熱帯雨林における狩猟採集民の植物知識

―アフリカのバカとボルネオのプナンの比較―

抄録

Two tropical-forest foraging groups, the Baka of Cameroon and the Penan of Indonesian Borneo, were compared regarding their ethnobotanical knowledge. They had similar numbers of plant names, but the Penan used seven times more binomial names than the Baka. Plant diversity patterns and the total numbers of useful plants were similar among the study sites, and thus cannot explain the difference. There is some evidence that the Baka have been replacing their plant names with borrowed ones of farmer languages, probably reducing the number of binomial names. The two groups exhibited rich knowledge of useful plants, especially for various kinds of tools and light construction. The Baka, however, reported six times more plants for medicinal purposes than the Penan. It is generally considered that a nomadic way of life is relatively free from infectious diseases, but both of the study groups settled several decades ago. The Penan could visit a clinic in a nearby village, while the Baka needed to treat health problems by themselves. At the same time, the Baka had a broad and flexible idea of medicine and they were also less selective in choosing the medicinal plants than the Penan. Furthermore, the medicinal practice of the Baka had a social role. These factors should have contributed in their search for new medicinal plants.