Format: ORAL

Ana Isabel Garca-Ambrosy1, Francesca Scotti2, Michael Heinrich2, Caroline Maake3, Rafael Grajeda-Estrada4, Maria Rene lvarez-Ruano5, Jos Joaqun Ch6, Pablo Ax6, Mnica Berger-Gonzlez1.

1 Unidad de Antropología Médica, Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala 2 UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, UK 3 Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Schweiz 4 Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, México 5 Departamento de Biología, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala 6 Council of Q’eqchi’ Maya Elders Releb’aal Saq’e’, Petén, Guatemala

Maya Qeqchi phytotherapy plays a vital role in Guatemalas socio-natural capital, being one of the key elements in traditional healthcare provision services, which co-exist alongside the national public health system. The historical marginalization of indigenous communities, alongside biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, urbanization, monocultures, and invasive species compromises plant resources. This jeopardizes access to medicinal plants, hindering their availability, research, utilization, and benefits for traditional knowledge in meeting basic needs, like medicine. To understand the role of herbal therapies within traditional Maya systems and the potential for commercial scaling, the Green Health Project aimed to proposean implementation framework for the sustainable use, access, and distribution of benefits of biological specieswithin the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) protocols. Under a transdisciplinary format with the collective participation ofthe Qeqchi Council ACGERS, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, UCL School of Pharmacy, University of Zrich, public and private sectors, an ethnographic and ethnobotanical research on Maya Qeqchi phytotherapy was conducted, proposing a protocol of access and benefit-sharing framed within the CBD. From 2019 to 2021, 15 Ajilonel (traditional healers and herbalists) from Guatemala participated in documenting 764 patient treatments in Epidemiological Booklets deriving a list of medicinal plants employed, to later collect specimens for identification. The UVG research team effected thirty-two transect walks in Guatemala, where indigenous community researchers helped gather 42% of the ethnobotanical data and plant samples. Of the 251 specimens collected, 132 morphospecies were identified across 51 taxonomic families and 92 genera. The healers addressed 130 physical and 36 energetic-spiritual conditions. Based on the Cultural Importance index, 11 species, includingDrymonia serrulata, Petiveria alliacea, andAnthurium pentaphyllum, stood out for treating multiple conditions.Understanding plant-use relationships is crucial to comprehend sociocultural dynamics in traditional medicine, enabling the implementation of conservation efforts, benefits, and healthcare policies in the country.