The team involved in this project consists of researchers whose training is focused on ethnobiological (ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, ethnozoology), ecology, ethology, chemical and pharmacological research. These researchers have accumulated an extensive experience in data collection as well as in critical data analysis. The members of this team prepared the first Portuguese manual for data collection methods in the field (and an English version, which is the most complete methodological manual to dat). Some members also created the first doctoral program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation of Latin America (http://ww2.pgetno.ufrpe.br).

The basic structure of the INCT Ethnobiology, Bioprospecting and Nature Conservation is based on the partnership of four Universities in Northeast Brazil: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco,  Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Universidade Regional do Carire and Universidade Estadual da Paraíba. This partnership has resulted from the efforts in the creation of a doctoral program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation. The Department of Biology of the Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, and in collaboration with the Universidade Estadual da Paraiba and Universidade Regional do Carire, presented the proposal to create the Association Doctoral Program in the modality Partial Association in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation in 2011. This was the first proposal of a Doctoral Program to train professionals in the nature-culture interface. To the best of our knowledge, there are similar programs offered in Europe and in the United States, which indicates that this proposal represents the first Doctoral Program with this profile in Latin America and represents a growing demand for professionals with training in this area, especially with a focus on the complex and delicate issues that involve society, nature and culture.

Therefore, the INCT aims to consolidate the actions of these groups in a comprehensive program that integrates human resources training with a high-level research aligned with national and international demands. 

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              Organization and Structure of the INCT Ethnobiology, Bioprospecting and Nature Conservation