Format: ORAL

Tahereh Maleki1, Alexander Rudov2,3, Maja Dal Cero1, Marco Leonti4, Reto Nyffeler1, Ali Sonboli5, Caroline Weckerle1

1 Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland 2 Institute of Botany after A.L. Takhtajyan of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia 3 Halophytes and C4 Plants Research Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, School of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, 09042 Monserrato, Italy 5 Department of Biology, Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Evin, Tehran, Iran.

Iran, is an important hotspot of biological and cultural diversity with over 8000 species of vascular plants and seven major and many minor ethnic groups. Kurds are a major ethnic group in Iran, that inhabit mainly the countrys West. Due to the turbulent second half of the last millennium, many Kurds have been resettled in East and Southeast Iran. Kurds are known for their rich record of traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. It is however unknown if the resettled rural Kurdish communities, especially in remote areas under conditions of cultural assimilation could preserve their original herbalism. We have collected data in 32 Kurdish rural communities in NW Iran and in 22 resettled assimilated rural Kurdish communities in Baluchestan (SE Iran) using ethnobotanical field techniques with a total of 124 informants, collected plant material and compiled databases. The results were used to conduct: a) descriptive analysis to compare qualitative data, b) statistical analysis to compare the numbers of use-reports and species in each group and understand consensus among indigenous people. We have documented in detail the use of 282 medicinal plants for 19 different disease categories. We analyzed potential ethnobotanical links between the two community groups and explored, if 2-3 centuries of resettlement and the drastic change of habitat and surrounding flora have affected their ethnobotanical knowledge. The complexity of the social structure and the history of the resettlement of the Kurds in Baluchestan, as well as the abrupt change of environment, the linguistic assimilation and the different socio-economic development of both regions has differently affected the ethnobotanical knowledge of both groups. While Kurds in Baluchestan have experienced ethnocultural and ethnobiological assimilation, Kurds in NW Iran have primarily been affected by the continuing loss of ethnobotanical knowledge due to increasing urbanization and the development of the healthcare system.