Etnobotânica e as religiões de matriz africana: contribuições para a conservação da natureza

Abstract

Ethnobotany is a subarea of Botany that focuses on the study of interactions between humans and plants, whether for their medicinal, food or ritual use. Ethnobotanical research supports the appreciation of the culture and history of traditional communities, being a tool for the construction of actions aimed at nature conservation and sustainable development. In Brazil, ethnobotany has its study focused on traditional peoples, such as indigenous people and quilombolas. There are also studies focused on Afro-Brazilian culture, in this case, religions of African origin (umbanda and candomblé), since their knowledge about plants can be considered an immaterial legacy left by African peoples. Faced with the need to value the Afro-Brazilian culture and the relevance of ethnobotanical studies for areas such as medicine, pharmacology and environmental education, the present work presents an analysis of the plants used in religions of African origin in Brazil, focusing on the multiculturalism, appreciation and conservation of nature. For this, interviews were carried out with candomblé and umbanda priests through an online questionnaire, in order to investigate and analyze the interactions of practitioners of religions with plants. In addition, a booklet was developed with the aim of helping Science and Biology educators to work on this content, promoting the dialogue of knowledge, the appreciation of ancestral knowledge and multiculturalism.