ISHS Acta Horticulturae 486: II International Symposium on Ornamental Palms & other Monocots from the Tropics
THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF PALMS TO PEOPLE IN TROPICAL AREAS |
| Author: | Dennis V. Johnson |
| Keywords: | coconut, ethnobotany, Iban, Shipibo, Kwanyama Ovambo, Trukese |
| Abstract:
Since ancient times inhabitants of the world's tropical areas have relied on wild palm species for a great variety of subsistence and commercial products. Wild, semi-wild as well as cultivated palms continue to be inexpensive and essential sources of food and non-food items for local inhabitants. A number of individual species are multipurpose in character and provide an array of useful products. Palm products can be broken down into 12 major classes to provide uniform terminology. Either a palm taxonomic or product class approach may be employed to present ethnobotanic data on palm utilization in specific situations. To demonstrate the current economic importance of palms in the tropics, four case studies are presented of diverse culture groups: e.g. the Iban in Sarawak, East Malaysia; the Shipibo in Peru; the Kwanyama Ovambo in Namibia and the Trukese of the Caroline Islands in the Pacific. In the first two examples, 47 and 19 palm species, respectively, are utilized. In the last two examples, a single major and one minor palm species are exploited. In all four instances, the diversity of palm products derived is high. The palm family merits special attention in economic development in the tropics. | |
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