Wild plant “folklore house” opens its doors
Kunadacs, Hungary, 5th November 2012—Local residents of Kunadacs village, representatives of Kiskunsag National Park, scientific institutions and partners in the Central European Traditional and Wild project last week attended the opening ceremony of a “folklore house” dedicated to preserving traditional knowledge about the use of wild plants.
More than 60 people gathered to hear an opening address by the Mayor of Kunadacs followed by congratulatory speeches from the Head of Kiskunsag National Park, and lead partner in the Traditional and Wild project.
Kristina Rodina, Medicinal Plant Officer with TRAFFIC in Europe said: “It is truly inspiring to see so many local inhabitants interested in preserving the traditional knowledge about plants in the region, and to see the interest and curiosity among local children, the next generation to learn about traditional uses of wild plants.”
Both TRAFFIC and WWF Hungary are official partners in the Traditional and Wild project.
The concept for the folklore house or living museum is to focus attention on the different traditional uses of wild plants, to help preserve the cultural traditions of the Upper Kiskunsag region.
The house includes exhibition and training rooms and is located close to Kiskunsagi National Park, where collection of wild plants is regulated to allow special protection of wild plant resources, and managed wild-harvesting of medicinal plants in the National Park buffer zone.
In the exhibition room, pictures and posters illustrate the wild plants of the Kiskunsag region, while the training room is devoted to the traditional uses and processing of wild harvested plants, which will be taught and demonstrated to local people, schoolchildren, students and visitors. Local collectors will also receive training in the use of specific plant species.
The opening ceremony was organized by the Village Local Authority Kunadacs, also an official partner in the Traditional and Wildproject.
The Traditional and Wild project runs between 2011 and 2014 in four countries of the Central European region, and is facilitating the establishment of pilot initiatives for sustainable management of wild-collected plants and capacity-building of local inhabitants. The project includes the use of the FairWild Standard principles for sustainable wild collection and fair trade in plants.
