2024 Volume 106 Issue 4 Pages 77-87
Local knowledge (LK) related to the ecology and use of wild plants in rural communities is now in danger of disappearing due to changing lifestyles, population decline, and aging. This study documents the transformation of edible wild plant use and its underlying factors in the mountainous region in western Fukushima, Japan. First, using publications and past/present interviews, we compiled a chronology of changes in wild plant use and its background in the communities from the post-World War II period to the present (nearly 80 years). Next, we made a species list for wild vegetables (45 species/taxa) and fruits and nuts (26 species/taxa) used in the communities. We then interviewed 11 key informants (late 60s-80s) in the communities about changes in the use of these species and their factors. As a result, we found four groups of wild species/taxa whose use are: (A) found mainly during the food shortage period (the 1940s), (B) drastically decreased in the high economic growth period (the late 1950s-the 1970s), (C) continued at reduced rates, and (D) their use started recently introduced from outside. The main underlying factors of the changes for (A) to (C) are: (1) replacement by purchasable alternatives, (2) construction, agricultural development, and pesticide use, (3) loss of habitats due to the abandonment of coppice and grasslands, (4) change in the economic value, and (5) change in accessibility to gathering sites. Further study is necessary to elucidate the effective means of knowledge transmission through human interaction, including education.
