Project Progress Reports on the Programme developed to protect & conserve rare Vairakau Maori (traditional medicine) plants
This report was prepared by Teariki & Julia RongoIsland Friends Consultants for the Cook Islands NBSAP Add-On Project, National Environment Service.
We present the first large-scale synthesis of indigenous knowledge (IK) on New Guinea’s useful plants based on a quantitative review of 488 references and 854 herbarium specimens. Specifically, we assessed (i) spatiotemporal trends in the documentation of IK, (ii) which are New Guinea’s most useful ecosystems and plant taxa, (iii) what use categories have been better studied, and (iv) which are the best studied indigenous groups. Overall, our review integrates40,376 use reports and 19,948 plant uses for 3434 plant species.