Traditional ecological knowledge in a ferruginous ecosystem management: lessons for diversifying land use

Soils developed on banded iron formations (BIFs) present severe physical and chemical limitations to the establishment and growth of non-native cultivated plants. In Brazil, these areas are extensively exploited by Fe and Al mining, causing impacts that further hamper the growth of plant species for the purpose of ecological restoration or rehabilitation. However, traditional communities have historically managed this type of environment successfully for subsistence crops. An understanding of the methods used for such purpose will help future studies of land-use diversification and rehabilitation in these ferruginous soils. The aim of this study was to investigate the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of a community with great cultural richness inhabiting areas on BIFs in Ouro Preto, Brazil. Interviewees were selected by the snowball technique. Ethnoecological methods (interviews, free lists and guided visits) were used to record the types of soil management, cultivated species and socioeconomic profile of specialists. Specialists are mainly women over 45 years old, low schooling, born and living in the area for a long period. Trial and error and vertical transmission represent the main forms of TEK acquisition. There was high diversity of praxis in the ecological soil management, as well as of cultivated species (183). The methods used are efficient for the physical and chemical soil improvement, allowing the establishment of species, increasing agrobiodiversity and diversifying land use. The used techniques can provide technologies for the rehabilitation of mined areas, confirming the importance of ethnoecological studies for this purpose.