The Importance of Wild Plants for People During the Conflict in Syria

Ing. Naji Sulaiman

Disertační práce

Abstract:

Wild food plants have been an important source of human nutrition since ancient times, and their use particularly revives when conventional food is not available due to emergency situations, such as conflicts. Twelve years of the war in Syria have left a devastating impact on all life aspects, and it has caused the largest war-related crisis since World War II. Over 90% of the Syrian population is living below the poverty line, and nearly 60% (12.4 million people) are food insecure. The general focus of this dissertation is to deeply scrutinize the wild plants-people relationship during the conflict in Syria. I particularly aim to conduct an inventory of the wild plant species used for food and beverage preparation in the study area, to determine the most culturally important species; to document the ethnobotanical knowledge, including modes of preparation and consumption; to uncover the potential effect of the conflict on wild plant use; to investigate the impact of socioeconomic factors on wild plant use; and to assess the environmental sustainability status of the highly used species during the current conflict. The study was conducted in the coastal region of Syria through several field visits between March 2020 and May 2022. Ethnobotanical methods were implemented during the fieldwork including in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Several sets of informants were interviewed based on the need of each specific topic. The main informants set, on which several articles were built, was 50 participants (26 women and 24 men) distributed in 26 villages along the study area. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were implemented on the collected data. The study documented 75 wild food plant species used for food and drink, in addition to their associated ethnobotanical knowledge. Perceptions of local people towards wild food plants and their change during the conflict, were recorded. Sixty-four per cent of informants reported an increase in their reliance on wild plants as a food source during the conflict. The culturally important species, such as Origanum syriacum, were highlighted. Socioeconomically, results showed that the number of used species increases with informants’ age, and declines with the increase of the annual household income. Informant gender was a predictor for both reliance level on wild plants and frequency of use. On the other hand, war-involved households tend to have a strong relationship with the reliance level on wild food plants; however, the relationship is not statistically significant. On the environmental aspect, the results highlighted the species under environmental pressure, such as Gundelia tournefortii and Thymus vulgaris. The study also highlights the contribution of wild plants to the beverage culture in the study area. The thesis, through the conducted research studies, provides a better understanding of the complex relationship between humans and wild plants during conflict times. Future studies should consider the nutritional aspect of the reported wild plants and their potential contribution to a nutritious diet in the study area.

Keywords

Eastern Mediterranean, ethnobotany, food security, plants, socioeconomic factors, sustainability, traditional food

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 11. 3. 2023

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedoucí: doc. Ing. Zbyněk Polesný, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Pavel Nový, Ph.D., Ing., Łukasz Łuczaj, externi, Rainer W. Bussmann, externi

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta tropického zemědělství

Doktorský studijní program / obor:
Zemědělská specializace / Tropical Agrobiology and Bioresource Management