Uso de plantas medicinais no enfrentamento da covid-19 pelos Mebêngôkre-Kayapó no sudeste do Pará, Brasil: uma abordagem metodológica

Abstract

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a global pandemic. From then on, due to indigenous vulnerability, the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (SESAI/MS) recommended the creation of an emergency plan for indigenous peoples to face Covid-19 and raise awareness of the risks and dangers of this disease. In addition to prevention and vaccination campaigns, indigenous peoples throughout Brazil, supported by the strength of ancestral knowledge, used natural remedies, derived from plant biodiversity, as their main strategy in this struggle. In this work, we sought to study the knowledge and use associated with medicinal plants in coping with Covid-19 by the Mebêngôkre-Kayapó in the Kriny village, Kayapó Indigenous Land, Southeast Pará, seeking to understand their traditional systems of prevention and health care, taking into account in view of the guidelines of the WHO, which recognizes and recommends these care practices, also highlighting the importance of conserving local biodiversity to maintain health in this indigenous territory. Ethnobotanical data were obtained through participatory research methods (online and face-to-face workshops), semi-structured interviews applied to three indigenous people who were knowledgeable about medicinal plants (2 men and 1 woman), with the collaboration of an indigenous interpreter, in addition to direct observation and tour guided. Botanical samples were collected, identified and deposited in the MG Herbarium. Collaborators declared that they had used medicinal plants as a first alternative in coping with Covid-19 and that no deaths from the virus had been recorded in the village, until that moment. Their knowledge about the use of medicinal plants comes from family members, mourners, healers, experts in medicinal plants, shamans and friends of the community. From the workshops it was possible to name 21 terms of plant structures and 17 symptoms in Kayapó. 42 plants were registered. Nineteen botanical samples were collected, 14 of which were identified, corresponding to 11 genera and 9 families, with emphasis on Bignoniaceae and Aristolochiaceae. The occurrence environment that most stood out with 79% of the species was upland forest. All species are native and the predominant life habit was liana. The most cited species were Quiina sp. and Siparuna guianensis Aubl. The leaves prevailed and tea is the most frequent method of preparation. 18 therapeutic indications were registered, with headache and “eliminating Covid-19” being the most expressive indications. The degree of vulnerability of the Kriny territory was substantially increased with the pandemic, with emphasis on socio-environmental aspects. During this period, there was an increase in invasions of the IL, burnings, deforestation and illegal mining, the latter recorded by satellite images. The ethnobotanical data and other information acquired and systematized in this research gave rise to two products as a return to the community: a booklet on medicinal plants used in the treatment and prevention of Covid-19 and a documentary on the relationships that the Mebêngôkre-Kayapó have with the medicinal plants on its territory. This research had the importance of valuing and registering the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants, in order to collaborate for the preservation of the flora and for the strengthening of local practices and so that this knowledge can be recognized and incorporated into the indigenous health services in the Kayapó villages.