Traditional ecological knowledge and use of Babaçu (Attalea speciosa Mart.ex Spreng.), in Quilombolas communities in the Amazon, Brazil

This paper studies the knowledge and use of babaçu palm (Attalea speciosa Mart.ex Spreng.) through Informant diversity value (IDV) and Sørensen similarity index (SSI) to compare the knowledge of three quilombola communities in the Amazon, involving 32 respondents. The IDV of knowledge was 11 of 32 and of use was 8.63. Significant values when compared to other communities that use this palm. The lowest comparison value of ISS between the community was 0,875, high value, explained by the geographical proximity between communities, high degree of kinship and familiarity. The results show a decrease in the use of babaçu compared to the knowledge, explained by the improvement in the economy of the communities, which facilitates the acquisition of industrial products, the lack of knowledge transmission and the new generations disinterest in learning, which can lead the loss of knowledge and utilization of babaçu by these Quilombolas communities.