Guardians of the forest: the traditional knowledge associated to sociobiodiversity productsin the Middle Juruá territory,Carauari, Amazonas, Brazil

The sustainable use of resources and the traditional knowledge of human populations in sustainable use UCs characterize these spaces as places of refuge for sociocultural expressions, ways of life, territorial protection, and maintenance of knowledge. The present study aimed to reveal traditional knowledge regarding flora and fauna species by riverside communities in the Amazon basin. To this end, it investigated how residents of two communities in the Middle Juruá territory identified and used local species. The analysis of similarities enabled the creation of a flowchart illustrating the process of traditional knowledge consolidation based on the application of semi-structured forms, open interviews and bibliographic review. Ninety-five species and 112 uses were identified and categorized, the most frequent uses being associated with healthcare (68%), cosmetics (10%), and food (9%). Cluster formation was observed among members of the same community, suggesting that traditional knowledge transmission is consistent with living closer together. Therefore, we understand that the region has great potential for products and uses of socio-biodiversity, and traditional populations are responsible for protecting territorial and natural resources through sustainable management, using their traditional knowledge. However, the erosion of this knowledge in regions with intense trade with companies that use these raw materials for products highlights the need to guarantee the rights of these populations, especially in relation to the sharing of benefits from products derived from associated traditional knowledge and heritage genetic (Brasil, 2015).