Traditional Mayan medicine is being revalued at the state level

If you are interested in traditional Mayan medicine or the medicinal plants of Yucatan, at the “Roger Orellana” Regional Botanical Garden of the CICY in Mérida you can visit the exhibition “Between gifts, trades, and knowledge of traditional Mayan medicine”.

The exhibition was installed in the Visitor Service Center of the Botanical Garden and will be open to the public until July 22, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

The Botanical Garden is located on Calle 43 number 130 in the Chuburná de Hidalgo neighborhood of Mérida.

Mayan traditional medicine
The exhibition shows the importance of traditional doctors, their knowledge, and work instruments, complemented, in a natural way, with the collection of medicinal plants found in the ethnobiological circuit of the CICY Botanical Garden.

In this way, it seeks to promote conservation and universal access to knowledge, in this case, the traditional knowledge associated with the Maya culture, and the use and exploitation of the region’s biodiversity.

During the opening ceremony, Pedro Iván González Chi, General Director of the CICY, pointed out that presenting this exhibition to the public represents an opportunity to conserve and protect biological and cultural wealth, which will make it possible to contribute to the strengthening of the communities that have generated it and those who safeguard this fundamental knowledge.

The underestimated knowledge of the Maya herbalists
As a final act, the curator of the exhibition, Judith Alanis Figueroa, gave a guided tour with the authorities, where she showed the biocultural richness of the Mayan geographic-cultural area.

“The communities of the Mayan area generated and continue to maintain great knowledge about the biological and cultural wealth.”

“This knowledge has historically been underestimated and is at risk of being lost as a result of various factors, among which are: the current socio-economic model, globalization, the rhythm of life, and the migration of Maya and other indigenous peoples to large cities, among others. 

TYT Newsroom