Following the Footsteps of Ethnobiologists in the Andresito Peninsula Palmitales: Basic and Applied Science as Indissoluble Parts When Local Actors Are Involved

Field studies involve prolonged contact with families with whom experience, and knowledge are shared to detect emerging resources and management practices that often go unnoticed, both for the local collective imagination and those who define development and conservation policies. A productive innovation is analyzed from the fruits of Euterpe edulis, a species vulnerable to environmental changes, endemic to the Atlantic Forest. Until 20 years ago, individuals were cut to extract the apical heart. The trajectory covered in developing a family-community productive model that emerged in ethnobiological studies of the interaction between rural residents and researchers is detailed. At present, multiple uses of the fruits are made. The pulp is extracted for food and commercial purposes, and the seeds are used in nurseries for ornamental seedlings. Given the previous extractive management of these populations, advances in studies on the genetic and productive landscape are presented, adding a key element to the conservation of the populations in use. The ongoing local research and actions expand the understanding of local conservation models based on use.