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The Importance of Keeping Alive Sustainable Foraging Practices: Wild Vegetables and Herbs Gathered by Afghan Refugees Living in Mansehra District, Pakistan

Author

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  • Ajmal K. Manduzai

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, University Road, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan)

  • Arshad M. Abbasi

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, University Road, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan)

  • Shujaul M. Khan

    (Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan)

  • Abdullah Abdullah

    (Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan)

  • Julia Prakofjewa

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre, Italy)

  • Mohammad H. Amini

    (Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kabul University, Jamal Mina, Kabul 1006, Afghanistan
    Faculty of Pharmacy, Puncak Alam Campus, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor 42300, Malaysia)

  • Muhammad S. Amjad

    (Department of Botany, Women University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Bagh 12500, Pakistan)

  • Kevin Cianfaglione

    (UMR UL/AgroParisTech/INRAE 1434 Silva, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université de Lorraine, BP 70239, CEDEX 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France)

  • Michele F. Fontefrancesco

    (University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, Italy)

  • Renata Soukand

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre, Italy)

  • Andrea Pieroni

    (University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, Italy
    Department of Medical Analysis, Tishk International University, Erbil 4401, Iraq)

Abstract

The issue of foraging for wild food plants among migrants and relocated communities is an important one in environmental studies, especially in order to understand how human societies rearrange their practices linked to nature and how they adapt to new socioecological systems. This paper addresses the complexity of Traditional/Local Environmental Knowledge (LEK) changes associated to wild vegetables and herbs across four different groups of Afghan refugees living in Mansehra District, NW Pakistan, since 1985. Via interviews with eighty study participants, forty-eight wild vegetables and herbs were recorded, representing both the past and present wild plant gastronomic heritage. The majority of the quoted wild plant ingredients were only remembered and no longer actively used, thus suggesting an important erosion of LEK. Moreover, the number of wild vegetables and herbs currently used by Afghan Pashtuns engaged in farming activities is much higher than those reported by the other groups. The findings indicate that practiced LEK, i.e., knowledge that is continuously kept alive via constant contact with the natural environment, is essential for the resilience of the biocultural heritage, which is, however, also influenced by the rearrangement of social life adopted by refugees after relocation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ajmal K. Manduzai & Arshad M. Abbasi & Shujaul M. Khan & Abdullah Abdullah & Julia Prakofjewa & Mohammad H. Amini & Muhammad S. Amjad & Kevin Cianfaglione & Michele F. Fontefrancesco & Renata Soukand , 2021. "The Importance of Keeping Alive Sustainable Foraging Practices: Wild Vegetables and Herbs Gathered by Afghan Refugees Living in Mansehra District, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1500-:d:490894
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cardozo, Barbara Lopes & Talley, Leisel & Burton, Ann & Crawford, Carol, 2004. "Karenni refugees living in Thai-Burmese border camps: traumatic experiences, mental health outcomes, and social functioning," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(12), pages 2637-2644, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rojhat Ibrahim & Bálint Baranyai & Haval Abdulkareem & Tamás János Katona, 2023. "Energy Use and Indoor Environment Performance in Sustainably Designed Refugee Shelters: Three Incremental Phases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Abdullah Abdullah & Shujaul Mulk Khan & Andrea Pieroni & Aminul Haq & Zahoor Ul Haq & Zeeshan Ahmad & Shazia Sakhi & Abeer Hashem & Al-Bandari Fahad Al-Arjani & Abdulaziz A. Alqarawi & Elsayed Fathi A, 2021. "A Comprehensive Appraisal of the Wild Food Plants and Food System of Tribal Cultures in the Hindu Kush Mountain Range; a Way Forward for Balancing Human Nutrition and Food Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-25, May.

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