História e Ciências da Conservação: Caminhos que se Cruzam para um Futuro Sustentável

article

Inês Gomes, Dulce Freire

authors

April 28th, 2023
Journal: Historia Ambiental Latinoamericana Y Caribeña (HALAC) Revista De La Solcha

Written historical sources contain data that can inform decisions about biodiversity management and conservation. By describing with increasing detail various species, manuscripts and books provide insight into the composition and dynamics of a given ecosystem. Some reflections arising from the research that has been developed in the ongoing project “ReSEED – Rescuing seed’s heritage: engaging in a new framework of agriculture and innovation since the 18th century” are presented. It is discussed how written historical sources can contribute to know the biodiversity of the past and to deepen the research in the field of Conservation Sciences. In particular, it focuses on agrobiodiversity, crucial in the context of the current global food crisis, being central to discussions on food sovereignty and conservation of plant genetic resources. The analysis of works published about the Iberian Peninsula between the 15th and 19th centuries, aimed at different purposes and audiences, but focusing on plants, allows the identification of a wide range of cultivated species and varieties, and can be used to build more robust predictive models about the circumstances associated with the loss of biodiversity and agrobiodiversity.

Open Access