Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: TRÍCIA FERREIRA BRITO FIGUEIRA

TRADITIONAL USE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN THE PARAUÁ COMMUNITY IN LOWER AMAZONAS

Traditional Peoples, Traditional Knowledge, Molecular identification, Amazon

Brazil stands out for having vast socio-biodiversity composed of rich ethnic, cultural, social
and environmental diversity, in addition to the fact that, over centuries, people who make up
local communities in the country maintain broad and rich traditional knowledge, especially
associated with the use and management of medicinal plants to treat illnesses. Therefore, this
research has the general objective of investigating the traditional use of medicinal plants in
the riverside community of Parauá, in Resex Tapajós - Arapiuns, Santarém/Pará. Traditional
communities in the Amazon hold diverse knowledge of the fauna and flora existing in the
environment in which they find themselves. These are mainly responsible for maintaining
biodiversity in traditional management models. To this end, the specific objectives aim to:
understand, from a bibliographic survey, the traditional use of medicinal plants in traditional
riverside communities in the Amazon, and compare with the data obtained in the community
of Parauá in Resex Tapajós Arapiuns, Santarém/Pará , identify the species of plant most used
in the community to treat diseases, investigating the methods of use and preparation and
carrying out the molecular identification of the most cited species for the purpose of scientific
proof. Data collection will be qualitative and quantitative in nature, which will allow us to
better investigate and outline the object of study. The relationship between traditional
knowledge of medicinal plants in the Pan-Amazon region and environmental sustainability
will be discussed in the form of an article, as it is essential to record knowledge about
medicinal plants, in order to contribute to the importance of the species for the Amazon
environment and the protection of their genetic heritage. It is expected to demonstrate the
economic, social and cultural importance of the botanical resources available in the
community, and to elucidate the findings of transmission of traditional knowledge of
medicinal plants as a way of documenting them in a private Pharmacopoeia accessible to the
community.