Starting points for the restoration of desertified drylands: puesteros' cultural values in the use of native flora

In rural dryland areas, the socioeconomic diagnosis of the population and their traditional knowledge of the flora are key to restoration. In this study, we asked rural people (locally called "puesteros") about their knowledge of the native flora, in a settlement of 160 inhabitants, located in drylands of Argentine. For this, semi-structured surveys and open interviews were carried out with 30 puesteros. The surveys collected information about the puesteros' socio-economic characteristics, their knowledge and value about the use of species, and their interest in planting those species in their farms. Once the list of multipurpose species was obtained, we reviewed the scientific literature to know some of their favorable ecological attributes. The interviews were carried out to know the limitations and advantages associated with planting native species in the puesteros' home gardens. Our results show that 33% of the people surveyed were illiterate, and their primary economic source of income was livestock. In the surveys, the puesteros mentioned 44 multipurpose species, which were classified by their uses. 97% of respondents expressed interest in planting on their farms and mentioned 21 potentially useful species. Of the 44 multipurpose species mentioned by the puesteros, we found that 22 had ecological attributes for restoration. In the interviews, the puesteros identified the factors that limited and favored plantations. They had already planted 44 species in their home gardens for different purposes. The implications of current local knowledge for future socio-ecological approaches to productive restoration in drylands are discussed.