Participatory community strategy for the promotion of medicinal forest products in rural communities in the province of Pinar del Río. A case study of the municipalities of Guane and Los Palacios

Despite the political will to promote traditional medicine in Cuba, there is an on-going erosion of local knowledge on medicinal plants taking place, which co-occurs with the loss of biodiversity. Although many Cubans enter in contact with medicinal plants, most lack a basic understanding of (i) their use and properties, (ii) their sustainable cultivation, (iii) their preparation, and (iv) the counter-indications and interactions that they have with conventional medicines. This loss of ethnobotanical knowledge and biodiversity goes together with the loss of intangible socio-cultural heritage, which includes values, religious practices, etc., and can also affect linguistic diversity. This project aims to preserve and revitalise the biocultural diversity associated with medicinal plants in the province of Pinar del Río, while involving the local rural communities of the municipalities of Guane and Los Palacios through participatory actions aimed at raising environmental education.