It does not appear that formal statistics are collected on NWFP in French Guiana, despite the fact that 90% of this Overseas Department of France is made up of undisturbed equatorial rain forest (IUCN 1986). Indigenous peoples inhabit the rain forest and are dependent upon it to a significant degree for their livelihood, so it is safe to assume that NWFP uses are described in the anthropological literature although not in statistical terms.
French Guiana is an excellent example of presumed intensive and extensive use of NWFP for which there is no supporting statistical data. Only one product is included in the table for French Guiana.
9.2 Non-wood goods and services
Wild harvested palm hearts (over 2 000 000 trees harvested in 1985-86) represent the fragmentary production data found for French Guiana. The pinot palm (Euterpe oleracea), which is the source of the palm heart production, is a clustering palm with the potential for sustainable management.
French Guiana has three national parks designated, all located on the coastal plain, and covering an area of 60 000 ha (IUCN 1982).
FAO. 1998.FAO production yearbook. Vol. 51 – 1997. FAO, Rome.
Grenand, P. et al. 1987. Parmacopees traditionnelles en Guyane (Creoles, Palikur, Wayampi). Memoires ORSTOM 108, Paris.
Grenand, P., Prevost, M-F. 1994. Les plantes colorantes utilisees en Guyane Francaise.Journ. d’Agric. Trad. et de Bota. Appl., nouvelle serie, 36(1):139-172.
IUCN. 1982. IUCN Directory of Neotropical Protected Areas. Tycooly Publishing, Dublin.
IUCN. 1986. Plants in Danger. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Ricci, J.-P. 1990. Les pinotières. Revue Bois et Forêts des Tropiques No. 220, Spécial.Guyane. 55-63.
Jean-Jacques de Granville, Marie-Françoise Prévost, ORSTOM, French Guiana. E-mail: [email protected]
