Annual Kent-Kew Distinguished Ethnobotanist Lecture

In the current context of global change, traditional botanical knowledge is suffering deep erosion, especially in industrialized countries such as Spain. Ethnobotanical studies in Spain show that this erosion is not homogeneous and that there are knowledge areas such as health or food where erosion is not so deep.

Given the importance of traditional ecological knowledge, two Spanish initiatives promoting its documentation, protection and return to society are described:

1. The Spanish Inventory of Traditional Knowledge related to Biodiversity that compiles and publishes information on the traditional use and management of flora, fauna, fungi, geodiversity, and ecosystems; and
2. CONECT-e, an online platform where citizens can document knowledge and uses of wild and domesticated species. Using open data and copyleft licenses, these initiatives contribute to the maintenance of traditional botanical knowledge in the commons, guaranteeing the free exchange and reproduction of knowledge.

Professor Manuel Pardo-de-Santayana

Professor Manuel Pardo-de-Santayana is a botanist and ethnobotanist in the Biology Department at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid.

Since 1997, he has been working on different aspects related to the use of plants: traditional use and its evolution, productivity, nutrition and sustainability of these resources, especially wild food plants, traditional cultivars and medicinal plants in the Iberian Peninsula.

Among his many publications, he co-edited the volume Ethnobotany in the new Europe: people, health, and wild plant resources, and was one of the lead researchers of the Spain wide study, Spanish Inventory of Traditional Knowledge related to Biodiversity published in several volumes.

Event information

• Date: Tuesday 12 October, 2021
• Time: 17:00
• Location:Jodrell Lecture Theatre, Kew Gardens (entry via Jodrell Gate on Kew Road from 4.30pm)
• Ticketing: Online booking required.