Ethnobotany in the Balkans: Quo Vadis? -- Ways the Lukomir Highlanders of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treat Diabetes -- Hungarian Ethnobotanical Studies in Romania -- Bulgarian Medical Ethnobotany: The Power of Plants in Pragmatic and Poetic Frames -- Cross-Cultural Ethnobotany of the Sharr Mountains (North-Western Macedonia) -- An Ethnobotanical and Ethnomedicinal Study on the Use of Wild Medicinal Plants in Rural Areas of Serbia -- Medical Ethnobotanical Studies in Kosovo -- Wild Food Plants of Dalmatia (Croatia) -- The Use of Wild Plants for Human Nutrition During a War: Eastern Bosnia (Western Balkans) -- Wild Food and Medicinal Plants Used in the Mountainous Albanian North, North-East, and East: A Comparison -- Medicinal Plants in Northern Montenegro: Traditional Knowledge, Quality, and Resources -- Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Traditional Use of Plants in Serbia in Relation to Sustainable Rural Development.

This volume addresses recent and ongoing ethnobotanical studies in the Balkans. The book focuses on elaborating the relevance of such studies for future initiatives in this region, both in terms of sustainable and peaceful (trans-regional, trans-cultural) rural development. A multi-disciplinary viewpoint is utilized, with an incorporation of historical, ethnographic, linguistic, biological, nutritional and medical perspectives. The book is also authored by recognized scholars, who in the last decade have extensively researched the Balkan traditional knowledge systems as they pertain to perceptions of the natural world and especially plants. Ethnobotany and Biocultural Diversities in the Balkans is the first ethnobotany book on one of the most biologically and culturally diverse regions of the world and is a valuable resource for both scholars and students interested in the field of ethnobotany.