products and markets 25 · 2007-07-24 · products and markets non-wood news no. 15 july 2007 26...

P R O D U C T S A N D M A R K E T S

NON-WOOD NEWS No. 15 July 2007

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BAMBOO

Botanists Identify new species of NorthAmerican bambooTwo Iowa State University botanists and theircolleague at the University of North Carolinahave discovered a new species of NorthAmerican bamboo in the hills of Appalachia.It is the third known native species of thehardy grass. The other two were discoveredmore than 200 years ago.

Lynn Clark, Iowa State professor ofecology, evolution and organismal biology,and Ph.D. student Jimmy Triplett studybamboo diversity and evolution. They firstheard about “hill cane” from a botanist at theUniversity of North Carolina. Although theplant was known to the people in the area, itsdistinctiveness was not recognized.

Hill cane differs from the other two nativeNorth American bamboo species –commonlyknown as switch cane and river cane – in animportant way. It drops its leaves in autumn.“That's why it was recognized locally as beingdifferent,” Clark said. “It's pretty uncommonfor bamboos to drop their leaves.”

Clark should know. She's aninternationally recognized bamboo expert.She had previously discovered 74 newspecies of bamboo. Her 75th speciesdiscovery has been named Arundinariaappalachiana.

There are 1 400 known species of bamboo.Of these, about 900 are tropical and 500 aretemperate. The bamboos of North Americaare found in the eastern and southeasternUnited States, from New Jersey south toFlorida and west to Texas. Giant cane(Arundinaria gigantea) occurs in low woodsand along riverbanks. Switch cane(Arundinaria tecta) is found in non-alluvialswamps, moist pine areas, live oak woodsand along sandy margins of streams. “TheUnited States’ native bamboo has been a veryimportant plant ecologically,” says Clark.“And there's recent interest in using it forrevegetation projects because it is native andhas been used for habitat by so manydifferent animals, especially birds.”

Clark and Triplett began looking at theNorth American bamboos as part of a largercollaboration with botanists worldwide todevelop an evolutionary family tree ofbamboo species. They are using modern DNAsequencing technologies together withtraditional plant taxonomy, which involveobservation and description of a plant's form,anatomy, ecology and other characteristics.(Source: Iowa State University [in ScienceDaily], 13 March 2007.)

Bamboo riceHard-pressed tribals in Kerala's Wayanaddistict (India) are making a bountifulharvest of bamboo rice, a forest producemuch in demand for its medicinal value andas an ingredient in ethnic cuisine.

With large stretches of the blossomingplant shedding its paddy-like seeds, tribalfamilies gather in bamboo groves withbrooms, baskets and sacks to collect therice, which was a little supplementaryincome this year. A local Scheduled TribeCooperative Society is buying bamboo rice,brought mostly by the Paniya and Naikatribes in the Noolpuzha range of theWayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.

The gruel made of bamboo rice mixedwith herbs is prescribed for arthritis andrheumatic complaints in indigenousmedicine. The tribal cuisine has severaldelicacies made of bamboo rice and wildhoney, with which the rural poor survived intimes of famine.

Grown in groves, bamboo has a lifespanof 12 to 36 years. The plants blossom onlyonce in their life time and perish aftershedding rice, leaving it for new shoots tocome up from the stump. Local botanistssay that the types of bamboo mostly foundin Wayanad are Bambusa andDendrocalamus strictus, but several othervarieties also grow in the area.

A family can collect 20 to 30 kg ofbamboo rice a day. The cooperative buys itfor Rs10/kg, but private buyers offer higherprices. The rice is winnowed, husked andpacked by the cooperative before beingsold.

Bamboo blossoming also attracts touristsas vast areas of dark and shady forest turnaglow with yellowish flowers. (Source: TheHindu [India], 25 February 2007.)

Hong Kong skyscrapers made of bamboo Hong Kong's skyscrapers proudly dot itsshores, giving the island its glossy, modernimage. Yet the structures, which are beingbuilt higher and faster every day, owe theiridentities to one of the oldest constructionmaterials in history – bamboo.

Advances in engineering andconstruction have not been able to outdatebamboo, a tried and successful materialused to construct buildings in China formore than a thousand years. Light andcheap bamboo, mostly from southernChina, helps Hong Kong's builders sheatheentire buildings in a matter of weeks and isconstantly in high demand. (Source:NDTV.com [India], 23 February 2007.)

BEE PRODUCTS

New study of Spanish varieties of honeyAccording to a new study of Spanishvarieties, honeydew honey has even higherlevels of disease-fighting antioxidants thanthe honey that bees make from nectar.

But all honey, regardless of its origins, isgood for you, experts say. In recent years,honey has gained a reputation as a healthfood, especially in the light of researchsuggesting that it has germ-fightingpowers and is high in antioxidants andchemicals that appear to block certaintypes of cell damage caused by moleculescalled free radicals.

In 2004, researchers in the United Statesof America found that antioxidant levelsrose in people who ate between four andten tablespoons of honey per day,depending on their weight. It was not clearat the time, however, which varieties ofhoney harboured the most antioxidants.

In the new study, researchers looked at36 varieties of Spanish honey in two groups,clover honey, made by bees from the nectarof flower blossoms and honeydew honey,made by bees from a sweet, stickysubstance secreted by insects such asaphids that live off plants. Honeydew honeyis only produced in a few parts of the worldand is considered a delicacy in certainregions.

The researchers performed tests on thehoneys and reported their findings in theFebruary issue of the Journal of theScience of Food and Agriculture. Accordingto the results, honeydew honeys had higherlevels of antioxidants in general. Theresearchers also report that Spanishhoneydew honeys tend to be darker andmore acidic than clover varieties.

Study coauthor Rosa Ana Perez, aresearcher with the Instituto Madrileño de

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Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario yAlimentario in Madrid, said honeydewhoney from outside of Spain should alsoshow similar signs of higher levels ofantioxidants. Honeydew honey is relativelyrare in the United States.

Perez said, however, that honey is not amiracle food: “I don't think that a foodstuffon its own could allow the improvement ofthe health of anyone, or even prevent somedisease.” (Source: HealthDay News,Washington Post [United States ofAmerica], 22 February 2007.)

Rare New Zealand honey leads to sweetimporting business The buzz about manuka honey has to dowith its health benefits, not its flavourfulproperties in recipes. The antibacterial-rich honey is produced by bees during thefew weeks a year that New Zealand‘smanuka bushes are in bloom and is toutedas a remedy for everything from skinconditions to digestive disorders.

Known in parts of Europe, New Zealandand Australia, the product is virtuallyunknown in the United States of America,but Fiona Nelson wants to change all that.In October, Nelson opened WedderspoonOrganic, an importing company that isbringing the honey to the country. Shecurrently imports and sells two products.Both are stamped with the NationalOrganic Program of the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture (USDA).

Manuka Honey Active 16+ is equivalentto 16 percent antiseptic solution, accordingto a testing method developed by theUniversity of Waikato in New Zealand.People take a spoonful of active manukahoney for such gastrointestinal disordersas acid reflux, oesophagus ulcer,heartburn, upset stomach, stomach ulcerand irritable bowel syndrome. It is alsotouted for external use for wound care,burns, diabetic leg and foot ulcers,bedsores and post-operative scar healing.

Nelson said the honey has no expiry datebecause it is organic and does not needrefrigeration. Unlike processed honeybought for cooking, it does not crystallize.

The other product, Autumn ForestHoneydew Honey, is derived from the sap ofbeech trees. It was named by the Maoris,the indigenous people of New Zealand, forthe golden colour of the beech sap in themorning light. Honeydew honey containscomplex sugars in greater levels thanaverage floral honeys. It is more readilyavailable than manuka honey but, unlike

manuka honey, honeydew honey can beused in cooking or dribbled on pancakes orfruit. (Source: Pottstown Mercury [UnitedStates of America], 5 February 2007.)

PROPOLIS

Propolis is the sticky glue used byhoney bees. It is usually coloured darkbrown, although it may also be yellow,green, grey or red. Plants are literallyrooted to the spot where they grow.This means that threatened by anenemy, they cannot get away. Theytherefore protect themselves withchemical defence systems, whichinclude toxins, bitter tastes andstinging repellents. Tender budsprovide tasty snacks for insects unlessdefended, and plants often protecttheir buds with sticky gums. When atree is wounded it secretes resinaround the wound as the first stage ofthe healing process.

People have great benefit fromthese powerful plant chemicals andmany medicines and drugs are derivedfrom the plants. Propolis is antibiotic –it has been proved to kill bacteria andthere are many claims for its medicinalproperties.

A bee collects propolis by biting offscraps of plant resin with its mandiblesand packs them into the corbiculae(pollen baskets) on its hind legs. Eachof these can carry about 10 mg ofpropolis. Because of its stickiness,gathering propolis is a slow business: itcan take an hour to fill both baskets.Back at the hive, unloading can takeanother hour. Propolis is only collectedwhen the temperature is above 18°C.Bees use propolis in a variety of ways,such as keeping their homes dry, cosyand hygienic.

It is not possible to define propolisany more than it is possible to definehoney – it all depends on what isavailable for the bees. In general,propolis consists of resins, waxes,volatile oils and pollen, as well asvitamins, minerals and plant chemicalssuch as flavonoids. The problem forpeople marketing propoliscommercially is to obtain astandardized product.

Depending on quality, the worldprice of propolis is currently aroundUS$50/kg.(Source: Bees for Development, March2007.)

PROFITING FROMHONEY BEES

This engaging film looks into thetraditional and sustainable honeyharvesting methods of the communitiesliving around Danau Sentarum in WestKalimantan, Indonesia, one of SoutheastAsia's largest wetlands.

The communities harvest honey fromwild honey bees (Apis dorsata) from thecolonies that make the wetlands theirhome. Harvesting up to 25 tonnes ofhoney yearly, forest honey is asignificant source of income.

The traditional tikung method iswidely used for honey harvesting in thearea. Since there are few tall trees,people facilitate conducive nestingconditions for the bees by attachingrafters or tikung to trees. A tikung takesabout an hour to prepare and a familycan have tens, or even hundreds ofthem, whose ownership is passed onfrom generation to generation.

Also described is the periau, ortraditional regulations for the use andmanagement of forest honey.

The film aims to underscore howsupporting traditional methods ofmanagement are highly effective inensuring the sustainability of honey inthe area. (Produced by: Riak Bumi,Telapak and NTFP Exchange Programmefor South and Southeast Asia, 2005. DVD[25 minutes]. In Bahasa Indonesia withEnglish subtitles.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE

CONTACT:

Ms Aloisa Zamora-Santos, Information

Management Officer, Non-Timber Forest

Products Exchange Programme for South

and Southeast Asia, 92-A Masikap

Extension, Barangay Central, Diliman,

Quezon City 1101, the Philippines.

Fax: +63 2 4262757; e-mail:

[email protected]; www.ntfp.org.

(See page 24 for information on another

DVD produced by the Programme.)



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Beekeepers in Australia enjoy massivehoney harvestTasmanian beekeepers have reaped amassive honey harvest from the state'snative leatherwood trees. The trees, whichmainly grow in the state's western rainforests, produce a unique flavoured honeyfor export and domestic markets. Yieldsthis year are expected to be 30 to 40percent above average. Beekeepers believethe exceptionally warm February weatherhas made the difference. (Source: ABCOnline [Australia], 8 March 2007.)

BRAZIL NUTS

Brazil nuts' path to preservationHelp is at hand for the Amazon rain forestand Brazil's poverty-stricken rural people,courtesy of the country's famous native nut.

Brazil nuts are a valuable food sourcewith a huge market in Europe and NorthAmerica: up to 7 000 tonnes of unshellednuts and 20 000 tonnes of shelled nuts areshipped every year. And because the treesthat supply the nuts grow wild, they offer away for communities to make a living fromthe forest without destroying it, somethingthat is now being put to use in the country.

“This is a real financial resource forcommunities,” says Dr Rafael Salomao, whoworks at the Museu Goeldi, one of the mostimportant centres for the study of theAmazon. “A tree which is over 400 years oldcan provide for generations and generations.”

Brazil nuts are considered to be one ofthe most valuable products to be harvestedfrom undisturbed rain forests. The nuts,known to Brazilians as Castanha do para,grow uniquely in the Amazon basin. Theyare hazardous to collect: each hard outershell weighs over 1 kg. However, they offeran alternative to the way that many areas ofBrazil are trying to develop, by clearing theforest to create areas suitable for grazingcattle or growing products such as soya.

For many years, this has meant thedestruction of Brazil nut trees, even afterthey became officially protected. Butforests are burned to clear the land and theBrazil nut tree is very sensitive to fire. Afterthree years, the trees are dead. What isworse for Brazil nut collectors is that oncethe trees have been destroyed, there islittle chance of getting them back.Attempts to replace them have been largelyunsuccessful. Saplings will not grow inshade and they take up to 15 years to beginproducing nuts.

However, at the end of 2006, thegovernor of the large state of Paraannounced a protected reserve of 16.4million ha of forest, with the aim of creatinga huge conservation corridor through thenorthern Amazon. And in the state overPara's northern border, Amapa, smallcommunities are taking the Brazil nut togenerate income from the rain forestwithout destroying it. “We needed to createorganizations in the region in order tostrengthen local production,” said Ajamada Silva Mendes, from the Amapa statedepartment of industry, commerce andminerals. “So the government gave someincentives to create cooperatives, togetherwith the communities.”

Brazil nut gatherers and their familiesare now able to maintain decentlivelihoods. And small-scale factories havebeen set up to produce Brazil nut biscuitsand oil, broadening the range of productsavailable for export, meaning that there is abetter way for people to obtain a fair pricefor their valuable resource.

But there are further problems.Subsidized production in Bolivia ischallenging Brazil's dominance in themarket. And when, in 2004, the EuropeanUnion found that Brazil nuts with shells onhad traces of aflatoxins, which can causeliver cancer, strong regulations were put inplace regarding the nuts. While theAmerican limit on aflatoxin levels in Brazilnuts is 15 parts per billion, the Europeanlimit is just four parts per billion. This hasdamaged Brazil nut exporters. (Source:BBC News, 28 January 2007.)

Modelling Brazil nut subsidies andincentivesOver the last decade, settlers have movedto Brazil’s western Acre state and putsignificant pressure on the Amazon forests.Most settlers are clearing land for cattlepasture. However, half of the farm familiesmaintain part of their farm as forest inorder to harvest Brazil nuts. Some policy-makers have suggested subsidizing Brazilnuts to provide incentives to maintain moreforest cover.

ASB (alternatives to slash and burn)researchers used a specially developedbioeconomic model that explored theinteractions of labour, capital and landallocation over a 25-year period undervarious market and price scenarios. Whenthey doubled the price of Brazil nuts in themodel, they found that the deforestationrate would not decrease. In fact, they

projected that subsidies would potentiallyexacerbate deforestation because farmerswould earn more cash from the Brazil nutsand then reinvest it by clearing forest forthe more lucrative activity of cattle raising.(Source: Field guide to the future. Fourways for communities to think ahead. 2006.K. Evans et al.; www.asb.cgiar.org/ma/scenarios/)

Brazil nuts as an alternative energysourceA study conducted by the NationalResearch Institute of Amazonia (INPA)demonstrated that waste material fromBrazil nuts can be used by industry andcommerce. The material can be used togenerate energy both in its natural state aswell as in the form of subproducts, forexample, charcoal, charcoal bricks (piecesof small charcoal compressed into blocks),tar (bio-oil) and gases.

The study, a result of the project, “Brazilnut fruit: potential use as a source of rawmaterial for energy grid in the State ofAmazonas”, was prepared by INPAtechnician, Paulo Roberto Guedes Moura,with guidance provided by the CoordinatingOffice for Forest Products Research(CPPF/INPA).

The study showed that this wastematerial has potential for use as firewoodin thermal plants, boilers, pottery works,etc. In the form of a subproduct (charcoaland bricks), the waste can be used by thesteel industry in making pig (raw) iron.

Moura clarified that during hiscomparative analyses of basic density ofthe waste material with other timberspecies, Brazil nut acts as if it were densewood. In his opinion, the tar is especiallyinteresting as it is a sort of wood-basedbio-oil to generate energy, or for cookingsince it adds taste to smoked products.Additionally, the oil can be used in thecomposition of paving materials and toincrease the durability of wood products. “It

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is highly valuable on the consumermarket,” he stressed.

The study was conducted to show thatvalue can be added to waste material thatwould otherwise be discarded. Moura saidthat there will be a lack of raw material tosupply industry and commerce, as in 2004alone, the state of Amazonas producedsome 9 000 tonnes of Brazil nuts. Thiswould generate roughly 18 000 tonnes ofwaste material. (Source: Jornal da Ciência,24 January 2007 [in Amazon News].) (Seepage 7 for information on certified Brazilnut oil.)

FOREST INSECTS

Eating worms and protecting parksIn an effort to ensure that mopane worms(Imbrassia belina), in the UukwaluudhiConservancy of Namibia are notoverharvested but utilized in a sustainablemanner, the Uukwaluudhi TraditionalAuthority (UTA) has set up regulationsgoverning the harvesting of these worms intheir forests.

Before people start harvesting mopaneworms, says Veikko Iishila, the Headman ofLikokola district in the Uukwaluudhi area, ameeting is held to inform the people thatthe worms are mature and can beharvested. Each harvester has to havewritten permission from the UTA or fromother relevant authorities at a fee. Mopaneharvesting time is usually from March toApril. This helps to make sure that forestsare not overharvested and that immatureworms are not collected.

Iishila said money levied from mopanecollectors is put into the UTA under thechairmanship of King Taapopi and is usedto solve community problems.

Mopane worms are large caterpillarsthat feed on the leaves of the mopane treein southern Africa. They are high in fat andprotein, have a gritty texture and a slightlymeaty taste when fried; they areconsidered a delicacy by many people inNamibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and SouthAfrica.

The Uukwaluudhi Conservancy wasestablished through the Community-BasedNatural Resource Managementprogramme of the Ministry of Environmentand Tourism, which enables people tomanage and benefit from the naturalresources in their environment in asustainable way. (Source: The Namibian, 15February 2007.)

Collectible forest insectsThere are basically three reasons whypeople collect insects: for subsistence, forprofessional purposes or purely as arecreational hobby. Although collecting isoccasionally broad-based, it is most oftenfocused on specific groups of insects soughtfor their utilitarian, scientific, ornamentalor other benefits.

The collectorsSubsistence. Some traditional cultures inAfrica and elsewhere depend onhunting/gathering to some extent, includingthe collecting of insects and their productsfor food, medicinal purposes, as a source ofarrow poison, as fish and bird bait, andoccasionally for ornamentation (jewellery,textiles).Professional. The two distinct categories ofindividuals who make a living collectinginsects are professional entomologists (whostudy insects for scientific reasons) andcommercial collectors (who collect or breedinsects on behalf of others or who act asintermediaries in the trade of live or deadinsects and their products). Live insectexhibits (butterfly houses or insect zoos) area relatively new but dynamic development inthe commercialization of insects.Amateur. Insect hobbyists come in threevarieties: the aestheticist, the naturalist andthe trophy hunter. Most entomologicalhobbyists are attracted to insects for theirornamental qualities, while some aspire toowning the biggest, most bizarre or rarestspecimens available. Some collectors arewilling to pay thousands of dollars for certainoutstanding specimens. In Japan, forinstance, where some long-living beetles arevery popular as pets, one trophy stag beetlesold for US$20 000 in the mid-1990s.

The collectedGiven the fact that the more conspicuousspecies of insects tend to be welldocumented, contemporary scientificcollectors are often focused on obscuretaxonomic groups of small but species-richgroups that may be useful as bioindicators.

Amateur collectors, however, still seekspecimens that are large or beautiful interms of colour, shape, texture or otherthings, with the highest prices going forthose specimens that are rare and in mintcondition. The dead stock insect trade aloneruns into tens of millions of dollars annually.

The humid tropics of Southeast Asia andSouth America are generally the mostspecies-rich areas and thus the mostsignificant suppliers of collectible insects inthe world. However, the United Republic ofTanzania not only has many indifferentgenera of insects, but also some specificallyor largely African representatives, includingsome of extraordinary size and beauty. Aselsewhere in the tropics, the more humidparts and mountains may be the mostrewarding areas in terms of collectibles, butthe drier woodlands and semi-deserts alsoyield some remarkable specimens.

Amateur collectors everywhere are moststrongly attracted to Lepidoptera andColeoptera, but several other orders includehighly sought-after specimens. (Source:Springer/Kluwer Academic Publishers,Forest Entomology in East Africa: ForestInsects of Tanzania. 2006. Chapter 9, Forest-based insect industries. H.G. Schabel. (Withkind permission of Springer Science andBusiness Media.).

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Prof. H. Schabel, 7976 Co I, Custer, WI 54423,United States of America. E-mail: [email protected] (See page 59 for information on insect-basedindustries in the United Republic of Tanzania.)

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Kroto ant larvae and pupae: the bird fooddelicacy “Kroto” is the Javanese name given to acombination of larvae and pupae from theAsian weaver ant (mainly Oecophyllasmaragdina). This mixture is well known toIndonesian bird lovers and local fishers, withthe ant larvae being popular as a fishing baitand also as a dietary supplement to improvethe performance of songbirds. Bird fancierstreat their favourite pets with the protein-and vitamin-rich kroto when preparing themto challenge other birds in singingcompetitions.

Weaver ants are found from India toAustralia and throughout the Indonesianarchipelago, within a wide range of habitatsincluding coastal areas, secondary forestsand plantations. They are well known forbeing aggressive predators and for building

nests in trees. The ants can invade almostany type of tree but tend to prefer fruit trees,such as the jackfruit or mango. A givencolony may occupy various nests in a singletree or even several trees. Located in one ofthe highest nests is the queen, whose eggsare distributed to the other colony sitesnearby. Weaver ants’ nests are among themost complex of ant nests, with theOecophylla species using the well developedsilk glands of their larvae to weave togethera nest of living leaves – hence their name.

Throughout the year, kroto is harvestedand sold on the islands of Java and Sumatra.Collecting kroto is a solitary job, whichbegins with the identification of host trees.During the dry season, the resource is lessabundant but during the wet season therice-like smaller larvae are more common,of a better quality and more highly valued.

Because demand and competition for krotohave increased in recent years, some areasare being overharvested and as a resultcollectors are finding fewer larvae. To filltheir baskets they work on a much shorterrotation of host trees, which in turn affectsthe ability of the ant populations to recover.With less intense harvesting, the antsnormally rebuild and recoup quite quickly.

As kroto can only be kept fresh for twodays, traders often transport boxes into thecity on a daily basis. Because of increaseddemand and economic necessity, localtraders may take 10–30 kg a day to themarket. They also take some dried kroto,which is produced by collectors and can bekept for six months, but it sells at half theprice of fresh supplies.

The rapid deterioration of the freshproduce and the need for immediatetransport represent the biggest hurdles inmarketing kroto. During the high season,traders pay collectors US$1.20–1.40 per kgand then sell to merchants at US$1.60–1.70per kg, leaving little profit after transportcosts. The Jakarta markets sell around 100kg of kroto a day at US$3.50–5.00 per kg,making the merchants the mainbeneficiaries in the kroto trade. To makemore money, some collectors sell their dailyharvests directly to small retailers, who areoften willing to pay more for fresh kroto.

For many collectors, kroto represents animportant or principal source of income andis regarded as one of the few ways that poorpeople can earn money from a freeresource. Collectors use the money forsubsistence needs or to save for hardertimes. Farmers often collect the resource aswell, as a way of earning some extra moneyin between the two rice harvesting seasons.(Source: Case study on “Kroto, ant larvaeand pupae”, by Nicolas Césard and IrdezAzhar [in Riches of the forest: food, spices,crafts and resins of Asia, eds C. López and P.Shanley].)(Please see page 44 for information on snailfarming in Cameroon.)

COLLECTIBLES: BUTTERFLY RANCHINGIN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

The ranching for collectibles started inPapua New Guinea, a country thatconsiders insects a “national resource”and in its constitution specifies insectconservation as a national objective. In1966, seven rare and magnificentbirdwing butterflies, Ornithoptera spp.(Papilionidae), were declared protectedand a year later the world’s largestbutterfly, O. alexandrae Roth, wasproclaimed legally endangered. In 1968,a law banned the taking of any of theseven species of birdwings threatenedwith extinction. With these steps, PapuaNew Guinea tried to stop unscrupulousbioprospectors who had opportunisticallyexploited the country’s spectacular insectfauna with little if any benefit for therightful owners of these resources.

In the meantime, most of theformerly threatened birdwings andother spectacular and sought-afterinsects of Papua New Guinea havebecome available through legal trade.This was made possibly by theestablishment of several wildlifemanagement areas, the development ofbutterfly ranching for export as part ofthe country’s rural developmentprogramme and involvement of anInsect Farming and Trading Agency(IFTA), which has assured quality control

and themarketing ofthe insectsproduced since1974.

In 1995, over 800 villagers in PapuaNew Guinea supplied stock to IFTA,whose staff fills orders from collectorsworldwide (especially Japan, Germanyand the United States of America),while the profits (less 25 percent foradministrative costs) return to thevillagers.

At present, a pair of a certain speciesof Ornithoptera, such as O. priamus andO. goliath supremus f. titan, may beworth up to $300, but some collectorshave paid thousands for outstandingspecimens.

Serious butterfly ranchers in PapuaNew Guinea can earn US$2 500–5 000per year in a country where the percapita income is around US$50/year.Villagers that earn revenue from insectsare said to have shown a strongtendency to conserve forests,demonstrating the potential of suchenterprises to foster ecologicallysensitive economic development.(Source: Springer/Kluwer AcademicPublishers, Forest Entomology in EastAfrica: Forest Insects of Tanzania. 2006.Chapter 9, Forest-based insect industries.H.G. Schabel. (With kind permission ofSpringer Science and Business Media.).

Lac – CorrigendumThe authors of the article “Cultivation of NTFPs

as the best measure of poverty eradication of

poor tribal cultivators – A case study of lac

cultivation” printed on pages 28–29 of Non-

Wood News 14 should have read: Dr S.P.

Bhardwaj (Principal Scientist) and Dr S.D.

Sharma (Director), Indian Agricultural Statistics

Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India.



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GINSENG

Ginseng genome library established inChinaAfter years of study, Liu Shuying and herteam at the Institute of Applied Chemistryunder the Chinese Academy of Scienceshave established the first ginseng genomelibrary in China. Including holographicmaterial and genetic data, this library isanother step forward in the modernizationof traditional Chinese medicine.

Jilin province in northeast Chinacurrently produces 80 percent of allginseng in China and 60 percent of ginsengavailable on the world market. (Source:People's Daily Online, 15 March 2007.)

A note on ginseng termsWild ginseng refers to the plant as it growsin its native forest, with no help frompeople. Wild ginseng commands thehighest price and is limited to the plant’snative range. American ginseng (Panaxquinquefolius) is found in the mountainseast of the Mississippi River, although itdoes grow in patches as far west asNebraska. Wild Asian ginseng (Panaxginseng) is found only in northeasternChina, the Republic of Korea, theDemocratic Republic of Korea and parts ofSiberia.

Other ginseng relatives are Panaxnotoginseng, found in China as “san chi” or“tien chi” ginseng; Panax japonicum, orJapanese ginseng found only in Japan; andPanax trifolium, known as dwarf ginseng.There is a less documented basis for theseplants than for the main two ginsengspecies, and they are not nearly sovaluable. Eleutherococcus senticosus,sometimes called Siberian ginseng, is not atrue ginseng, but a relative in the sameplant family; it has almost no ginsenosides(the active chemical compounds in the

Panax species), and labelling rules nowprohibit it from being marketed under thename “ginseng”.

Cultivated ginseng is the farm-grownversion, which requires shade arbours,chemical pesticides and fungicides, andintense labour. For generations it wasprimarily cultivated in Wisconsin (UnitedStates of America), but it is now widelygrown in China and on farms around theworld.

Simulated-wild ginseng is a fairly new,middle category (although expertsmaintain than thousands of years ago,Koreans grew simulated-wild ginseng inforests).

Promoted as an ecologically sustainablealternative to cultivated ginseng,simulated-wild plants grow from seedssown by people in forest conditions thatmimic the habitat of wild ginseng.Simulated-wild ginseng is mainly limited toareas where ginseng also grows wild – inthe United States of America, in forestseast of the Mississippi River – and it israised with no or very few chemicals andlittle tilling. Markets in Asia have been slowto acknowledge this as a separatecategory; simulated-wild roots are easilymistaken for wild roots and command ahigher price than cultivated ones. (Source:Ginseng, the divine root. The curioushistory of the plant that captivated theworld, by David A. Taylor.)(Please see page 77 for more informationon this book.)

MEDICINAL PLANTS AND HERBS

Medicinal and aromatic plants: the wayout of poverty?About 20 000 tonnes of medicinal andaromatic plants (MAPs) worth US$18–20million are traded every year in Nepalalone, and about 90 percent are harvestedin an uncontrolled fashion by landless,resource-poor mountain farmers for whomthe harvest and trade in medicinal plantsconstitute their only form of cash income.The situation is similar in Bangladesh,Bhutan, India and other countries of SouthAsia, and 90 percent of the plants fromNepal are exported to India in raw form.

The greater Himalayan region, in fact,has the comparative advantage of beinghome to many MAPs found only there. Theregion also has various well-developedpractices in traditional medicines

(Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha) based onindigenous knowledge of these plants’medicinal and healing properties.Considering the global trade in MAPs –now a US$60 billion industry and stillgrowing, especially with the increasingdemand worldwide for herbal medicines –the potential of MAPs to provide relief frompoverty in South Asia, where 40 percent ofthe world’s poor reside, is tremendous, if itcan be tapped.

However, issues of sustainableharvesting – the need to balance the push-and-pull factors of commercial demand onthe one hand and conservation of thesevaluable plants and their contribution tobiodiversity on the other; the need forgreater value addition at the communitylevel and for stronger farmer-industrycollaboration to realize this; the need forcommercial cultivation of importantspecies, as well as for more researchabout the plants and more informationincluding market information andstrategies together with a more supportivepolicy in the region must be addressed.

Given the increasing value of MAPs, bothin terms of primary health care and as acritical source of livelihoods and incomefor the rural poor in the region, theInternational Centre for IntegratedMountain Development (ICIMOD) withsupport from the Common Fund forCommodities (CFC), the Netherlands, isimplementing a four-year, US$1.68 millionproject “Medicinal Plants and Herbs:Developing Sustainable Supply Chain andEnhancing Rural Livelihoods in the EasternHimalayas” in three countries, Nepal,Bangladesh and Bhutan, with Indiaproviding technical expertise. ICIMOD’sMedicinal and Aromatic Plants Programmein Asia (MAPPA) is the project’simplementing agency, with FAO’sIntergovernmental Subgroup on TropicalFruits providing a supervisory role.

The project’s overall objective is toconserve natural resources, reduce povertyand improve livelihoods for mountaincommunities of the Himalayan regionthrough the sustainable development andutilization of high-value, low-volumeMAPs.

A three-day inception workshop in Aprillaunched the project. Participants includedrepresentatives from nodal agencies (focalpoint organizations for the project in eachcountry), research and academic institutes,non-governmental organizations (NGOs)and the private sector. During the

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workshop, ICIMOD and experts from Indiashared the latest trends and organicpractices in MAP cultivation andprocessing as well as emerging valuesupply chain practices.

Partners in each country areimplementing the project. In Bangladeshthe nodal agency is the Ministry ofCommerce, with the Bangladesh NeemFoundation and the Development ofBiotechnology and EnvironmentalConservation Centre as implementingpartners. In Bhutan the project will beimplemented by the Ministry ofAgriculture, while the Ministry of Forestsand Soil Conservation is the nodal agencyin Nepal, with the Herbs and Non-TimberForest Products Coordination Committee,Nepal working with partners to implementthe project in western Nepal.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Dr RBS Rawat, Regional ProgrammeCoordinator, Medicinal and Aromatic PlantsProgramme in Asia (MAPPA), ARID/ICIMOD,International Centre for Integrated MountainDevelopment, ICIMOD, Khumaltar, PO Box 3226,Kathmandu, Nepal. E-mail: [email protected]

Artemisia annua: WHO publishesguidelines on cultivating an essentialplant used in antimalaria medicinesThe World Health Organization (WHO) todaypublishes guidelines for the cultivation andcollection of Artemisia annua L., a Chinesetraditional medicinal plant which is thesource of artemisinin, used to produce themost effective medicines for malaria. Theguidelines will contribute to improving thequality of Artemisia annua L. to developartemisinin-based medicines further, andhelp ensure a sustainable supply to meetmarket demand.

Artemisia annua L., used in Chinesetraditional medicine for centuries, is todayconsidered part of the solution wheremalaria has become resistant to othermedicines. Artemisinin-based combinationtherapies (ACTs) have been recommendedby WHO since 2001 in all countries wherefalciparum malaria – the most resistantform of the disease – is endemic. Sincethen, the world market for productscontaining artemisinin derivatives hasgrown rapidly. However, not all artemisininmeets the required standards to producequality medicines, making it all the moreurgent to promote best practices in thecultivation and collection of the rawmaterial used to make the combinationtherapy.

About 40 percent of the world'spopulation is at risk of contracting malariawhich is resistant to other medicines. Ofthe 76 countries needing artemisinin-based treatment today, 69 have adopted theWHO recommendation to use this therapy.

The availability of these treatments stillfalls short of what is needed. Of anestimated 600 million people needing ACTsworldwide, only about 82 million arereceiving the treatment through publicsector distribution systems (whichconstitute 90 percent of antimalarialdistribution in developing countries).

The WHO monograph on goodagricultural and collection practices forArtemisia annua L. provides a detaileddescription of the cultivation and collectiontechniques and measures required for aharvest to meet quality requirements. Theinformation is based on research data andthe practical experience of severalcountries where successful cultivationpractices have led to a high yield of goodquality Artemisia annua L.

The authors of the guidelines cautiongovernments on two fronts. First, theymust ensure that farmers work with

manufacturers to determine the actualmarket demand for the plant. Recentexperience in some countries has shownthat overproduction not only wastes moneyand time, but it can also have a negativeeffect on the plant's future yield. Second,they must ensure the availability of thetechnical skills and expertise needed toextract artemisinin from dried leaves.

The WHO monograph also aims toprovide a model for countries andresearchers to develop furthermonographs on good agricultural andcollection practices for other medicinalplants, and promote the sustainable use ofthe plant as part of the larger aim ofprotecting the wild resources of medicinalplants. (Source: World Health Organization,12 March 2007.)

Global standard set for wild medicinalplant harvesting A new standard to promote sustainablemanagement and trade of wild medicinaland aromatic plants was launched onFriday in Nuremberg at Biofach, the WorldOrganic Trade Fair. The standard is neededto ensure plants used in medicine andcosmetics are not overexploited.

About 15 000 species or 21 percent of allmedicinal and aromatic plant species areat risk, according to the report by theMedicinal Plant Specialist Group of theWorld Conservation Union’s (IUCN) SpeciesSurvival Commission that sets forth thenew standard.

More than 400 000 tonnes of medicinaland aromatic plants are traded every year,and about 80 percent of these species areharvested from the wild.

Almost 70 000 species are involved,many of them in danger of overexploitationor extinction through overharvesting andhabitat loss. In India, for instance, 319medicinal plants are listed as threatenedby IUCN.

In Ecuador, one of the best knownmedical herbs in the world, cascarillaCinchona pubescens – the original sourceof the antimalarial drug quinine – may bethreatened as a result of overexploitation,according to the World Wide Fund forNature (WWF). Today the herb is used totreat a variety of ailments, from upsetstomachs to immune system problems.

In Eastern Europe, unsustainablecollection of the wild herb pheasant's eye,Adonis vernalis, used to treat cardiacailments, has led to declines throughoutthe plant's range, says WWF, and today the

MOUNTAIN MEDICINAL PLANTS

Medicinal plants are one of the mostvaluable resources at high altitudes.For example, 1 748 species from theIndian Himalayas are used for localmedicinal treatment or for trade,involving the pharmaceutical industry.Roughly a third grow in the subalpineor alpine zone. Cultivation of medicinalplants instead of harvesting wildplants, which often causes localextinction of highly priced medicinalspecies, and local processing instead ofexporting raw material, are twostrategies that can ensure thesustainable use of medicinal plants andincrease the incomes of mountaindwellers. (Source: Flyer, InternationalMountain Day 2006, FAO.)



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species is protected from collection inmany countries.

In the United States of America, largequantities of American ginseng, Panaxquinquefolius and goldenseal, Hydrastiscanadensis, are collected in the wild.Although much of the ginseng exported fromthe United States is now cultivated, enoughcollection of the wild plant occurs that tradein the species is now regulated. Both ginsengand goldenseal are listed in Appendix II ofthe Convention on International Trade inEndangered Species of Wild Flora andFauna, which allows trade in these plantsonly through a permitting system.

About 90 percent of the ginsengexported from the United States each yeargoes to countries in East Asia. The UnitedStates imports hundreds of thousands oftonnes of many different herbs each year tosupport its US$3 billion market.

Following extensive consultation withplant experts and the herbal productsindustry, the International Standard forSustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal andAromatic Plants, ISSC-MAP, was drawn upby the Medicinal Plant Specialist Group. TheGerman Federal Agency for NatureConservation was involved in the consultationtogether with WWF-Germany, and thewildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC,plus industry associations, companies,certifiers and community-based NGOs.

The standard is based on six principles –maintaining medicinal and aromatic plantresources in the wild, preventing negativeenvironmental impacts, legal compliance,respecting customary rights, applyingresponsible management practices andapplying responsible business practices.

Traditional Medicinals, a Californianherbal medicine company, is testing theapplication of the new standard to thecollection of bearberry, a shrub whoseleaves are used to treat the kidney, bladderand urinary tract.

To view the Medicinal Plant SpecialistGroup paper that sets forth the completestandard, please visit:www.floraweb.de/ proxy/floraweb/MAP-pro/Standard_Version1_0.pdf(Source: Environment News Service [UnitedStates of America], 20 February 2007.)

Assessment of success and failures incultivation, processing and marketing ofmedicinal plants in the Malwa region,Central IndiaDuring the last decade India, particularlyMadhya Pradesh state, has observed a

major boon in cultivating medicinal andaromatic plants (MAPs), which are on highdemand in the international as well as thenational market. The Government, semi-government, NGOs, private industries andeven individuals were largely attractedbecause of the high cost of raw materials ofspecies such as safed musli (Chlorophytumborivillianum), sarpgandha (Rauvolfiaserpentina), lemon grass (Cymbopogonmartinii), stevia (Stevia rebundiana) andcoleus (Coleus forskohlii).

The state and central governmentlaunched a massive campaign to promotelarge-scale cultivation of some 20 to 30species by giving subsidies and loans tofarmers. The basic aim of the campaign is toconserve medicinal plants from the forest,increase rural employment and income andalso increase exports. Because of thedecreasing availability of raw material fromthe forest and the Coleus forskohlii highcosts of planting material and raw products,several companies and progressive farmershave started large-scale cultivation ofhighlighted species. As a result there is ascarcity of planting material, crop suitability,market and proper management.

Therefore, in the last decade or so thearea under medicinal crop cultivation hasgreatly increased because of the attractiveand remunerative market prices in both theinternational and national markets. However,more recently, through lack of marketdemand, low prices, high planting materialand production costs, increasing labourcosts, less local and Industrial consumption,and more production, the market for thesecommercially cultivated medicinal plants hascrashed. As a result, small-scale farmersfailed to sell their produce (wet) in the localmarket: the cost of the raw or wet productdropped considerably and there were nobuyers. Hence, some farmers left thecultivation or sold their produce at bargainprices in the local market.

A recent report examines the variouscauses of success and failures in thecultivation of ashwagandha, safed musli,asaria, coleus and stevia plants in theMalwa region of Madhya Pradesh state. Forseveral reasons, the market for the muchsought after wonder crop safed musli hasdrastically crashed in the last one to twoyears. It has been flooded by the cultivatedmedicinal crop and there were no buyersfor the raw material produced particularlyby small-scale farmers of the region.

The study reveals that because ofmarket saturation (overproduction) of

commercial crops (such as safed musli andashwagandha), increase in labour costs,little enthusiasm for processing and valueaddition techniques and other marketingproblems, farmers are rapidly decreasingthe area under MAP cultivation. The casesof failures in cultivation and marketing ofselected species are more than successfulcases in the study area. This situationneeds special attention from government,traders and the industry.

The survey of the study area clearlyindicates that the cultivation of selectedspecies is not remunerative for smalllandholding farmers. Overall, the false hopesgiven by planting material suppliers,consultants and the industry, along withfarmers’ own mistakes in cultivation andprocessing, have led the small farmers of theMalwa region to start reducing the cultivationarea even further. (Source: extracted fromthe executive summary of a project reportsubmitted to the Indian Institute of ForestManagement (IIFM), Bhopal, MadhyaPradesh, India in October 2006 by Dr ManishMishra and Dr P C Kotwal.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACTTHE CONTRIBUTOR:Dr Manish Mishra, Faculty of EcosystemManagement, IIFM, Nehru Nagar, Bhopal,Madhya Pradesh, India. Pin: 262003. E-mail: [email protected];www.iifmnmpbmis.org/

MOSS

Masses of mossMoss has been harvested in Scotland, theUnited Kingdom, for thousands of years andstill is, although until recently very little wasknown about it outside harvesting circles. Arecent four-month study investigated mossharvesting in the country, involving contactwith 308 harvesters, traders, landowners,bryologists (moss experts) and informantson the illegal trade. The study comes at a

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time of increasing interest in NTFPs from theForestry Commission Scotland, privatelandowners, community woodland groupsand conservation bodies alike.

Today moss is harvested for use in thefloristry and horticultural trades andrepresents a worldwide commodity (seearticle on moss harvesting in the PacificNorthwest, Non-Wood News 13). InScotland, 70 percent of florists and 60percent of garden centres trade in moss,although the majority of these import theirsupplies from wholesalers in England or theNetherlands, who in turn source most oftheir moss from across the European Union(EU). Given its wet climate, Scotland is home

to a wealth of mosses however and thosegrowing in non-native conifer plantationsoffer opportunities for harvesters, either forpersonal use or commercial sale.

The study found that moss harvestingdoes occur throughout Scotland and on avariety of scales; from large-scalecommercial harvesting enterprises toindividual florists and garden centressupplying their own needs, to individualsharvesting for personal or charitablepurposes. As much illegal harvesting, i.e.without landowner permission, is thought tooccur as legal harvesting. Estimations putthe total value of the harvest and trade ofScottish-grown moss at UK£0.5 million

annually and 125 jobs. Landowners chargingpermit fees make on average very littlemoney from moss harvesting but welcomethe diversification of land activities.

One-third of all landowners contactedhad experience of moss harvesting in theirforests, although large-scale harvesting isconcentrated in the expansive forests in thesouth of the country. Cases of illegal mossharvesting from peat bogs do occur andthese cause concern over the sustainabilityand legality of the practice, thus damagingthe industries’ reputation. However, mostharvesting concentrates on just fourgenera, Pleurozium, Polytrichum,Pseudoscleropodium and Sphagnum, the

MOSS GATHERING IN THE UNITEDSTATES OF AMERICA

The following e-mail exchange of March2007 presents interesting points of view onmoss harvesting guidelines.

Proposal from JeriLynn E. PeckA number of us have been asked to pulltogether some draft guidelines for thecommercial harvest of mosses fordiscussion and distribution among themembers of the International Associationof Bryologists (IAB) at the annual meetingthis summer, with the ultimate intent ofproviding IAB-approved general harvestguidelines. We are just starting to thinkabout this, so I wanted to throw out toanyone who might wish to provide someinput the opportunity to provide someguidance on developing the guidelines!

Specifically, any advice/documents/ Weblinks referring to existing guidelines formoss or similar NTFPs or to the process ofdeveloping workable guidelines wouldhelp ensure that we think abouteverything that we should. (JeriLynn E.Peck, Research Fellow, 207 Forest ResourcesBuilding, Penn State, University Park, PA16802, United States of America;http://silv.cas.psu.edu/jp.htm;www.strengthinperspective.com/JPmoss)

Response/proposal from Eric JonesI suppose the creation of harvestingguidelines could be a positive step towardsmoss conservation, but so often these sortsof efforts seem to do more to disruptharvesting patterns, such as the way inwhich local knowledge about stewarding

the resource is formed. If the end goal ismoss conservation, maybe efforts shouldfirst target the widespread destruction ofmoss habitat that occurs from clearcutlogging, mountain top removal for coal,freeway construction, housingdevelopments, etc. I suspect the impactfrom harvesting is nothing compared withthese other activities.

Harvesters have no power and so anattack on their livelihoods by science willonly push them more underground. Howdo we as scientists and managers protectthe good harvesters that are trying tomake some money while also trying tounderstand and safeguard their mosspatches?

What would be great is to figure out away for a much greater number ofharvesters to be brought into theknowledge-sharing fold. I have yet to seea single scientific study that hasinterviewed and documented thetechniques and tools of harvesters andthen tested them. Instead, what so oftenseems to happen is a harvester gets busted“poaching” moss and the pictures end upin the newspaper. Fear then spreads to allof us, scientists and managers included,that harvesting equals resourcedestruction.

My friend Kurt is just one of many goodpeople out there harvesting who could bea great resource, but there is no way he orother harvesters are going to participatein the process the way things are now. Hedoesn't speak science, doesn't have extratime or money and he resentsmanagement for making him jump

through hoops, but never lifting a fingerto help him the way they do otherstakeholders. However, he might bepersuaded to collect some data if he wereoffered money and training to do so. Thatwould be the sort of positive step thatcould bring people like Kurt into discussionslike these. It would send a message to himthat he is not viewed negatively bymanagement and science, but actually isseen as someone with important skills andknowledge to contribute.

I mean no disrespect to the research youhave done, every little bit helps. However,in reality we have so little information onmoss it seems premature andpresumptuous to create guidelines for howto harvest moss before we really investigatewhat harvesters are doing.

What if we tabled that idea and insteadworked to do the following three things.

• Submitted grants for serious in-depthethnobotantical research on mossharvesting culture, knowledge andtechnology/techniques.

• Developed a strategy for educatingland managers about conservation (e.g.less damage to moss from logging).

• Worked to promote opportunities forharvester involvement in knowledgegeneration, such as data collection.

(Eric T. Jones, Ph.D., EnvironmentalAnthropologist, Institute for Culture andEcology, (501c3), PO Box 6688, Portland,Oregon 97228-6688, United States ofAmerica. E-mail: [email protected];www.ifcae.org)(Minor edits have been made forclarification purposes only.)



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harvested species of which are allconsidered common and widespread. Theknowledge and practice of sustainableharvesting techniques among large-scaleharvesters were also found to be high.Although conifer plantations are subject tocyclical disturbances during fellingoperations and, as such, moss harvestingpales into ecological insignificance,bryologists recommend that places such asstreams, springs and rock outcrops whererare mosses may be found should beavoided during harvesting.

To conclude, market opportunities existfor Scottish-grown moss to replace currentimports from elsewhere in the EU. Despitethe ecological sensitivity demonstrated bymany harvesters, concerns over thesustainability of harvesting must beaddressed in order to build confidence in theindustry. A code of conduct for mossharvesting in Scotland is currently beingdeveloped and is hugely welcomed as a wayto promote this NTFP-based industry, forwhich Scotland has great potential. For a copy of the full report on which thisarticle is based and for more information onthe code of conduct, please visit:www.forestharvest.org.uk(Contributed by: Sam Staddon, Institute ofGeography, University of Edinburgh,Edinburgh EH8 9QP, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected]

Sphagnum moss (Sphagnum sp.)Sphagnum moss has long been used for itsmedicinal properties. The entire plant isantiseptic and a tar extracted from thedecaying moss is particularly valuable asan external treatment for a variety of skindiseases, including eczema and psoriasis.Yet it is the plant’s incredible absorptiveproperties that have made their mark onmodern field medicine. When thoroughlydried, sphagnum is able to absorb 16 timesits weight of water, making it an excellent

wound dressing that is said to have savedthousands of lives during the First WorldWar. It is also used as a potting materialand soil conditioner.

However, sphagnum’s potential as aNTFP should be limited to small-scaledevelopment, as extensive harvesting isleading to the destruction of many naturalbogs, a delicate ecosystem that takescenturies to develop. (Source: Our Life,Medicine Path: Non-Timber ForestProducts of the Boreal. Taiga RescueNetwork fact sheet.)

PAPER MULBERRY(BROUSSONETIAPAPYRIFERA)

Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)is native to Japan and Taiwan Province ofChina and is an ancient introduction acrossthe Pacific as far east as Hawai‘i. Althoughthe tree is fertile in its native range, theplants carried into the Pacific were all maleclones, transported and planted asrootstock or stems. Thus, the female plantswith flowers and fruit are absent.

The tree reaches a height of 12 m ormore if allowed to grow, but in practice it isusually harvested at a much shorter heightwhen the stems are about 2.5 cm indiameter and 3–4 m tall. The tree was veryimportant in traditional Polynesian culture,as its bark supplied one of the mostimportant materials in ancient Polynesia,tapa cloth.

Today, the tree has disappeared frommost of its traditional range and iscultivated to any extent only in Tonga, Fijiand Samoa. It is important in these placesbecause it is a major source of handicraftincome in the form of finished tapa cloth.Although it is no longer used in Polynesiafor clothing, in Tonga and Samoa tapa clothis still worn during ceremonial occasionssuch as festivals or dances. It does not lastvery long when worn as everyday clothing.

The tree is grown in plantations andhome gardens on islands where tapa clothis still made. It can tolerate a wide range ofenvironmental extremes and even doeswell in temperate climates (its nativehabitat). Since only the male clones arepresent in Polynesia, the tree has nopotential for becoming invasive.

Uses and productsThe most significant part of the papermulberry is its strong, fibrous bark used in

making the native bark cloth known as tapa.The plant also has other less important uses. Fruit. The sweetish fruits are edible,although where only male clones arepresent, such as in the Pacific Basin, no fruitis formed. Leaf vegetable. In Indonesia, the steamedyoung leaves are eaten. Medicinal. In Hawai‘i, the slimy sap was usedas a laxative and the ash of burnt tapa wasused for treating thrush. In Samoa, aninfusion of the crushed leaves is sometimestaken as a potion for treating stomach painsand ill-defined abdominal pains. The leaf,bark and fruit are used medicinally in VietNam, the Lao People’s Democratic Republicand Cambodia. Animal fodder. The leaves are fed to pigs inViet Nam, the Lao People’s DemocraticRepublic and Cambodia and to silkworms inChina. Fuelwood. After removing the bark for tapa,the stems can be used for kindling. Fibre/clothing. The inner bark has beenused for centuries in Southeast Asia forpaper and textiles. The bark is traditionallyused in Polynesia to make tapa.

The finest and most delicate tapa inPolynesia was made in Hawai‘i. Nowadays,however, tapa making in the Pacific islimited to Tonga and Fiji and, to a lesser

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THE MAKING OF TAPA CLOTH

The bark is stripped from the cut stemsby making a lengthwise incision acrossthe stem and pulling it off intact toobtain a single long strip. The innerbark, or bast, is then separated from theouter bark, and any green matterremaining on the bast is removed usingscrapers; the bast is then washed toremove the slimy sap. The strips arepounded on a wooden anvil using asquare beater made of a hard wood.Two or three of the strips are thenfelted together by the pounding, helpedby the stickiness of the bark. Several ofthe resulting sheets are often poundedtogether in layers to increase thethickness or to cover over thin spots orholes in the individual sheets. A bit ofpaste in the sprinkling water is usuallyused at this point. These white tapas arethen painted or, as in Hawai‘i, printedwith decorative designs.



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extent, Samoa, and the tree and the art arenearly forgotten everywhere else. Tannin/dye. Charcoal from the wood makesone of the best permanent black inks fortapa designs.Rope/cordage/string. The bark fibre can beused to make rough cordage, as can theroots. Ceremonial/religious importance. The barkcloth is used ceremonially in Tonga, Fiji andSamoa. In Hawai‘i, tapa was important inburial wrapping and other funerarycustoms.(Source: extracted from Traditional Treesof Pacific Islands, ed. Craig R. Elevitch.2006. Full text available for downloadingfrom: http://www.traditionaltree.org)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACTTHE AUTHORS BELOW: W. Arthur Whistler, Isle Botanica, 2814 KalawaoSt, Honolulu, Hawai’i 96822, United States ofAmerica; http://www.Islebotanica.comand Craig R. Elevitch, Permanent AgricultureResources, PO Box 428, Holualoa, Hawai‘i 96725, United States of America. E-mail: [email protected]

PINE PRODUCTS

Pine resin: turpentine, paints and varnishfrom Cuban treesTurpentine is one of the productsmanufactured from the thick, translucentpine resin extracted from tall coniferouspine trees. Different Pinus species can befound growing naturally in various parts ofthe world, including Europe and Asia.Species such as Pinus radiata are alsogrown within plantations in many countries,given the well-developed market for pineproducts and the versatility of the timber.

In Cuba, Pinus caribaea (known as “malepine”) is used for both its timber and resin.The processed pine wood is used for a widevariety of construction purposes (doors,

windows, boats and furniture). Farmersalso use the unprocessed round woodenpoles for building houses. The resin is usedas an industrial component to makeproducts such as colophony (processedresin) and turpentine, which are in highdemand for the production of paints,varnishes, adhesives and disinfectants.Most of Cuba's pine resin is exported toseveral countries including Mexico, Indiaand Spain. One tonne of crude resin has amarket value of around US$350, tripling invalue once it is distilled.

Pine trees in Cuba have a long history ofuse, stretching from precolonial times up tothe present day. Pinus caribaea is part of thenatural vegetation of Cuba and is distributedmainly across Pinar del Río. This province ishome to approximately 100 000 ha of pinetrees, 70 percent of which are plantationbased. Here, nearly 200 families are activelyinvolved in the collection of pine resin. Atpresent, the average Cuban monthly wage is250 pesos, but resin extractors can earnalmost three times this amount. One tonneof resin fetches around 663 pesos and, onaverage, an extractor can produce 1.5 to 2tonnes per month.

In Cuba, industrial resin processingbegan in the mid-1980s. In the 17 yearsbetween 1985 and 2002, a total of 12 500tonnes was produced – 80 percent of whichwere exported. In the first year ofproduction the output was around 70tonnes, increasing to almost 1 200 in 1989.However, following the country's economiccrisis in 1990, the annual outputplummeted to less than 200 tonnes.

In recent years research efforts havefocused on the processing of resin productsfor export, using nationally developedtechnologies. As a result, production levelshave rapidly risen. In Pinar del Río,approximately 1 200 tonnes of resin havebeen produced per year since 2000 and theforecast is for production to increase toaround 5 000 tonnes per year. Theestablishment of several factories hashelped to boost the volume being processed.

The fluctuations of resin production andthe development of new processingtechnology are part of Cuba's recenteconomic and political history. Through theefforts of its citizens, and throughgovernment support and research, Cubahas managed to make its intensiveagricultural and industrial activities moresustainable both socially andenvironmentally. The pine resin industry isone such example.

Compatible extraction: wood and resinPine trees are ready for resin extractionaround the same time they reach a sufficientdiameter for timber logging – upwards of 20cm. However, the felling of trees generallytakes place two to four years after the resin istapped, to ensure a good harvest of bothproducts: resin and pine logs.

Resin tapping involves producing a centralwound in the trunk, at a height of around 1.6m above the ground, along with additional,small wounds called picas, which pointdownwards in a V-shape. To prepare the treefor tapping, a section of trunk, at a width ofaround 65 cm, is debarked. This is thesurface area that resin will be extracted fromover the next 40 to 44 weeks, using atechnique that allows the tree to continueliving and growing until its timber isharvested.

To stimulate the flow of resin a centralwound is cut, below which a metallic funnel ishung, leading to a collection pot. Connectedto the central wound, several picas are thenmade, each about 5 mm in depth and 10 mmin length. An additional incision is made eachweek to maintain the resin flow. Once theresin channels are accessed, the thick, stickyresin slowly exudes from the trunk for up to25 hours. This is collected and deposited into200 kg tanks or cans, which are transportedto plant processors or export companies. Asingle Pinus caribaea tree can yield about 4kg of resin per year, which is equivalent toaround 2 tonnes of resin per ha. Eachextractor is responsible for a production areaof 6 to 10 ha (containing 2 000 to 5 000 pinetrees) – from which they collect between 15and 30 tonnes of resin annually.

All resin extractors are linked with theState Forestry Company, which establishesthe payment system, and the Cuban ForestCommission keeps them informed about rawmaterial prices, trade conditions and productcommercialization. The presentmanagement of pine trees and resinextraction includes the application ofappropriate technologies and a focus on theconservation of pines – guaranteeing ongoingwood and resin production. The extractorsbenefit through stable employment and theuse of techniques that ensure a high qualityresin. If such conditions are maintained, thisall bodes well for a sustainable future for theindustry. (Source: case study on pine resin, byYnocente Betancourt Figueras and MariaJosefa Villalba Fonte [in Riches of the forest:fruits, remedies and handicrafts in LatinAmerica, eds C. López, P. Shanley and A.C.Fantini].)

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body of research reporting the antidiabeticeffects of the pine bark extract,Pycnogenol.

The product is extracted from the bark ofthe maritime pine that grows on thesouthern coast of France and is currentlyused in over 400 dietary supplements,multivitamins and health products.(Source: NutraIngredients-usa.com[France], 9 February 2007.)

Mujeres elaboran artesanías con acículasde pino en HondurasEl Programa de Cooperación entre la FAO ylos Países Bajos (FNPP, siglas en inglés),brinda una oportunidad a diversos actores,

especialmente a nivel local que participanen la validación del marco jurídico forestaly del PRONAFOR (Programa Nacionalforestal), llevando a cabo procesos localesde carácter piloto de los cuales surjanpropuestas para su mejoramiento ydinámicas participativas para suimplementación. El FNPP, Apoyo a laOperacionalización del Marco JurídicoForestal y del Programa Nacional Forestaltrabaja en Honduras desde enero de 2005en tres áreas pilotos: Villa San Antonio,MAMUCA y Gualaco.

En la comunidad de Protección, Villa deSan Antonio, a unos 50 km al oeste de lacapital, Tegucigalpa, un grupo de mujeresfueron capacitadas para elaborar artesaníascon acículas de pino a través del ProyectoFNPP. La Villa de San Antonio, es unacomunidad forestal, enclavada en un bosquede pino y tiene organizada una cooperativaque se dedica al aprovechamiento de lamadera, a la extracción de resina de pino yademás poseen un pequeño aserradero yuna carpintería, estas labores son realizadaspor los hombres.

Alrededor de 20 mujeres de la comunidadse capacitaron en noviembre pasado paraelaborar artesanías utilizando las hojas depino, las cuales son «cosechadas» despuésque los árboles son derribados paraaprovechar la madera; la capacitación duróun par de semanas, al final de las cuales elingenio humano y la imaginación se ponen aprueba, porque las personas comenzaron aelaborar diferentes objetos, para adorno opara uso práctico de los hogares. Ésta es unaactividad innovadora en la zona y en lasáreas que trabaja el FNPP, utilizandoproductos forestales no madereros, porejemplo las acículas, que durante años sequemaban en la época de incendiosforestales. Esta actividad es realizada pormujeres de todas las edades que han estadosiempre al margen de las actividadesproductivas que genera el bosque. Estaactividad significa ingresos para los hogares.Además, la capacitación para su aprendizajefue realizada por mujeres de otracomunidad, las cuales no formaban parte delproyecto, lo cual evidencia la solidaridadentre grupos de mujeres.

Además de los beneficios indirectos queaportan para la protección del bosque, elbeneficio directo es que los ingresosmonetarios aumentaron sustancialmente enlas familias que se dedican a esta labor, yaque una pieza la pueden vender en alrededorde $15, producto de dos días de trabajo. Éstaes una actividad temporal puesto que el

PINE RESIN PRODUCTION

The following is a reply from FAO’s NWFP Programme to areader in Fiji regarding an inquiry on pine resin production.Regarding general information about pine resin (tappingtechniques, markets, etc.), I am pleased to invite you to browse ouronline publication on pine tapping (Gum naval stores: turpentine androsin from pine resin, www.fao.org/docrep/v6460e/ v6460e00.htm). The techniquesdescribed are still valid, although the market information is a bit outdated. Since itspublication, China has reinforced its dominant place in the global rosin market.

Here is the reply to your two specific questions 1. To collect and export raw pine resin ... which are the best markets for export?First, raw pine resin is not a commodity for international trade. It needs to be

refined locally, from which rosin is an exportable raw material. Investment costs forsetting up a resin refinery are relatively low (see estimate in the above publication).

Please check also the species of pines available for tapping, as not all pine speciesare fully suitable to yield marketable resins (rosin from some pine species commandsmuch higher prices). In addition, please be aware that tapping pines is damaging totheir stems and that the wood from tapped pines sells at lower prices (so there willbe an economic trade-off to be calculated between extra income from tapping pinesversus selling the wood at a lower price).

The best markets to look for from Fiji for the rosin would be China (that cannotget enough of it for its fast-growing chemical industries), but also Japan, theRepublic of Korea or nearby New Zealand and Australia. The rosin market is verycompetitive, so production “costs” would have to be very low in order to be able tosell at a profit.

2. To manufacture resin-based products ... what are the best products, which fetchhigh returns?

Raw pine resin can be refined into (solid) rosin (which is the most common resin-based product and maybe the best suitable product in your case). It is exported inbarrels. Eventually the capture of the volatile substances during the refinery processcan also be envisaged, but this requires substantial higher investment. Rosin is a rawmaterial for the chemical industries (e.g. paint, varnishes, prints, flavours andfragrances).

For Fiji, my suggestion would be to go into the “tourist-curious” type of productsand produce from the rosin an oil-based “aromatherapy type of fragrance substance”sold in small glass flasks to tourists at a high prices. (Please contact us at the address on the first page for a hard copy of the publicationmentioned.)

Pine bark extract shows promise forslowing sugar uptakeExtracts from French maritime pine barkmay inhibit an enzyme linked to glucoseabsorption 190 times more than a syntheticmedication, says new research fromGermany that could offer significantbenefits for diabetics if the results can betranslated from the laboratory to humans.

The results of the new study, publishedonline in the Elsevier journal DiabetesResearch and Clinical Practice(“Oligomeric procyanidins of Frenchmaritime pine bark extract [Pycnogenol]effectively inhibit alpha-glucosidase”, by A.Schafer and P. Hogger), add to a growing



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grupo necesita apoyo en el proceso demercadeo.

A pesar de que Honduras tiene más dedos millones de ha de bosques de pino, sonmuy pocas las comunidades que poseen estaexperiencia de aprovechamiento de lasacículas del pino.

Aportado por Renán Mairena, FNPPHonduras, [email protected]

PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN, DIRIGIRSE A: Agenda Forestal HondureñaCol Palmira, Avenida República del Perú,costado norte del Parque Benito Juárez, casa No. 402, Tegucigalpa, HondurasCorreo electrónico: [email protected]/noticias207.htm

Pine nut harvesting in Mexico Every seven years, hundreds of tonnes ofpiñon nuts are wild harvested in the Sierra.These pink nuts bring the highest value onthe global market – 800 pesos per kg inMexico.

The problem is that thousands ofharvesters from all over Chihuahua descendon the ejidos (communal land) on theeastern foothills of the Sierra, most notablyBalleza, to harvest this natural production.The local people also harvest, but receivenothing from outside harvesters. TheTarahumara and mestizos (people of mixedblood) in the region want to controlproduction and develop value-addedenterprises such as shelling, packaging,and the production of chocolates, sweetsand other products with pine nuts.

Piñon pines produce large quantities ofnuts every seven years. In their shells, thenuts store for years, so a community canstore the harvest and have products on asustainable level for five or six years.Smaller intermittent harvests could alsosustain production during off years.

With support from Sierra MadreAlliance, agronomist Nora Jacques hashelped a group in Ejido Baquiriachi toorganize, evaluate the feasibility of theproject and develop proposals to purchase10 tonnes of nuts from harvesters and to

develop a processing plant. This project willprobably be funded in 2007. (Source: SierraMadre Alliance [SMA] Update, March 2007.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Sierra Madre Alliance, PO Box 40474, Tucson, AZ 85717, United States of America.Fax: 011 52 614 412-0420; e-mail: [email protected];www.sierramadrealliance.org/index.shtml

Pine nut production in the Kozac region ofTurkey Some 27 percent of stone pine (Pinuspinea) forests in Turkey are located in the16 villages of the Kozac region. Theyproduce about 1 000 of the 1 300 tonnes ofthe country’s annual yield of pine nuts, 80percent of which are exported. Of the 18600 ha of stone pines in the area, 16 500 haare on private land, 1 400 ha belong tovillages and 700 ha are private plantationsin state forests.

Rising revenues from pine nuts haveencouraged people to convert vineyards, fruitgardens and degraded coppice lands intostone pine stands. Higher incomes haveallowed them to invest in agriculture,horticulture and animal husbandry, therebydiversifying their economic base as well asthat of the region. Because stone pine forestsmake good grazing lands, integrated landuse became more common. Manurefertilizes the soil and the trees’ large canopyprotects grass from the sun so that it staysgreen longer and develops better. The areasare opened to animals only when trees reacha certain age so that no damage occurs.

Because selling pine nuts has increasedincomes and employment levels, the Kozacregion has experienced significant changesin socio-economic conditions: healthservices and infrastructure have improved,education has increased, etc. These benefitshave created a unity not seen in other partsof the country and fostered the developmentof business cooperatives that not only haveincreased bargaining power but also createdjobs. (Source: extracted from Better forestry,less poverty: a practitioner’s guide. FAOForestry Paper 149. 2006. Rome. ISBN 92-5-105550-5; www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0645e/a0645e00.HTM)

Pine products from boreal forests A large number of pine species are foundthroughout the boreal forest and many ofthese species make a significantcontribution to the local economy, beyondthe obvious harvesting of timber.

For example, turpentine can be obtainedfrom the oleoresins of all pine species,although trees from warmer areas generallygive higher yields, making the process moreeconomically viable. The pitch that can alsobe extracted from these resins can be usedfor waterproofing and as a woodpreservative.

Certain species are also edible and can beused for medicinal purposes. For example, inthe northeastern Russian Federation Pinuspumilla (dwarf Siberian pine) producesedible pine nuts and the inner bark of Pinussylvestris (Scots pine), which ranges acrossnorthern Europe and well into the Russianboreal, has been ground up and used tomake bread in times of famine.

In terms of medicinal uses, Pinussylvestris is also valued for its antisepticproperties and its positive effects on therespiratory system; its essential oil is oftenused in aromatherapy. (Source: Our Life,Medicine Path: Non-Timber Forest Productsof the Boreal. Taiga Rescue Network factsheet.)

RATTAN

Halting the rapid disappearance of theworld’s rattan resourcesUnlike bamboo, which is quite widelycultivated because of its versatility andimportance in trade, most of the rattanpeople use is collected from the wild. But,apart from timber, rattan is now one of themost economically important productsfrom the moist tropical forests of Asia andWest Africa. Overharvesting is becoming aserious threat – both to the survival ofrattan populations and the livelihoods ofthe people who depend on them.

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However, despite their economic andsocial significance, there are hardly anyreliable data on rattan resources. Rattan ispart of the forest undergrowth so it is notpicked up by the remote sensingtechniques used in routine forestinventories. It is, therefore, hard to evaluatethe true state of the world’s rattan

Drying and sometimes sulphurfumigation follow oil curing. Drying isdetermined complete by weight, colour andthe pitch of the sound made when a cane israpped on the ground. Drying is crucial toquality. Sulphur fumigation kills insectlarvae and enhances colour.

Bringing rattan to market is not thoughtto create significant environmental damageor danger to workers. Undesirable canescan cause litter and monetary waste. Caremust be taken in using hand tools andpersonal protective equipment is a wisechoice to protect the respiratory system.

Rattan resources can be renewable.Research is critical to the ecosystem and thepeople who work in the industry. Cultivationefforts have seen small successes butdeforestation threatens rattan’s naturalhabitats. Rattan’s value protects trees fromcutting as it supports families. (Contributedby: Rebecca Arrington, Side Porch Ind., LLC,2705 W. Buno Rd, Milford, Mi 48380, UnitedStates of America; e-mail: [email protected])(Please see page 52 for information onparticipatory rattan management in Nepal.)

WILDLIFE

How wildlife can better contribute tolivelihoods and poverty reductionWild animals historically have been a majorsource of food, clothing, weapons, medicineand rituals, although intensive use isdeclining because wildlife populations aredecreasing. As an important component offorests, the sustainable management ofwildlife requires a range of integratedapproaches if lasting solutions to the supplycrisis in many poor rural areas are to befound (see Box).

RATTAN

Rattans are spiny, climbing palms. Some600 species grow in the tropical forestsof Asia and Africa, with around 50traded commercially. Unlike bamboo,rattan does not regrow rapidly and isseldom sustainably managed.Overexploitation and loss of habitathave led to a dramatic reduction in theresource over the last 50 years.

Rattan is used locally for bridges,netting and baskets. Most is gathered byvillagers and forest dwellers and in someplaces communities have developedadvanced management systems, such asthe rattan gardens in Kalimantan,Indonesia.

Commercially, rattan is mainly usedto make furniture and craft goods forexport. Rattan collection is oftenseparated from manufacture so thepoorest people do not benefit from thevalue of the finished product. Butproducts can be made by small craftindustries to increase local incomessignificantly. For example, collectors inGhana who send rattan poles tocommercial factories earn about US$45per month, while furniture makers canearn up to US$250 per month simplyfrom producing items for local sale.

Product quality and design are twoof the most important factorsinfluencing marketability. Export ofrattan products can make importantcontributions to national incomes.China, Indonesia, Malaysia and thePhilippines exported an estimatedUS$1.68 billion worth of rattan andrattan products in 2004. Some countries,such as Indonesia, have introducedexport controls on rattan poles andsemi-processed rattan with the aim ofprotecting resources and boosting localmanufacturing, but the effects on localand global trade appear to be mixed.

People obtain more than 20 percent oftheir protein from wild meat and fish in62 developing countries. People in theCongo Basin alone consume more than 1 million tonnes of wild meat yearly(equivalent to 4 million cattle), whilepeople in the Amazon Basin consume 67 000 to 164 000 tonnes per year. Wildforest-dwelling animals represent amixed blessing, however, with raids oncrops counterbalancing ease of hunting.(Source: Unasylva, 57(224): 5–6.)

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resources. What we do know is that rattan’sforest habitats are shrinking while demandand extraction rates are increasing.

The International Network for Bambooand Rattan (INBAR) aims to increaseawareness of the threats to rattanresources as a first step in promoting theirsustainable management and use. At thesame time methods of gathering basicinformation should be developed as to howmuch rattan remains and where it is, and toencourage organizations to go out andcollect such information. Sustainablemanagement and harvesting methodsmust also be developed and show how theycan be applied in natural rain and monsoonforests and assist in developing anddemonstrating ways of growing rattan inplantations. (Source: In partnership for abetter world – strategy to the year 2015.2006. INBAR, Beijing, China.)

Rattan: from harvest to marketRattan is a valuable palm family NTFPproviding income for villagers who harvest itfor sale and use it in handicrafts.

From harvest to market, the rattanbusiness is laborious. Villagers harvest onfoot. Using simple hand tools, they scale hugetrees and cut the vines. Skill is required tomake accurate cuts while keeping watch forants and wasps nesting in the spikyprotection of the vine’s outer covering.

Processing soon follows harvest.Methods vary between regions, but one goalis shared: producing smooth, even-coloured, blemish-free, pliable cane.

Oil curing or deglazing consists of placingthe canes in boiling diesel oil solutions.Curing removes moisture, reduces fungalattacks, improves colour and increasespliability.

In some regions workers place canes inmud solutions and heat them over a firebefore rubbing the surface clean. Thismethod is seen in Indonesia, while in PapuaNew Guinea water washing is followed by afine steel and kerosene scrubbing.

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Although gaps in information make itdifficult to determine the extent to whichbushmeat can alleviate poverty and improvelivelihoods, evidence shows that poor peopleobtain a significant portion of their proteinfrom this source, particularly in lean seasons.They also earn income from the sale of anysurplus catch. While hunting wild animals isunlikely to be a major route out of poverty, ifregulated and sustainable it can diversifylivelihood options and provide a steppingstone for landless people to start a smallbusiness or have money to invest elsewhere.

Open access. Despite the value ofbushmeat as a source of high-quality proteinand income, access is not tightly controlled inmost cases. Individuals or entities generallydo not own the resource per se so that localuse or management rights are not welldefined, especially over large areas that

encompass several villages. As a result,hunters generally do not feel a sense ofstewardship, preferring instead to capture asmany animals as possible before othersdeplete the stocks. In addition, the equipmentis simple (bows and arrows, guns and traps),hunting fits in well with the farming cycle interms of labour needs and dried meat is easyto transport to market because it is light.

Illegal harvest and trade. Bushmeat isoften harvested for meat, as well as fortrophies, by using explosives, wire traps andother unlawful methods. Drivers of loggingtrucks then illicitly move the carcasses tourban markets. These activities involvethousands of people and are spread overimmense areas, many of which are remoteand inaccessible. Efforts to regulate huntingand trade with the intention of benefiting poorpeople can have quite the opposite effect.

Given clear indications that current levelsof wildlife harvesting are unsustainable inmany places, finding solutions requiresbuilding national and local capacity,clarifying rights, adopting participatoryapproaches to decision-making, using localknowledge and skills, and integratingbushmeat issues into broader strategies toimprove livelihoods.

Field practitioners can address issuesrelated to the sustainable use of wildlife byfirst learning about the local hunters, thetrade in bushmeat and the links tolivelihoods. On the basis of this information,they can then suggest to village leaders andother authorities ways to maintainsustainable hunting levels. (Source:extracted from Better forestry, less poverty:a practitioner’s guide. FAO Forestry Paper149. 2006. Rome. ISBN 92-5-105550-5;www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0645e/a0645e00.HTM)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Dr René Czudek, Forestry Officer (Wildlife andProtected Area Management), FOMC, Forestry Department, FAO, Viale delle Terme diCaracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy. Fax: +39 06 57055137; e-mail: [email protected]

Rhinos and elephants targeted by poachersin southern AfricaRhinos and elephants are being increasinglytargeted by poachers for the rhino horn andivory trades, while smaller mammals suchas antelope are being tracked for bushmeat,according to Animal Rights Africa (ARA). Inits Consuming wild life: the illegalexploitation of wild animals in South Africa,Zimbabwe and Zambia report, the groupnotes that the illegal killing of wild animals,using guns, snares, poison or hunting dogs,falls into three categories: traffickers, oftenoperating as part of international criminalnetworks, trade meat, ivory and rhino hornon local and international markets; poorpeople kill game for food and to sell parts assouvenirs or to traditional healers; and,finally, wealthy individuals hunt animals inprotected areas for their trophy value.

While data on the subject are fragmented,figures obtained by ARA show significantamounts of poaching, often targetingreserves. At least 70 rhinos have been killedin South Africa's famous Kruger NationalPark in the past six years. In Zimbabwe, therhino population in three parks has droppedsharply, ARA said, quoting figures from theZimbabwe Conservation Task Force. Thegroup also cited media reports of 28elephants killed in two national parks inZimbabwe since October 2006.

In Zambia, the trade in illegal bushmeatwas seen to be brisk with 12 tonnes of meatseized in the country in 2006.

Several countries, including Zimbabwe,have complained that the ban on elephantproducts proposed by Kenya and Mali willseriously affect hunting. The proposal is tobe discussed at a conference of theConvention on International Trade andEndangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora (CITES) in the Netherlands in June.(Source: Monsters and Critics [UnitedKingdom], 2 April 2007.)

Nature & FauneNature & Faune is an internationalbilingual (English and French) publicationof the FAO Regional Office for Africa. Itsaim is to disseminate information(scientific and technical knowledge) andpromote the exchange of experiences onwildlife, protected area management andthe sustainable use and conservation ofnatural resources in Africa.

The current issue deals with the themeof human/wildlife conflicts.

Subscription is free; just send an e-mailto [email protected]. Alternatively, the

CREATING INCENTIVES FORCONSERVATION

The World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF) is working with a village on theedge of the rain forest in southeastCameroon to regulate the commercialhunting of bushmeat. With new roadsopened for logging, local hunters andoutside poachers were selling theircatch to passing truck drivers for moremoney than they could earn fromother activities. Collaborative effortswith the Ministry of Environment andForests to stop such trading failedbecause it was impossible to patrol thelarge number of trucks travelling onthe numerous roads.

Given the incentive to keep wildlifeabundant for foreign hunters who paylarge sums of money for trophies, thevillagers and WWF worked out ascheme by which residents hunted onlyfor their own needs in return for thecommunity receiving a portion of thelicence fees that foreigners werecharged. These revenues paid forimprovements such as equipment forschools. The logging concessionaire alsoagreed to improve operations, providejobs for local people and allow them toaccess forest products for their ownconsumption. To help restrict hunting,company trucks bring frozen meat backfrom the cities to feed workers.



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magazine can be downloaded from theNature & Faune Web site at the addressbelow.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Ms Lonneke Bakker, Assistant Editor, Nature &Faune, FAO Regional Office for Africa, ForestryDepartmental Group, PO Box GP 1628, Accra,Ghana. Fax: (+233-21) 7010943; e-mail: [email protected] [email protected]; www.fao.org/world/regional/raf/workprog/forestry/magazine_en.htm

Illegal bushmeat trade growing in theUnited States of AmericaThe illegal import of African bushmeat is agrowing trade. Federal agents areconfiscating thousands of animalsincluding African rats, bats and great apeparts smuggled into the country. Touristsbringing in bushmeat in suitcases are beingcaught at airports at least once a week.Boxloads of illegal cargoes of bushmeathave been discovered. There is a thrivingblack market and the authorities say that itis a dangerous one. Bushmeat is a culturalfood preference for African expatriates inthe United States. But governmentscientists say bushmeat carries potentiallydeadly diseases that have already spreadfrom animals to humans.

University of California, Berkeley WildlifeEcology Professor Justin Brashares sayshealth is not the only issue. He is worriedthat whole species are now in danger ofextinction. “I don't condone it at all,” hesaid, “but many people who are selling it,and eating it, would like to see somelegalized trade. A United States

Department of Agriculture-approvedtrade.” Brashares said his team ofvolunteers have seen markets openlyselling the banned meat. The black marketis especially lucrative in the Bay Area,including San Francisco and San José.

Brashares says anyone who wants it canfind bushmeat. (Source: CBS 5 [SanFrancisco, United States of America], 21March 2007.)

The Neotropical bushmeat crisisThe devastating effects of the bushmeattrade on wild primates in Central and WestAfrica are well recognized. In contrast, thelargely uncontrolled hunting of primates inCentral and South America has receivedlittle attention. As in Africa, theconvergence of large-scale deforestation,increasing commercial hunting and thecapture of live animals have haddevastating effects on Neotropicalprimates and many species may be pushedto the brink of extinction.

Drawing on almost 200 primarilyscientific publications, Going to pot. TheNeotropical bushmeat crisis and its impacton primate populations comprehensivelyreviews the scale of primate use across 22Central and South American countries. Indoing so, the authors demonstrate thatcurrent levels of offtake are unsustainableacross most Neotropical primates' rangeand that effective conservation measuresare urgently required. In at least 16 of the22 Neotropical nations examined, huntingfor bushmeat poses a critical threat toprimate populations. There is a paucity ofdata for the remaining five countries(Argentina, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaraguaand Uruguay). However, this does of coursenot imply a paucity of problems. Onecountry, Chile, does not have any primatesat all.

Approximately eight million people inSouth America regularly consume

bushmeat as a source of protein. Asignificant portion of bushmeat fromtropical forests consists of primates. Whilelocal farmers and subsistence hunters areconsumers and increasingly traders,wealthier households also consumeconsiderable amounts of bushmeat.

Rural populations in the BrazilianAmazon alone are estimated to consumebetween 2.2 and 5.4 million primates peryear. Because of their slow reproductiverate and low population densities manyprimate species cannot sustain thisimmense offtake. Hunting of large andmedium-sized Neotropical primates occursat a rate that poses an extreme threat totheir long-term survival. Although currenthunting levels are lower in some areas, thisdoes not necessarily indicate a decreasedthreat. Instead, these numbers may reflectoverexploitation in the past that has led togenerally low population numbers. Theincreasing commercialization of bushmeathunting, modern hunting techniques andequipment, expanding infrastructure andgrowing human populations, combinedwith serious habitat degradation andfragmentation, further exacerbate thesituation.

Whereas the extent of habitatdestruction in the Neotropics is widelyacknowledged, the serious impact ofhunting is often ignored. However, thehunting of primates for food, rather thanhabitat loss is predicted to pose the mostserious threat to the survival of largeprimates in Central and South Americawithin the next two decades. As in Africa,habitat fragmentation and hunting aresynergistic, causing newly accessed forestregions to become available to hunters.

Data from hunted areas in manydifferent Amazonian sites show that largeprimate biomass has dropped by up to 93.5percent, in comparison with areas wherehunting is absent. The impact of thisreduction goes beyond the effects onprimate species. There is a domino effecton the forest ecosystem as a whole.Primates are important seed dispersers.Highly mobile woolly and spider monkeysfeed on fruits, and woolly monkeys inparticular consume the fruit of over 200different woody plants. The removal ofthese species therefore significantly affectsthe ability of plants to disperse their seedsand changes the dominance relationshipbetween tree species. In the medium termthis leads to changes in forest composition,structure and biodiversity.

FUNDING FOR WILDLIFE PROJECTS

SITA Trust’s Enriching NatureProgramme is providing funds forwildlife projects. Funding is available tosupport species and habitats that havebeen identified as a priority by theBiodiversity Action Planning process.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE

CONTACT:

The Barn, Brinkmarsh Lane, Falfield, South

Gloucestershire GL12 8PT, United Kingdom.

Fax: +44 1454 269090;

e-mail: [email protected];

http://www.sitatrust.org.uk/apply/nature



41

The hunting of Neotropical primatesoutlined in this report illustrates how atraditional way of life has becomebiologically devastating. There are no easyanswers to this dilemma, and anyresolution of this continent-wideconservation crisis depends on genuinecommitment from all stakeholders.Preventing the disappearance of manyprimate species in the Neotropics requiresurgent national and international action. Toprotect national biodiversity and theintegrity of their forests, range states aretherefore encouraged to prohibit primatehunting and strengthen theimplementation and enforcement ofbinding protection measures. (Source:extracted from the Executive Summary,Going to pot. The Neotropical bushmeatcrisis and its impact on primatepopulations. 2007. Care for the WildInternational, Kingsfold, United Kingdomand Pro Wildlife, Munich, Germany.Download from: www.careforthewild.com/files/Bushmeatreport1206_singlepages.pdf(Please see page 56 for information on thebushmeat trade in Sierra Leone.)

Wildlife managementAmong the multiple threats to wildlife, twoof the most immediate and direct areunsustainable hunting and trading inwildlife and wildlife products, andhuman/wildlife conflict.

In many parts of Africa, commercial tradein bushmeat for consumption is probably thesingle most important cause of the declineof wildlife populations, ranging from insects,birds and turtles to primates, antelopes,elephants and hippopotamuses. It wasestimated that in the Congo Basin alone, theannual offtake of bushmeat is about 5 million tonnes, but a recent, detailed studyof bushmeat offtake in the moist forests ofCameroon and Nigeria, which documentedan average offtake of 346 kg per km2,suggests a much lower offtake of up to 1 million tonnes for the Congo Basin.However, this lower estimate gives littlecause for comfort, because it is still far inexcess of a sustainable level, given theinherently low production of animal biomassin tropical forests.

Meat from wild animals is not only anAfrican issue (see Table). The meat fromfreshwater turtles is consumed in hugevolumes in East Asia, despite the fact that75 percent of the 90 species found in Asiaare considered threatened, and 18 of theseare critically endangered.

There are success stories of the revivalof overexploited wild animal populations. In1969, all 23 species of crocodilians werethreatened or had declining populations.Today, one-third of crocodilians can sustaina regulated commercial harvest, and onlyfour species are critically endangered. Inmany cases, well-managed, CITES-approved ranching programmes producesustainably harvested hides for theinternational market, garnering thesupport of industry and governments, whilehelping supplant illicit trade. Similarprogrammes in regulating the trade in woolproducts from South America’s vicuña haveresulted in similar successes. By the1960s, vicuña populations had beenreduced to 5 000 animals, less than 1 percent of historical populations, butconservation and management haverestored their numbers to 160 000. Today,the illegal global trade in wildlife is secondonly to narcotics and is valued at almostUS$5 billion.

Because of human population growth,the accompanying growth of humansettlements and the consequent reductionof wildlife habitat, conflicts betweenhumans and wildlife are occurring moreand more frequently around the world. InAfrica, where many people depend directlyon natural resources for their livelihoods,wildlife species such as crocodiles,elephants, hippopotamuses and lions raidcrops, injure or kill livestock, invade humansettlements and cause damage to personalbelongings, and can even injure and killpeople. As a result, local people areincreasingly hostile to wildlife and localcommunities do not cooperate withconservation authorities. The result isincreased instances of poaching and otherillegal activities.

The causes of human/wildlife conflictwill not be eliminated in the near futureand it can be expected that conflict will onlyincrease in frequency and intensity. Thereis, therefore, an urgent need to find ways tomanage this conflict. A range ofapproaches are being tried, includingnatural and artificial barriers, such as

suspending chilli pepper-impregnatedcloths on ropes surrounding agriculturalfields, a technique used successfully in anFAO project in Ghana to deter elephantsfrom raiding crops. At present, the mostreasonable approach to managing theconflict is to implement short-termmitigation strategies jointly with long-termpreventive measures.

A challenge for policy-makers is tobalance conservation of wildlife resourceswith the livelihood requirements of localpopulations in all regions. (Source: State ofthe World’s Forests [SOFO] 2007, FAO.)

The impact of acorn crops on deer huntingin the United States of AmericaDeer hunters around Pocahontas say thatmany of the trees are withering and theirvegetation is dead. Thanks to a cold snapthat hit Northeast Arkansas last weekmuch of spring’s green has now turned tobrown. Avid hunters know the threat thiscould have on wildlife: not having an acorncrop will make it hard for deer and turkeysto make it through the winter.

Acorns produced by many of thesewithering trees provide vital nutrients foranimals such as deer. “Acorns are thestaple for wildlife. They count on the nutcrop every year. You have lean years, but Idon't think there's ever been a year whereyou have zero,” said one hunter. He saysthe true effects of this cold snap on plantvegetation probably will not be seen untillater in the year, when the deer huntingseason begins. “In order for the does toproduce good fawns for the spring, they aregoing to need some fat preserves. That'swhat the acorns do for the deer.”

Species Initial Year Current Decline population population (%)

Bonobo (pygmy chimpanzee) 100 000 1984 5 000 95.0Asian elephant 200 000 1900 40 000 80.0African elephant 10 000 000 1900 500 000 95.0Tibetan antelope 1 000 000 1900 75 000 92.5

Decline in selected animal populations



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The problems with vegetation will notaffect the current turkey season, buthunters will see the effects on the deerhunting season which begins in October.(Source: KAIT [Arkansas, United States ofAmerica], 14 April 2007.)

YACÓN

El Yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) enPerúEl Yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) es unaespecie conocida principalmente en elPerú y en los últimos años ha tomadoimportancia económica. Fue domesticada ycultivada utilizando su raíz tuberosa comoalimento fresco, de sabor dulce,refrescante y con propiedadesantidiabéticas. Esto se confirma a través delos restos arqueológicos (cerámica, textilesy restos de raíces) de las culturas Nazca(500 aC.-700 dC), Paracas (1500–500 aC yMochica (500 aC–700 dC), de la costaperuana, así como la cultura Candelariadel noroeste argentino, entre otras.

Del vocablo quechua llaqón (su agua),también conocida en Aimara como aricomao jicoma, es originaria de la vertienteoriental de los Andes y valles interandinos,principalmente en Perú. Es comúnencontrarla en los huertos familiares yalrededor de los campos o en asociacióncon otras especies tales como maíz (Zeamays) y frijol (Phaseolus vulgaris); sinembargo posee un amplio rango dedistribución, desde Venezuela hastaArgentina, extendiéndose su cultivo azonas agroecológicas tropicales altas. Suhábitat natural varía entre los 1000-2500 mde altitud. Requiere humedad en lasprimeras etapas de crecimiento, perodespués puede soportar períodos de

sequía así como temperaturas altas ymínimas de 4-5 ºC. Para producir raícescomestibles necesita suelos profundos,ricos y bien drenados. En el Perú se cultivaactualmente desde el norte hasta el sur delpaís.

Pertenece a la Familia Asteraceae(Compositae), es una planta perenne quepuede medir hasta 2,5 m de altura, conhojas laminares simples palmatinervias decolor verde con abundante pubescencia enel haz y en el envés, tallo exhuberantecilíndrico, piloso y hueco, de color verde.Flores visibles a partir de los 4–5 mesesdespués de la plantación, de color amarilloo anaranjado, inflorescencia racimosa detipo cabezuela en capítulo con un promediode 10 flores por planta, con 5 sépalos porflor. Posee dos tipos de raíces: fibrosas y dereserva, raíz tuberosa. Las raíces fibrosasson muy delgadas y su función principal esla fijación de la planta al suelo y laabsorción de agua y nutrientes. Las raícesde reserva son engrosadas, fusiformes,ovadas, existen diferentes formashortícolas, tales como la blanca,anaranjada y morada. Entre las laboresmás importantes para su cultivo está lapropagación exclusivamente asexual,encontrándose seis formas: 1) porporciones de cepa; 2) por brotes enraizadosen la cepa; 3) por estacas; 4) por nudosindividuales; 5) por tallos enteros y 6) invitro, siendo las más usadas las dosprimeras.

El período vegetativo varía entre 8 y 9meses dependiendo del ecotipo y lugar desiembra, se puede cultivar todo el año,pero se restringe básicamente a la épocade lluvias (octubre a diciembre). Lapubescencia de las hojas evita que losinsectos se alimenten y transmitan plagasy enfermedades importantes.

El rendimiento de raíces varía entre 20 y50 tm/ha y es considerado un productoperecedero después de cosechado. Elprecio en campo es de 0,13 euros/kg (S/ 0,50 nuevos soles), pudiendo llegar a losmercados de Lima a 0,38 euros/kg (S/1,50 nuevos soles). Las hojas tambiénson comercializadas, principalmente paraforraje y para la elaboración de tisanas.

El Yacón se cultiva también en NuevaZelandia, Japón, República Checa, China,Corea, Estados Unidos, Brasil, Paraguay yTaiwán. Es en el Japón donde radica sumayor estudio y comercio.

Como elaboración de productosderivados de esta especie podemosmencionar refrescos, miel y tisanas (de

hojas), teniendo otras alternativas deindustrialización tales como: hojuelas,jarabe y pasas. Numerosos estudiosdemuestran la presencia de altasconcentraciones de oligofructanos en lasraíces, fundamento importante paraconsiderar a esta especie como fuente deazúcar natural para el control de ladiabetes.

Aportado por el Ing. M. Abozaglo,Madrid, España

PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN, DIRIGIRSE A: M. Abozaglo C/ Santa Eduvigis Nº 5, 1ºB 28042 Madrid, EspañaCorreo elecrónico: [email protected] Mr J.L: de Pedro. ETS Ingenieros de MontesCiudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, EspañaCorreo electrónico: [email protected] �

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products and markets 25 · 2007-07-24 · products and markets non-wood news no. 15 july 2007 26...

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