Productive forests: food and nutritional security for Quilombo da Fazenda

Abstract

Forests play an important role in relieving hunger, curing diseases, providing food and building shelters. Considering this, this article aimed to survey the species extracted from the forest, agroforestry and forest garden by the residents of Quilombo da Fazenda, located in municipality of Ubatuba, state of São Paulo, Brazil, which they use for food and other purposes also surveyed. Bibliographical research was also conducted on the importance of forests, benefits and nutritional composition of some foods consumed by the community, and laws and rights related to the extraction of Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) by traditional peoples. To this end, a questionnaire was applied to determine which species are used by the quilombolas, and bibliographical research was conducted in ScienceDirect, SciELO, Google Scholar, Capes Portal and PubMed. The results showed that: i) 51 plants were extracted, 59.3% of which came from management – they are used for food purposes (88%), medicinal purposes (63%) and handicraft purposes (51.9%); ii) the benefits and nutritional composition of some foods consumed are diverse; and iii) the rights to nutritional food and extraction of NWFPs by indigenous/traditional communities are supported by international guidelines and laws. However, the implementation of laws involving NTFPs will contribute to more equal access to forest resources. Thus, it is concluded that forests, agroforests and forest gardens play a fundamental role in food, nutritional and medicinal security and in income generation for traditional peoples.