EMPIRICAL RESEARCHS IN TRADICIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

Abstract

Traditional ecological knowledge - TEK, which is passed orally through generations, is at risk of lost because young people are not interested and the holders of knowledge are dying. The purpose is to map the profile and analyze the academic and scientific research on traditional ecological knowledge, through quantitative empirical perspective. The bibliometrics was responsible for providing a quantitative evaluation of the topic and the integrative review for qualitative, taking the database Web of Science. Brazil's position is remarkable, have two institutions in ten, that most published on the subject, and is the third with most published works. It was observed between the articles, methodological problems, especially in the sample but also on the definition of the variables. This work starts a discussion on the importance of Brazil in publications about TEK, suggesting other databases to analyze, and points out the potential of knowledge management for mitigation of the loss risk of TEK.