Abstract

FIGUEROA, Juana; SANOJA, Elio  and  DELGADO, Luz. Trees useful as non timber forest products in the Botanamo upper river basin, Bolívar State, Venezuela. Acta Bot. Venez. [online]. 2010, vol.33, n.1, pp.119-135. ISSN 0084-5906.

In the upper basin of the Botanamo river, at Imataca Forest Reserve (County Sifontes, Bolívar State) native and indigenous communities live together using non timber forest products (NTFP) as means of subsistence. Personal interviews were conducted in 310 households, using a semi-structured questionnaire to characterize the NTFP tree species. The specific uses were: medicine (35%), food (32%), fiber and handicrafts (13%), fodder (11%), colorant (7%) and ornamental (2%); near of 75% of the sampled population meets their basic needs using forest products. It is noteworthy that 76% of tree species used as NTFPs are native to local forests, reflecting a high degree of knowledge and use of natural forest by the native communities living in the sector.

Keywords : Botanamo; ethnobotanic; Imataca; NTFP; trees.