Linking locally valued plants and places for conservation, Community Baboon Sanctuary, Belize

Local people make daily decisions around land use, many living in or near conservation areas. Community members may already value and care for important local areas by employing self-imposed use restrictions regardless of formal conservation area designations. We set out to understand the places and plant species of greatest personal value to the local community members and forest managers of Belize’s Community Baboon Sanctuary, a group recognized for a well-established community conservation ethic. We combined individual community interviews and plant transect data to assess: 1) locations of, place attachment, and personal values associated with an individual’s most important place, 2) which plant species are valued and found within these key sites, and 3) what measures can influence local management and conservation decisions. Community members primarily valued individual places most (e.g., home gardens, farms) and we uncovered a positive correlation between reported personal connections to place and stronger personal values including happiness, dependence, and peacefulness associated with important places. Higher place attachment also predicts a higher level of plant knowledge reported by community members. Individuals noted 52 locally important plant species with benefits including food, construction, and medicinal applications and we calculated Use Value and Importance Value for each species. Pilot plant transects show percentages of highly valued plants were found in personally important places, including several key species that benefit the Sanctuary’s focal primate species, the black howler monkey, Alouatta pigra. Better understanding of personal values, knowledge, and attachment to key natural places can lead to improved forest plant diversity and more comprehensive place-based strategies for conservation decisions made at the individual and community level.