In the end of the 1990s, the Rio Natal community, located in the city of São Bento do Sul, in the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina, started to be part of an Environmental Protection Area. Since then, many cultivation areas have been increasingly having their forest restored. In this scenario, the community proposed to cultivate medicinal plants that were adapted to shaded conditions. To attend this demand, we carried out a participatory research in the community between 2005 and 2008. Fourteen species of medicinal plants having market potential were evaluated, and were cultivated in shaded areas, in three family properties. The survival of the species, the incidence of illnesses and pests, the dry matter value and the height of the plants were evaluated. The species that presented persistence to be cultivated in shaded areas were: Curcuma longa L.; Arctium lappa L.; Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng) Pedersen.; Mikania glomerata Sprengel.; Alternanthera sp.; Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. e Maytenus ilicifolia Mart. Ex Reissek.
agroecology; Dense Ombrophylous Forest; participatory research
