Diversity in Forest Management: Non - Timber Forest Products and Bush
Diversity in Forest Management: Non - Timber Forest Products and Bush
Diversity in Forest Management: Non - Timber Forest Products and Bush
Introduction
This paper provides an overview of
the complexity, practical and policy
challenges that need to be faced in dealing with sustainable management of
forests for non-timber forest products
(NTFP). Conservation biologists, resource managers and policy makers are
all faced by the high diversity of species used, the lack of knowledge about
the biology of many harvested species,
and the varying tenure arrangements
for both land and resources involved.
This is compounded by the fact that
NTFP trade networks are often complex with serious impacts on species
populations requiring innovative assessment, monitoring, and conservation methods. NTFP harvest and use
occurs across a wide spectrum of biogeographic, ecological, economic, social, and historical circumstances
across continents and vegetation types.
Policies and their implementation,
therefore, must to be tailored to local
circumstances. Simplistic, one size
Although non-timber
forest resources
are recognized as
valuable for
peoples sustenance,
their economic value
is rarely taken
into account in
forest planning or in
assessing GDP.
fined as all the biological material
(other than industrial round wood and
derived sawn timber, wood chips,
wood-based panel and pulp) that may
be extracted from natural ecosystems,
managed plantations, etc. and be utilized within the household, be marketed, or have social, cultural or religious significance.2 Chamberlain et al.
Table 1.
The diversity of medicinal plant species,
from tropical and temperate climates,
in local or international markets.
Region or Country
Indonesiaa
South Africab
Germanyc
Eastern & Central North Americad
North Americae
Appalachia, USAf
Number of species
1260
500
1543
500
175
150
Source:
a
Cunningham, A.B. 1988. Collection of Wild Plant Foods in Tembe Thonga Society: A Guide to Iron Age Gathering Activities? Annals of the Natal Museum
29(2):433-446. Cunningham, A.B. 1991. Development of a Conservation Policy
on Commercially Exploited Medicinal Plants: A Case Study from Southern Africa.
pp.337-358. In: Heywood. V., Synge, H. & Akerele, O. (eds.). Conservation of
Medicinal Plants. Cambridge University Press. Williams, V.L. 1996. The
Witwaterrand Muti Trade. Veld and Flora 82:12-14.
c
Value of NTFPs
People worldwide have been relying
on non-timber forest products and
wildlife for their nutritional needs
much longer than for their economic
desires. In some tropical places, sago
palm (Metroxylon sagu), taro
(Colocasia esculenta) or arrowroot
(Maranta arundiacea) are primary
sources of starchy staple foods. Wildharvested meats commonly provide
protein in peoples diets, while wild
plant foods are valuable sources of
nutrients in diets predominated by
14
starchy staples. Wild plant foods are
important safety nets in periods of
shortage or poor harvest of main crops
(e.g., wild sago for Dayak communities in Borneo).
Although non-timber forest resources are recognized as valuable for
peoples sustenance, their economic
Lange, D. and U. Schippmann. 1997. Trade Survey of Medicinal Plants in Germany: A Contribution to International Plant Species Conservation. Bundesamt fur
Naturschutz, Bonn, Germany
Foster, S. and J.A. Duke. 1990. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and
Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. 366 pp.
Krochmal, A., R.S. Walters, and R.M. Doughty. 1969. A Guide to Medicinal Plants
of Appalachia. USDA, Forest Service Research Paper NE- 138. Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Upper Darby, PA. 291 pp.
value is rarely taken into account in forest planning or in assessing Gross Domestic Product. NTFPs provide a
green social security for billions of
people in the form of building materials, income, fuel, food, and medicines.
In some cases, revenues earned from
NTFP commercialization are the only
source of income for rural people.15
to exercise great care in valuing nontimber forest resources to avoid overoptimistic assessments (e.g., the value
of NTFPs are significantly greater than
the value of timber) or over-pessimistic estimations (e.g., NTFPs only have
real economic value in domesticated
intensive context). Objective valuation
studies involving and based on the preferences of local users probably are a
first step in correcting omissions and
misfortunes about NTFP values.17
In fact, some NTFP sectors have global economic impacts that have increased over time. In 2004, the global
herbal medicine industry is valued at
more than $60 billion, annually,18 representing more than a four hundred
percent increase since 1996.19 While
Europe was the largest market in 1996,
representing one-half of the global
trade, Asia commanded approximately
36 percent of the global trade. In 1998,
the total retail market for medicinal
herbs in the United States was estimated at $3.97 billion, more than
double the estimate for North America
in 1996.20 No matter how these figures
are presented, they represent significant contributions to national economies.
The economic values of wild-harvested foods and medicines are a reflection of the social and cultural values placed on non-timber forest products. Consumers desire to enjoy
NTFPs from their native countries is
so great that airfreight is used to transport perishable edible and medicinal
plants regionally and internationally.
Immigrants from Cameroon, Congo,
Gabon, and the Democratic Republic
of Congo to France and Belgium import an estimated 105 tons of bush
plums (Dacryodes edulis) and 100
tons of eru (Gnetum africanum and
G. buchholzianum) leaves annually to
meet their cultural desires to consume
these edible products.21
Western and traditional medicines
are based on very different and welldocumented views of health and dis-
Traditional
conservation practices
have been weakened
by cultural change,
greater human
demands, and a shift
to a cash economy.
of a social stigma against gathering
wild fruits for personal consumption is
undermining the traditional practice
of conserving wild fruit trees.29 In other
cases, the shift from subsistence use to
commercial harvesting weakens resource tenure and undermines customary controls of resource use.30
Market dynamics affect the distribution of benefits and supply of raw materials. Local gatherers, the initial link
in complex value chains, typically receive low and highly variable prices for
unprocessed plant material.31 Although
a key factor to realizing the economic
values of NTFP is access to markets,32
peoples ingenuity should not be underestimated.33 If prices and potential
profits are high enough, local traders
will make remarkable use of any transport network to get perishable species
Biological Consequences
Differences in climate, soil and vegetation type result in significant disparities in the availability and use of
NTFPs. Whether harvests involve the
fruits, roots, bark and/or whole plants,
the potential yields from wild stocks
of many species often are overestimated, particularly when stochastic
events are considered. As a result, commercial harvesting ventures based on
wild populations often are characterized by boom and bust, where declining resource availability follows initial
harvests. Nantel et al. argue that ginseng populations in Quebec, once the
major source of wild ginseng for international markets, could not support any
harvesting if they were to be maintained for the long-term.35 The low
level of extraction required to ensure
sustainable harvesting of wild populations of American ginseng as well as
wild ramps (Allium tricoccum) in
Canada36 and the fruit of the amla tree
(Phyllanthus emblica) in India37 suggests that at current prices, sustainable
harvest levels for these species were not
viable commercial propositions.
The resilience, or lack thereof, to
harvesting is influenced by the level of
demand and by common biological
characteristics: life form or body size,
growth rate, reproductive biology, geographic distribution, habitat specificity, population density, etc.38 Harvesting of leaves, flowers or fruits (or eggs)
from widely distributed, fast growing,
fast reproducing species occurring at
high densities in a range of habitats is
obviously of less concern than the killing of species that are of limited distribution, slow growing, and reproduce
infrequently.
Although the response of individual
plants is a useful guide to estimate har-
Forest management
agencies need to
recognize the resources
from which non-timber
products are harvested
and integrate them into
forest management,
monitoring, and
infrastructure planning.
innovative contributions in these fields
from trained professionals in developing countries.54 Not only do trainees
from developing countries have many
advantages of language, social networks and personal knowledge of landscapes and resources, but also high
quality work can be done with relatively little equipment compared with
many other fields of science. Collaboration with ethnobotanists from industrialized countries can further assist this
process. The internet now provides
opportunities for professional knowledge networks and for scientists from
developing countries to access research
papers and colleagues on a scale never
before possible or affordable.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Endnotes
1. Belcher, B.M. 2003. What isnt
an NTFP? International Forestry
Review 5(2):161-168.
2. Wickens, G.E. 1991. Management Issues for Development of
Non-Timber Forest Products.
Unasylva 42(165): 3-8.
3. Chamberlain, J.L., R. Bush, and
A.L. Hammett. 1998 Non-Timber Forest Products: The Other
Forest Products. Forest Products
Journal. 48(10):2-12.
4. UN, FAO [no date] http://
www.fao.org/FORESTRY/FOP/
FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm [Date
Accessed: 8 March 2004].
5. Emery, M.R. 2001. Non-Timber
Forest Products and Livelihoods in
Michigans Upper Peninsula. In
Forest Communities in the Third
Millennium: Linking Research,
Business, and Policy Toward a
Sustainable Non-Timber Forest
Product Sector, ed. Iain DavidsonHunt, Luc C. Duchesne, and John
C. Zasada, GTR-NC-217, 23-30.
St. Paul, MN: USDA Forest Ser-
10
11
12
13
14.
15.
16.
17.
ries 2. Tropenbos-Colombia,
Santaf de Bogota, Colombia. See
also, Rodriguez Fernndez, C.A.
1998. Arponeros de la Trampa del
Sol (Sustentabilidad de la Pesca
Comercial en el Medio Rio
Caquet). Harpooners of the trap
of the sun. (Sustainability of Commercial Fisheries in the Middle
Caquet River). Tropenbos Colombia Series 18. Tropenbos-Colombia, Santaf de Bogota, Colombia.
Santos-Oliviera, J. and F.M. de
Carvalho. 1975. Nutritional Value
of Some Edible Leaves used in
Mozambique. Economic Botany
29: 255-263. See also Quin, P.J.
1959. Food and Feeding Habits of
the Pedi. Witwatersrand University
Press. See also Wehmeyer, A.S.
1966. The Nutrient Composition
of Some Edible Wild Fruits Found
in the Transvaal. S. Afr. J. Nutr.
Suppl. S.A. Med. J. 40, 1102-1104.
van Andel, T.R. 2000. Non-Timber Forest Products of the NorthWest District of Guyana.
Tropenbos Guyana Series 8.
Tropenbos Guyana Programme,
Georgetown, Guyana.
Tewari, D.D. and J.Y. Campbell.
1996. Increased Development of
Non-Timber Forest Products in
India: Some Issues and Concerns.
Unasylva 47: 26-31. See also
Shackleton, S., C. Shackleton and
B. Cousins. 2000. Re-valuing the
Communal Lands of Southern Africa: New Understandings of Rural Livelihoods. ODI Natural Resource Perspectives No. 62. The
Overseas Development Institute,
London. See also Cavendish, W.
1997. The Economics of Natural
Resource Utilization by Communal Area Farmers of Zimbabwe.
PhD thesis, Oxford University,
UK.
Sheil, D. and S. Wunder. 2002.
The Value of Tropical Forests to
Local Communities: Complica-
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
VOLUME 22
NUMBER 2
SUMMER 2004
CONTENTS
News and Announcements ...........................................................................3
Articles:
Auditing Conservation in an Age of Accountability ............................6
Jon Christensen