Mitigating climate change in Valmalenco (SO, Italy): how can ethnobotany contribute?

This ethnobotanical survey is part of the Interreg Italy-Switzerland project B-ICE [1], which is aimed to reate a new management model for the ongoing climate change and to reach new sources for the local enhancement. The work was performed in Valmalenco (SO, Italy) and aimed at investigating the traditional uses of the local plants. The retreat of the glaciers and the snowfall reduction are the main transformations in the natural landscape [2,3,4]. The territory is no longer suitable for winter tourism and this has major consequences for the local economy. Traditional ethnobotanical uses are an important part of the rich biocultural heritage locally available; promotion of this heritage could represent an alternative strategy for the economic development of the area. Attention was paid to the common and dialectal names of the plants, their survival, their past or actual use, the preparation forms, the administration methods and the therapeutic indications. In summer 2019, 300 interviews were collected and it emerged that the used species are 150. Out of the most cited ones, Achillea moschata Wulfen is used for digestive purposes, as analgesic, hypotensive, for gynaecological infections caused by Candida spp., as anti-inflammatory and ulcers healing in the lower limbs and against intestinal swelling in bovine. Malva sylvestris L. is used as emollient, relaxing and purifying, in case of allergies, for acne reactions and soothing baths, Thymus pulegioides L., as expectorant, for sore throat and cold and Achillea millefolium L., for menopause symptoms, footbaths, as disinfectant for wounds on bovine paws. This knowledge will define the “cultural landscape” of the territory and will allow to select symbol species, with the purpose of realizing a high-rise Botanic Garden. This place will aim to preserve the plants and the biocultural diversity and to attract a new form of tourism based on the rediscovery of ethnobotanical traditions.