning session from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and an afternoon session from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Although there was some flexibility in the schedule, the morning session typically begin with a lecture from 9 – 9:45 a.m. on concepts and theory of ethnobotany, followed by a relevant video from 9:45 a.m. to about 10:45 a.m. and then a half-hour small group discussion and presentation. Just before lunch, there was a 45-minute slide-illustrated lecture presentation on plant use categories and key families in economic botany, with examples of useful plants from around the world. After a lunch break of two hours, there was a lecture from 2 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. on some aspect of ethnobotanical methodology. Demonstrations, field exercises and additional videos were presented from 2:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. each day. As it was difficult to estimate the time needed for some field exercises, some afternoon sessions ran over time.

Schedule

15 July, morning
Lecture: Overview of issues in ethnobotany, conservation and community development I
Video: Cry of the forgotten land
Small group discussion: none
Lecture presentation: Food I. Grains, beans, pulses and nuts

15 July, afternoon
Lecture: Qualitative methods: ethnofloristic surveys
Video: (1) Socotra: Island Of Dragon's Blood, and (2) Ethnobotanical methods and multiple-use management in Uganda
Demonstration/Field exercise: Documenting and using field research techniques

16 July, morning
Lecture: Overview of issues in ethnobotany, conservation and community development II
Video: Earth reports (1) Fate Of The Forest, and (2) Makaya: Sacred Forest
Small group discussion: none
Lecture presentation: Food II. Tubers and root crops

16 July afternoon
Lecture: Qualitative methods: agricultural plots and homegardens
Video: Once There Was A Forest
Demonstration/Field exercise: Ethnobotanical data and plant collecting, including GPS use.

17 July, morning
Lecture: Historical framework of ethnobotany
Video: Jungle Pharmacy
Small group discussion: (1) Who is the father of ethnobotany in Thailand?, (2) What are the main issues that ethnobotanists should face in Thailand?
Lecture presentation: Food III. Fruits and vegetables

17 July, afternoon
Lecture: Quantitative methods: one hectare plots
Video: Saving the Wooden Rhino
Demonstration/Field exercise: Practical on analytical techniques I: Freelisting

19 July, morning
Lecture: Coevolutionary framework of ethnobotany
Video: Ancient futures
Small group discussion: (1) Give one example of coevolutionary change in Thailand; (2) Do you think that coevolution is like the Buddhist idea of interdependence?
Lecture presentation: Food IV. Salads and leaf vegetables

19 July, afternoon
Lecture: Quantitative methods: tree trails
Video: Sertao (Seeds In The Drylands)
Demonstration/Field exercise: Practical on analytical techniques II: Ranking and matrix comparison

20 July, morning
Lecture: Plant resource pools and plant systematics
Video: Green Medicines
Small group discussion: (1) In Thailand, is the diversity of resource pools (primary, secondary and tertiary) increasing or decreasing?; (2) In Thailand, is there a strong effort to find useful plants in the reserve pool?; (3) Does the video "Green Medicines" accurately show the role of traditional medicine and medicinal plants in Thailand?
Lecture presentation: Food V. Spices, condiments and flavorings

20 July, afternoon
Lecture: Ethnobiological classification: Categorization
Video: First Nations First
Demonstration/Field exercise: Sorting: analyzing ethnobiological categorization

21 July, morning
Lecture: Resource valuation
Video: Mpingo (The Tree that Makes Music)
Small group discussion: Are Thailand’s natural resources given an acceptable value (price) on the world market?
Lecture presentation: Medicines

21 July, afternoon
Lecture: Ethnobiological classification: Nomenclature
Video: Science for Survival
Demonstration/Field exercise: Taxonomies: Analyzing patterns in plant naming

22 July, morning
Lecture: Plant conservation issues
Video: Parks or People
Small group discussion: Do conservation areas in Thailand include people (like the Mount Kilum project) or exclude people (like the Korup project)?
Lecture presentation: Construction and crafts materials

22 July, afternoon
Lecture: Participatory research methods
Video: (1) Participatory Research with Women Farmers and (2) Previnoba and Participative Approach To Rural Forestry
Demonstration/Field exercise: Analytical techniques III: Pairwise comparisons

23 July, morning
Lecture: Plant resource use and sustainability
Video: (1) Future for Forests and (2) Developing Stories: Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow
Small group discussion: (1) Give some examples of plant resources that are overexploited in Thailand, and explain why they are not sustainable. (2) Do you think that modern (green revolution) agriculture or traditional farming is more sustainable in a tropical, developing country like Thailand?
Lecture presentation: Alcoholic beverages and drugs

23 July, afternoon
Lecture: Plant genetic resource conservation, agroforestry and traditional agriculture
Video: Field of Trees
Demonstration/Field exercise: Ethnobotanical CD-ROMs, Databases and Software

24 July, morning
Lecture: Biological exchanges
Video: The Healing Forest
Small group discussion: What important plant resources has Thailand given to the world? Has the country been compensated in an adequate way?
Lecture presentation: Ornamentals, perfumes, incenses and cosmetics

24 July, afternoon
Demonstration/Field exercise: Writing up field exercises and botanical descriptions of economic plants in English

26 July, morning
Students and Agnes Lee Agama: Finalization of descriptions of six field exercises, including data.
Gary J. Martin: Lecture to 3^rd year students and showing of Green Medicines

26 July, afternoon
Conclusion, description of examination and evaluation
Demonstration/Field exercise: Ethnobotany on the Internet: People and Plants Online

Back to Top

Back to Top

IV. Description of videos

Cry of the forgotten land

New Guinea is the second largest island on earth. It is home to a thousand distinct peoples and languages – one fifth of the world’s total. Since the western half of the island was forcibly annexed by Indonesia in 1963, it has been off-limits to journalists. This film was made clandestinely, and it tells a story that Indonesia does not want the world to hear.

The Moi live on the western tip of New Guinea. Like many of the island’s peoples, they have hunted and gathered in the forty for forty thousand years. Today the Moi are engaged in a desperate struggle to halt the destruction of their homeland by international logging companies. This film carries their message of protest to the outside world. It also portrays New Guinea’s unique cultures, landscapes and wildlife.

Socotra: Island Of Dragon's Blood

The island of Socotra off the Yemeni coast is home to over 750 plant and tree species, 250 of them endemic. In 1992, the island was visited by an international team of scientists and botanists. Edward Milner’s short documentary follows the expedition, recording their efforts to catalogue and evaluate Socotra’s extraordinary genetic wealth. The bark of the Dragon’s Blood tree has special value. Used in ancient times by Byzantine emperors to sign their names, today it is pounded and heated to make incense, pigments and medicines. More significantly, all the botanic specimens found here are highly resistant to drought, a genetic quality ideal for habitat restoration with enormous potential for other drought-prone parts of the world (16 minutes, 1992).

Ethnobotanical methods and multiple-use management in Uganda

Fate Of The Forest

(1) For over 20 years the shrinkage of the world’s tropical forests has been at the forefront of environmental concerns. Yet the forests continue to be cleared. The key word is 'cleared' for - as Fate of the Forests finds - while commercial logging contributes to deforestation in the tropics, terms like 'destruction' and 'devastation' are too simple. Forests have always been used by local people. Stories from Peru and Indonesia show how forest 'farmers' ingeniously imitate the natural productivity of the rainforest. In Uganda, agro-forestry techniques are helping to keep a watershed reserve intact. Nor is there any lack of awareness in the developing world of the significance of preserving forests. Guyana's president argues that timber concessions have been made to Asian timber companies to pay off Guyana's huge national debt (25 minutes, 1996).

Makaya: Sacred Forest

The great coastal that once stretched unbroken from Mozambique to northern Kenya has been reduced to scattered patches. In this film we see that its survival in Kenya owes much to one people’s spiritual bond with the forest. As scientists discover new plant species that may one day benefit farming and medicine, they are finding that the people living in the forest are already skilled in using their jungle as a pharmacy and food cupboard. (26 minutes, 1999).

Once There Was A Forest

This film brilliantly recaptures the innocence, incredulity and regret of the Sambaa tribespeople as they recount what happened to their forest. Only a hundred years ago their forest, growing in the Shadow of the Usambara mountains in northeastern Tanzania, was one of the richest natural habitats in all of East Africa. German colonists conquered the land with gun and bible, felled and exported the huge trees to Europe and made a fortune. After independence the Tanzanians followed suit; but the land rapidly deteriorated, and now the Sambaa are replanting trees and using the traditional gardening that sustained them for generations. (59 minutes, 1989).

Jungle Pharmacy

Over a quarter of western medicines contain plant toxins - half deriving from tropical forest species. Forest plants have been the source of the most effective drugs in the history of pharmacology - from the common aspirin to a leukaemia drug derived from the rosy periwinkle. But so far only two per cent have been screened for their pharmaceutical potential. Jungle Pharmacy looks at research into the commercial possibilites of plant remedies, and explores the traditional knowledge of the shamen, the tribal healers in Peru and Brazil who use plant remedies to cure a variety of illnesses. US anthropologist Darrell Posey believes the Kayapo Indians have developed a perfect model for sustainable development, managing the forest in a way that actually increases its biological diversity (52 minutes, 1988).

Saving the Wooden Rhino

A video produced by Tony Cunningham of the People and Plants Initiative, Saving the Wooden Rhino presents a methodological approach to the studying the use of wood by carvers in Kenya (25 minutes, (1997).

Ancient futures

Perched in the Himalayas on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, Ladakh has one of the harshest climates on earth. For over 1,000 years, Ladakhis have managed to survive and prosper by husbanding resources and by protecting their land from overuse. Here, economic life reinforces strong family and community ties. But for 20 years, Ladakh’s culture and environment have been systematically eroded in the pursuit of Western-style progress. Shops are filled with luxury goods but pesticides contaminate the water, sanitation is almost non-existent, and squalid housing colonies sprawl towards the desert from the overcrowded capital Leh. What is happening in Ladakh, claims John Page, is a microcosm of social and environmental breakdown in the West. It challenges assumptions about the nature and value of progress. (60 mintues; Coevolutionary change, Traditional culture)

Sertao (Seeds In The Drylands)

The barren hinterlands of North Eastern Brazil are a harsh environment for the subsistence farmers who try to scratch a living from the arid soil. In drought years many thousands migrate to the cities simply to avoid starvation, exchanging grinding rural hardship for the poverty of the overcrowded, crime-ridden shanty towns. Sarah Bailey’s short film 'Sertão' looks at a unique educational programme which is helping a new generation of the region’s rural poor to stay on their land and to start making a viable living from it. Founded in 1991 by Caatinga, an NGO based in the heart of the North East, the rural school in Ouricuri has a curiculum which combines local wisdom with technical input on agriculture and ecology as well as literacy and numeracy. Interviews with pupils, parents and teachers provide eloquent testimonies to the school’s achievements in revitalising the community (26 minutes, 1995).

Green Medicines

Tropical rainforests are home to thousands of unique medicinal plants species. Between 70 - 90 per cent of the world’s rural populations rely on traditional herbal medicines for primary health care - yet everywhere the natural laboratory is undervalued and under threat. Director Bo Landin investigates how communities around the world are fighting back. Shot in Thailand, Western Samoa, Borneo, Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil, his film shows the different initiatives being taken to conserve and promote traditional knowledge of plant-based medicines (53 minutes, 1992; Key words: traditional knowledge transmission; biodiversity prospecting, traditional medicine).

First Nations First

Describing themselves as the 'First Peoples of the World', existing long before the dominant societies of today, indigenous peoples currently number 300 million, living in over 70 countries. Once dismissed as 'too primitive' to cope with modernisation, and for centuries the victims of discrimination, land seizures and wars, indigenous peoples have at last begun to be recognised for their skills in environmental management and for their complete knowledge of plant medicines. Land is central to their way of life and their cultures, but today - as throughout history - governments around the world invoke the law as they allow the violation of indigenous groups' land rights. 'First Nations First', made to promote the objectives of the UN Decade of Indigenous Peoples, looks at the fundamental questions affecting their survival (21 minutes, 1993).

Mpingo (The Tree that Makes Music)

At a musical instrument factory in France, skilled craftsmen work fragments of African blackwood into clarinets and flutes for the international market. But in the early 1980s, with more and more wood cracking under pressure on the lathes, investigations turn to the plains of Tanzania, and to the Mpingo tree – the source of the remarkable black hardwood. The Mpingo tree takes over 70 years to reach commercial maturity. Prized by musicians around the world, it is also much sought after by Tanzania’s Makonde woodcarvers whose sculptures play an important role in cultural life. This film links the instruments of today with the forests where people first made music, and shows how sustainable management of Mpingo plantations benefits local communities and international markets alike (52 minutes, 1992; resource valuation, sustainability).

Science for Survival

Set in India, Science for Survival looks at a people’s movement – spearheaded by ex-nuclear physicist turned activist and ecologist Vandana Shiva – that has grown up against the preceived threat of ‘reductionist Western science’. In India, argues Vandana, the introduction of high-yielding crop varieties has failed to take women’s knowledge of seeds into account. "A science which does not respect nature’s needs and a development which does not respect people’s needs inevitably threatens survival," she claims. But is there a meeting point, the film asks, between Western science and indigenous knowledge? Silk technologist Prabha Shekar claims that, if done, sensitively, the fusion of modern science with indigenous knowledge can provide a powerful way forward for poor communities. (50 minutes; 1995; Key concepts: intellectual property rights, traditional knowledge and technology)

Parks or People

Korup National Park and the Kilum Mountain Forest are two state-of-the-art rainforest projects in Cameroon. Parks or People explores the relative merits of two approaches to forest conservation here. Kilum, set up by the International Council for Bird Preservation, is small scale and relies on local expertise. Korup, a more ambitious project by the World Wide Fund for Nature, began by moving people out of the forest reserve, whilst Kilum actively encouraged local people to move back in to practise sustainable use of forest resources. Winner of a Wildscreen 1992 Golden Panda Award, the film argues that conservation can only be made to work by giving local people an economic stake in the protection of their own rainforest (39 minutes, 1991).

Participatory Research with Women Farmers

A video that shows how ICRISAT is working with women farmers in South India to preserve and promote their valuable working knowledge for the future (30 minutes, 1990; Key topics: participatory research, traditional agriculture).

Previnoba And Participative Approach To Rural Forestry

A community project in Senegal combats desertification by involving local communities and forestry agents (36 minutes, 1994).

Future for Forests

Commercial logging is destroying the world’s forests both tropical and temperate at an unprecedented rate. Legislation to conserve what remains is often widely flouted by logging companies, greedy to cash in on billion dollar profits, regardless of the environmental or human cost. Director Edward Milner looks at examples of timber harvested from sustainably managed forests and eco-labelling schemes to reassure consumers. In Sweden, one of Europe’s biggest timber companies is trying to balance profits with ecological principles by selectively harvesting trees while leaving tracts of forest intact for wildlife. Similarly in Papua New Guinea and the Soloman Islands, local inhabitants are using so called ‘walkabout sawmills’ to process individual hardwood trees in situ a novel way to conserve communally-owned forest, and generate an income for the community (25 minutes, 1993).

Developing Stories: Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow

Widely acknolwledged as one of the most successful development strategies of the Twentieth Century, the Green Revolution is credited with ensuring that India and other developing nations no longer suffer from famine and hunger. But 25 years later, Manjuira Datta’s thoughtful documentary asks, who has been the principal beneficiary of the biotech package? The poor peasant? The big farmer? The multinational corporation? ….

Field of Trees
A video on agroforestry jointly produced by TVE and ICRAF, Field of Trees highlights the lives of four families in Zambia, Uganda, Peru and Indonesia who are farming with trees to help resolve some of the problems which they are facing, including poverty, food security, deforestation and land degradation. Traditional farming in the tropics has never respected the division between field and tree. Shaking of the colonial inheritance, a quiet revolution is underway to merge age-old practices with scientific know-how, creating agro-forestry techniques, that poor farmers are quick to discover. The Calliandra trees that Goretti Muhoozi plants alongside the edges of hs steep hillside fields in Uganda prevent soil erosion; the trees Jennifer Zulu has started to grow on her farm in Zambia, regenerate the soil and can be used for fuel wood; settlers in Peru's lowland jungle are learning that there can be more benefits in conserving the trees on their land, than from clearing them; in Indonesia, bureaucrats argue whether a Sumatran farmer’s land is a forest garden or a farm (30 minutes, 1995)

Patent Pending

A video that examines the debate revolving around intellectual property rights and who benefits from patenting plant genes in India (30 minutes, 1994).

The Healing Forest

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has a budget of US$2 billion a year – the equivalent of the Guatemala government’s total annual budget. Between 1960 and 1980 it tested 114,000 plant extracts looking for new drugs to fight cancer – and found two: taxol and camptothesine. This puts the chances of isolating drugs from plant species at one in 50,000 – with a hefty investment bill for ten years’ research and development. Yet many common drugs sold over the counter at pharmacists today, like aspirin, were originally derived from plant species. And with more than 250,000 plant species on earth, many in development, the potential is obviously enormous. This documentary explores who benefits from successful drug development and what role there still is for traditional healers who use medicinal plants (40 minutes; 1996).

Back to Top

Back to Top

VI. Ethnobotany course final examination

This examination consists of several short essay topics covering each of the major sections of the ethnobotany course delivered by Dr. Gary J. Martin from 15 – 26 July 1999. The questions ask for a combination of factual information and your personal opinion on various topics.

Please follow the instructions under each section, and provide answers to each of the four short essay questions during the two hours you have available for the whole examination. This is an open-book examination: you may use the Ethnobotany Methods Manual, materials distributed during the course and any notes that you took. You may answer the questions in Thai.

Please note that the first, second and third questions will each count as 20% of your final grade, whereas the fourth question will count as 40%.

I. Concepts and theory (20% of your grade)

Characterise the main plant resource pools by filling out the following table. Please give examples of Thai plants for each resource pool.

II. Plant use categories and economic botany families (20% of your grade)

Describe the major groups of food plants discussed during the course, including their contribution to human nutrition. Please give examples of the major plant families that produce food plants.

III. Methodology (20% of your grade)

Describe the range of participatory research approaches that ethnobotanists use. Which approach or approaches would you use if you were seeking to discover new herbal medicines from plants used by indigenous peoples in Thailand?

IV. Research techniques (40% of your grade)

Imagine that you are hired by the World Health Organization to identify and assess the efficacy of plants used by villagers in Northeast Thailand to treat intestinal parasites. Drawing upon the lectures on methodology and demonstrations of practical research techniques covered in this course, describe how you would design your research project. Describe the specific research techniques that you would use.

Back to Top

VII. Final Evaluation

Ethnobotany Course, 15-26 July 1999
Faculty of Pharmacy, Khon Kaen University

^* Indicates number of times the item was mentioned

Back to Top

VIII. Recommendation for future courses

We recommend that future course be regional, including students from various countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) which includes Thailand, Laos Vietnam, Cambodia, and (southern) China. Such a course could be developed with local institutional and logistical commitment and expertise from the Mekong Institute (MI). Established in 1997 with financial support from the New Zealand government, the MI is a purpose-built training facility specializing in management and economics training related to GMS development. The MI exists to provide training courses meeting the practical needs of participants from GMS countries and the organizations they come from. It has teaching rooms, training equipment, self-contained accommodation, and support staff, all located in one building on the campus of KKU. The MI works closely with in-country coordinating agencies that assist in the advertisement of training courses, in the selection of suitable participants and in the arrangement of necessary documentation for participants.

The field component of the courses should be conducted at the Phu Woa Wildlife Sanctuary (PWWS) in Nong Kai Province, on the border between Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon Provinces. Managed by the Royal Forest Department, the PWWS is about 5 hours drive from KKU and lies within easy reach of Cambodia and Laos. The So, Khamen and other indigenous groups inhabit the region of the PWWS. In recent years, these local inhabitants have established medicinal plant markets in the PWWS park borders. Medicinal plants comprise an important component of the PWWS’ biodiversity which, although not yet comprehensively surveyed, is thought to be rich. It is hoped that the collaboration between KKU, MI, indigenous groups and local forest service, will contribute towards understanding local knowledge, accessibility and valuation of the biological resources of the PWWS. Ethnobotanical research offers scope for student projects, production and publication of data that is of practical use to NGOs, GOs, community workers, foresters, and others working directly or indirectly with biodiversity conservation and rural development.

Back to Top

Back to Curricula