The Establishment of a Botanical Garden for Medicinal Plants in the 'Museo de la Guerra de Castas', Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, MÈxico

The initial idea - an introduction by Matthew

The medicinal herb botanical garden established in Tihosuco came about through a combination of interests and lucky circumstances.

I wanted to pursue work in the ethnobotanical field in a Latin American country. Scholarships were available, granted by a scheme between the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y TechnologÌa of Mexico (CONACYT) and the British Council in Mexico, to allow graduates to work for one year attached to a Mexican university. Hearing of a renowned ethnobotanist working at the University of Merida, Dr. Jose Salvador Flores Guido, I applied to work with him. This was all agreed and in the October of 1998 I found myself with a group of others flying out from England towards the Yucatan peninsula.

The first few months were spent learning Spanish and 'finding my feet'. During this time I was talking with people about a possible idea to work with medicinal herbs. Fortunately the idea remained in peoples heads, and a few weeks later I heard from a friend about a potential project in Tihosuco village. The manager of a museum there, Carlos Chan Espinosa, had wanted for three years to establish a botanical garden for medicinal herbs within the museum grounds. Not long afterwards I was introduced to Carlos and the museum where ideas and objectives for a project were discussed.

The objectives of this project were:

• To establish a botanical garden for medicinal plants within the garden of the museum of the caste war, based on information obtained from the villagers of Tihosuco
• To create a book which explains which plants are used by the people of Tihosuco, including their common and scientific names, explaining also how they are prepared and used
• To promote an aspect of the present Mayan culture through the knowledge still held by people over medicinal plants
• To promote the knowledge and use of medicinal plants by means of educational activities
• To demonstrate which plants are native to the Yucat·n peninsula, identifying and conserving species in danger of extinction

Click here to see how these objectives were met

This project was divided into three phases:

Phase 1 - Identifying the medicinal plants which are used by the people of Tihosuco and selecting those which will be included in the garden

Through means of informal interviews with a group of ten informants from Tihosuco, the plants they use were identified. The participants explained which plants they used and how they prepared them. This information was then used to design the botanical garden and to write a supporting book of information for the garden. This data was also used to advance the ethnobotanical database (Banco de Datos Etnobot·nicos de la penÌnsula de Yucat·n - BADEPY) of the Autonomous University of Yucat·n (UADY).

Botanical material was collected to: 1) identify the taxonomic nomenclature of the plants, with the help of staff at UADY, and 2) include within the herbarium "Alfredo Barrera MarÌn" of the UADY.

After the information was analyzed, a meeting was held with the participants to identify which plants would be included within the garden and where they would be planted.

Click here for a fuller photographic explanation of phase 1

Phase 2 - Obtaining and/or propagating the plants and their establishment within the botanical garden with information labels

From the list of plants obtained, their form of propagation was determined for each of the species (seed, cutting, rhizome, bulb, etc.). Plant material was obtained from local gardens or from the wild (in the case of native plants) or they were bought in (in the case of plants not from the Yucatan peninsula).

The site of planting was prepared and planted with the help of the local community.

Click here for a fuller photographic explanation of phase 2

Phase 3 - Promoting the botanical garden

With the information obtained from people in Tihosuco, two books were planned to be made. The first one contains all the information told by the informants and includes botanical information and other Mayan names for each plant. The second will be an educational guide book for the garden, including the scientific and Mayan names of each plant, drawings, stories and information of the plants and examples of their preparation. The text used will be in Maya and Spanish, with possibilities of translating into other languages for foreign visitors.

A series of photographs have also been made of the plants and their parts used. These are held within the museum. Workshops will be organized, inviting local people and visitors, demonstrating the uses of medicinal plants, their propagation and how they are prepared into herbal medicines.

Click here for a fuller photographic explanation of phase 3

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