No. 07/02

Welcome to FAO's NWFP-Digest-L. a free e-mail journal that covers all aspects of non-wood forest products.A special thank you to all those who have shared information with us.

1. Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in Ghana
2. Amazonia produces ecological sandals
3. Indian Villagers to Take Charge of Forests under World Bank Program
4. Biodiversity map of the world
5. APIMONDIA
6. Project to produce vegetable ivory in Amazonia
7. Biological Conservation Newsletter
8. Indonesia: The alternative approach of community forest management
9. Phytomedica Network
10. Moringa stenopetala
11. NWFP articles
12. Web sites
13. Events
14. Publications of interest

1. Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in Ghana

From: Harriet Gillett [email protected]

A three-year project (1999-2002) on the conservation and sustainable use of the medicinal plants in Ghana, funded by the Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species has recently been completed. The project involved collaboration between six organizations, three in Ghana and three based in the UK. Full details of the project and all project outputs have been posted on the web, see www.unep-wcmc.org/species/plants/ghana

This includes medicinal plant accession and specimen data from the University of Ghana Herbarium and Aburi Botanic Garden, distribution maps for each species, manual on medicinal plant home gardens manual and ethnobotanical survey. A copy of the website is also available on CD-ROM, for users without access to the Internet.

Forfurther information contact the project leader,

Harriet Gillett
Senior Programme Officer
Species Programme
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre
219 Huntingdon Rd
Cambridge CB3 0DL
UK
Tel: +44 1223 277314
Fax: +44 1223 277136
email: [email protected]
http://www.unep-wcmc.org

2. Amazonia produces ecological sandals

Source: Amazon News, 25 July[email protected]

The D'arvore sandal, made from vegetable leather and other natural rubber derivatives, is the result of the project to develop products using raw materials taken from the Amazonian rainforest. The project is sponsored by Ecoamazon and the Association of Small-scale Rural Producers and Extractivists of Epitaciolância and Brasiléia. The aim is to contribute towards the improvement of the social and economic conditions of the population of Amazonia.

According to the project's co-ordinator, João Tezza, experiments were carried out using various types of materials. The products selected are extracted from the rubber tree and are used to manufacture both the soles and the straps of the sandals. "If necessary, we can reinforce the straps with animal leather or canvas", Tezza explained. "It was because of the origin of the products that we selected the name of the mark: D'arvore ('From the tree')", he added.

28 associations of rural producers in Acre's Extractivist Reserves are responsible for production of the rubber products, along with the Kaxinawa Indians. An institution in Rio Grande do Sul has been contracted to manufacture the sandals.

Tezza said that in buying a D'arvore sandal, consumers are participating in a broader project; that of environmental preservation. In June this year, the project received the World Bank's "Innovative Social Initiative" prize, worth US$10,000. The aim of the project, launched in 2001, is to make sustainable development viable.

The project is co-ordinated by Ecoamazon and financed by the non-governmental organization, WWF-Brazil.


3. Indian Villagers to Take Charge of Forests under World Bank Program

Source: RECOFTC E-letter No. 2002.15 (31 July 2002)

The World Bank this week launched a program that seeks to put villagers in some of the poorest areas of southern India in charge of tropical forests where they forage for fuel and food.

The Washington D.C.-based Bank said that a US$108 million credit program would encourage tribal groups, migrant grazers, and landless communities to take on primary responsibility for managing forests in parts of the state of Andhra Pradesh.

"The project aims to reduce rural poverty by placing forest areas under the management of poor and primarily tribal forest-dependent communities," the Bank said in a statement on the project that was approved by its board last week.

The project, to be implemented in 14 of the state's poorest districts and overseen by the local forestry department, comes after a similar program, launched by the Bank in 1994, which brought Andhra Pradesh officials and forest communities together to manage woodlands.

That joint project, which ended in 2000, drew criticism from environmental and conservation campaigners over the stake held by forest communities in relation to officials from the forestry department.

"The main problem with the joint management of forests was the fact that the revenues were never equally shared by the government and the forest dwellers," said Richard Mahapatra, a special correspondent for Down to Earth journal, published by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

"Many of the promises that were made in the earlier project were not kept," said Mahapatra, noting that villagers received less than 50 percent of revenues from bamboo trees and tendu leaves (used to make tobacco rolls), despite being promised an equal share from non-timber products.

"The [Andhra Pradesh] project can only work if the local community gets the full benefits of forest produce," he stressed.

The six-year project, which is expected to begin before October 2002, will give villagers more income than they received under the previous program because it will also include a share of revenue from timber sales, according to Sumir Lal, the Bank's spokesperson in New Delhi.

It will start by laying the groundwork for local people to get involved in the management of the four million hectares of forestland through a series of training sessions with villagers, non-governmental organizations, and state officials.

The Bank hopes that by giving local communities the knowledge and skills to manage the forests, by maintaining healthy trees and combating illegal practices, such as logging for firewood, the program will not only increase the wealth of local people, but also help to conserve the rich plant and animal life in the areas. Forest officials will supervise the work of the villagers, ensuring that the forests are preserved, the produce marketed, and accounts maintained. A series of village committees will eventually be set up to take over sales of forest products and accountancy work.

"This project will put local villagers in charge of the forests. They will get revenues from the forests which will, in turn, encourage them to conserve the forests," said Lal. "It is essentially an anti-poverty, income-generating program with a side focus on the sustainable use of forests."


4. Biodiversity map of the world

Source: BBC, 1 August 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2166306.stm

An interactive atlas of the world's natural wealth paints a graphic picture of humanity's inexorable spread. It shows that since 1850 humans have affected almost half the planet's land. It cites one estimate that current extinction rates mean we are losing one major drug every two years. But the atlas, produced by the United Nations, says nature is resilient enough to survive our impact.

Entitled the World Atlas Of Biodiversity: Earth's Living Resources For The 21st Century, it is the work of the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (Unep-WCMC), based in Cambridge, UK. It has been collated from the centre's research, the work of independent scientists, and governmental and other reports.

Planetary bulldozers

The centre says the data will be made available to users by a unique interactive mapping service accessible from the Unep-WCMC website. This will let them create their own maps comparing subjects from wilderness density to human population.

    The atlas details extinctions past and present:

    ¿ up to 95% of Earth's species may have disappeared during the later Permian extinction episode, about 250 million years ago
    ¿ starting 45,000 years ago, a high proportion of larger land animals became extinct, just at the time when humans arrived
    ¿ 80% of the maize varieties used in Mexico in 1930 have been lost
    ¿ it is estimated that fewer than 1% of the world's 250,000 tropical plants have been screened for medicinal potential
    ¿ scientists believe that current extinction rates mean we are failing to discover one major drug every other year.

    Yet 80% of people in developing countries depend on medicines based largely on plants and animals, while 56% of the top 150 prescribed drugs in the US derive from the wild.

The atlas says humans have altered and had a direct impact on almost 47% of the global land area in the last 150 years.


5. APIMONDIA

Source: Bees for Development[email protected]

APIMONIDIA is the world Federation of Beekeepers' Associations. APIMONDIA represents the interests of beekeepers worldwide, and organizes a major international congress every second year. It includes 55 national beekeeping associations of 49 countries representing all continents and counting over 5 million members, 4 Associate Members (institutes and bodies pursuing studies in beekeeping as well as institutions and firms promoting and trading apiarian products and technical equipment) and 3 Individual Correspondents (individuals wishing to support personally the promotion of world apiculture).

For more information, please contact:

APIMONDIA Secretary General
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 101
00186 Rome, Italy
E-mail: [email protected]
www.apimondia.org/


6. Project to produce vegetable ivory in Amazonia

Source: Amazon News, 1 August[email protected]

Palm seed, with properties similar to ivory, could be an alternative source of income in Acre, Brazil. A joint project funded by the non-governmental organizations Centre for the Workers of Amazonia (CTA) and BrasilConnects hopes to organized production and create a market in Brazil for vegetable ivory, as the seed of the jarina palm is known. The palm is found in the states of Acre, Rondonia and part of Amazonas. Practically unknown in Brazil, the species is also found in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, where the exportation of the product, principally to the United States, is worth around US$ 50 million per year.

The partnership will undertake a survey of resources and studies of the management, collection, processing and commercialization of the jarina (phytelephas ssp) seeds in two agro-extractivist settlements in Acre: São Luís do Remando and Porto Dias. "These communities have already worked with timber and non-timber extractivism, but the collection of jarina is still sporadic and disorganized", explained Rocio Chacchi Ruiz, co-ordinator of the non-timber part of the Forest Management Programme at CTA.

The vegetable ivory is the product of the polishing of the jarina seeds. With physical characteristics similar to animal ivory (durability, colour, shine), it is used in the production of jewellery, craft goods and other objects, like the embellishment of guitars. "The Brazilian species, with a diameter of around 3cm, is smaller than that found in Ecuador, with approximately 6cm, but can be used in the same way", said Rocio.

The aim of the CTA is not only to organize local families to collect the product but also to help them attain the highest possible level of processing and train them to manage the business. As well as financial support of R$200,000, in two years' time, BrasilConnects - the Sao Paulo based organized which aims to provide incentive for Brazilian culture and ecology - will act in a managerial role, publicizing the product and identifying potential markets. "We are already talking with a jewellery designer in Sao Paulo to foster the use of jarina and other Amazonian raw materials. Jarina could become an important alternative source of income in the state of Acre", said José Pascowitch, Director of BrasilConnects.


7. Biological Conservation Newsletter

From: FAO's NWFP Programme

Since 1981, the Biological Conservation Newsletter has been a monthly publication of the Department of Systematic Biology - Botany <http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany>, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. The newsletter contains items on biological conservation issues. Articles on conservation research and current news items are featured, as well as information on new publications, fellowships and grants, job announcements, educational materials, and meetings. In addition, an extensive searchable bibliography of current literature is provided, making the newsletter a valuable resource to the biological diversity/conservation community.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Gary A. Krupnick, Editor and Webmaster
Tel.: (202) 357-2027 | Fax: (202) 786-2563
E-mail: [email protected]
http://rathbun.si.edu/bcn/


8. Indonesia: The alternative approach of community forest management

Source: WRM Bulletin No. 60 in RECOFTC E-letter No. 2002.15 (July 31, 2002)

The NGO Down to Earth has recently concluded a special report titled "Forests, people and rights", which provides very detailed analytical information on the forest situation in Indonesia. The following paragraphs have been extracted from the chapter "Community forest management: the way forward" and we recommend our readers to access the full document (see details below).

According to the study, forest peoples have been regarded by Indonesia's powerful wood industry and successive governments in Jakarta as an obstacle to the profitable exploitation of the forests and their skills and knowledge were unrecognized, until very recently.

However, community forest management provides an alternative approach which puts forest peoples at the centre of decision-making and sees them, not as a problem to be dealt with, but as a key part of the solution. In Indonesia, the community forestry movement starts from the premise that the domination of the state, the centralized nature of forest management and the state's refusal to recognize adat (indigenous) rights are the major causes of deforestation and forest degradation.

Community-based natural resource management seeks to guarantee access and control over forest resources for people living in and around forests who depend on them for their economic, social, cultural and spiritual well being. Forests should be managed to provide inter-generational security and increase the likelihood of sustainability. It is based on three principles:

* the rights and responsibilities over forest resources must be clear, secure and permanent;

* the forests must be properly managed so that there is a flow of benefits and added value;

* forest resources must be transferred in good condition to ensure their future viability.

Communities wanting to retain, construct or develop community-based management schemes face major challenges: the wider political and economic imperatives of international financial institutions which prioritize revenues from timber; central government policies entrenched in the past; rampant corruption; etc.

Forest peoples face internal challenges too. Decision-making within traditional indigenous communities may be hierarchical. Women, the poorest members of the community - particularly the landless or low status families - and seasonal forest users may not have a say in how resources are apportioned. And they also undergo changes: people who practised subsistence forest farming and had little need for cash even a generation ago now want money to pay for clothing, medical care, outboard motors for canoes (and diesel for them), school uniforms and books. Transport and accommodation costs incurred during visits to lobby local and central government officials are becoming a common budget item for forest peoples.

The forests on which these traditional lifestyles depend have also changed. Large tracts of forest formerly reserved intact as insurance for hard times or as a legacy for future generations have been at best logged over and at worst cleared for plantations. The valuable resins, rattans and forest fruits which used to be traded are becoming scarcer, as are the medicinal plants used by shamans for traditional healing. As the forests disappear, so do the skills and knowledge of indigenous communities.

Indigenous communities are not the only ones living in and around what remains of Indonesia's forests. Migrants from other areas --even other islands-- peasant farmers dispossessed by plantations and urbanization, transmigrants and miners are all laying claim to these lands and resources. Some may have lived there for several generations. Negotiations between all these groups must take place to avoid conflict.

Indonesia's forest peoples are well aware of the need to adapt their institutions to a changing world and are discussing such issues as identity, sovereignty and legal representation both within their own communities and with others. They are using new opportunities provided by the regional and national indigenous peoples' alliances (AMA and AMAN) to move these debates forward.

Civil society organizations and a growing number of funding agencies in Indonesia and abroad recognize that consistent support for forest peoples to develop their own strong, dynamic, inclusive and democratic organizations is vital to gain wider support for community-based forest management and effect a shift away from 'the timber-mining' regime that has proven so disastrous until now.

Article extracted from: "Forests, People and Rights", written by Liz Chidley, edited by Carolyn Marr. Down to Earth, International Campaign for Ecological Justice in Indonesia, Special Report, June 2002, http://dte.gn.apc.org/srfin.htm


9. Phytomedica Network

From: Ernest Rukangira, Conserve Africa Foundation, [email protected]

We are pleased to let you know that we have launched again the Phytomedica exchange of information and discussions on medicinal plants. This One-year Programme for Enhancing the Exchange of Information and Knowledge through the Phytomedica Network is being implemented by the Conserve Africa Foundation with the support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF). For more information about the CEPF and funding application procedures, please visit their Internet site at: www.cepf.net

Phytomedica e-mail list has been dormant for some time due to lack of funding to manage the Listserve, to stimulate discussions and to gather the relevant information for dissemination to members of the Group.

It is our pleasure to take this opportunity to thank very much the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) for their continuing support to actions and initiatives that contribute to the advancement of the sustainable use and conservation of medicinal plants.

The PHYTOMEDICA forum is an interactive e-mail discussion and learning process on the sustainable use and conservation of medicinal plants, the development of phytomedicines and other related natural products. The purpose of the Phytomedica Network is to provide a forum for debate, collaboration, networking and information exchange and dissemination on people, issues, policies, practices, possibilities, problems, perspectives, activities, case studies and R&D relating to medicinal and aromatic plants, ethnomedicine, ethnopharmacology, phytomedicines, phytotherapy, alternative and complementary medicine, traditional medicine and healing.

We are hoping that by the end of the Programme we will have a clear picture on priorities, constraints, needs and on new initiatives for the advancement of the sector. A summary of the discussions and issues raised will be compiled and distributed to members of the Group and to other interested parties.

In addition to posing queries, subscribers are encouraged to respond to queries as well. Our objective is to stimulate interactive debate. Your contributions are vital to the success of this forum and so you are invited to send messages to the list as well as passively view the mailings of others. Please don't hesitate to post any issues/questions you would like to raise, or advertise research reports or other publications you intend to promote.

If you are not a member of the Group you may join, simply by sending a blank e-mail to: [email protected]

Other e-mail addresses:

To post a message: [email protected]

To unsubscribe: [email protected]

Archives: http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Phytomedica/

Queries/problems to: [email protected]

10. Moringa stenopetala

Source: Phytomedica listserve[email protected]

Whilst in Ethiopia recently I conducted a seminar in the so-called "lowlands", where Moringa stenopetala grew abundantly. I was told that the leaves of this tree are used by almost every household as a vegetable.

I showed the group a video produced by ECHO in North America which describes the massive contribution made by moringa leaf powder in a programme to combat malnutrition in Senegal. This was produced from the more common Moringa oleifera. The film showed the results of a scientific analysis of Moringa oleifera leaf powder, which indicates a high content of proteins, vitamins and minerals.

Of course, the participants in the seminar wanted to know whether leaf powder made from Moringa stenopetala is just as rich in proteins, minerals and vitamins - but I do not know whether any such analysis has ever been conducted.

If anybody can help, please contact:

Keith Lindsey
anamed (Action for Natural Medicine)
Schafweide 77
71364 Winnenden, Germany
Tel: +49 7195 74572
Fax: +49 7195 65367
E-mail: [email protected]
www.anamed.org


11. NWFP articles

Source: FIU 29 JUL 02. H. Gyde Lund [[email protected]]

Several NWFP-related articles of Pankaj Oudhia have appeared on the net. Pankaj invites you to visit these sites and give your comments:


12. Web sites

From: FAO's NWFP Programme

The Sustainable Utilization of Non-Timber Forest Products Project in Vietnam has updated their hosted site with Mekonginfo with a full list of their publications.
www.mekonginfo.org/partners/NTFP/index.htm

Alaska HoneyBee Home Page
 http://balder.prohosting.com/~starrier/index.htm

ForestryUSA.com
ForestryUSA.com is a comprehensive source of information on America's forestry and forest products sectors. Their directories contain up-to-date links to the major forest-related websites and their services include forestry employment opportunities, forestry news, and business opportunities.
www.forestryusa.com

UniversitiesWorldwide
Includes hotlines to 6 287 universities in 169 countries. If your university is not included in the listing, you can add your listing to the website.
http://geowww.uibk.ac.at/univ/

13. Events

From: FAO's NWFP Programme

Ecology in a Changing World, VIII International Congress of Ecology
 11-18 August 2002
Seoul, Korea

For more information, please contact:

Intecol Secretariat
Lunigiana Museum of Natural History
Fortezza della Brunella - 54011 Aulla (Italy)
Tel +39 0187 400252
Fax +39 0187 420727
E-mail: [email protected]
www.intecol.org

2002 Agroforestry Expo
13 October 2002
Mount Barker, Western Australia

For more information, please contact:

Monica Durcan
56 Broadway
Bickley, WA 6076
Australia
E-mail: [email protected]
www.agroforestry.progressrural.wa.gov.au/

Tourism and the Natural Environment
23-25 October 2002.
Eastbourne, England.

For more information, please contact:

Valerie Hamber
University of Brighton
49 Darley Road
Eastbourne, BN20 7UR
England.
Fax: 44-(0)- 1273-643619
Email: [email protected]
www.bus.bton.ac.uk/symposium/index.htm

Bioproduct from plants and microbes

Rothamsted, Hertfordshire, UK
5-7 November 2002

Advances in molecular biology give us new opportunities to draw judiciously upon the rich natural product resource base provided by the world's diverse flora and fauna and to use the associated 'know how' to develop novel practices and products that can be more efficient, cost competitive, better targeted and generally more sustainable.

The third Rothamsted International BioMarket aims to bring together entrepreneurial groups from around the world and to help initiate successful partnerships between those who are involved in the research, development and commercialization of innovative products and services from plant and microbial sources.

For more information, please contact:

Dr Roger Atkin or Amanda King
Rothamsted International BioMarket
Rothamsted Experimental Station
Harpenden, Hertfordshire
UK AL5 2JQ
Tel: +44 (0)1582 763133 ext 2840/2`
Fax: +44 (0)1582 760981
E-mail: [email protected]
www.bioproduct.info/index.php
www.biomarket.iacr.ac.uk

The National Honey Show
 14-16 November 2002
London, UK
Lectures in the three-day programme include:

¿ Propolis - Future Medicine?
¿ Household Poverty Reduction through Beekeeping amongst Uganda Rural Women
¿ The Gender Issues in Beekeeping

For more information, please contact:

Rev H.F. Capener
Honorary General Secretary
1 Baldric Road
Folkestone, Kent CT20 2NR
UK
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel/Fax: +44-(0)1303-254579
www.honeysow.co.uk


14. Publications of interest

From: FAO's NWFP Programme

Aryeetey, E.B.D.; Toulmin, C. (ed.); Delville, P.L. (ed.); Traore, S. 2002. Behind the norms: women's access to land in Ghana. The dynamics of resource tenure in West Africa. 2002, 86-97. James Currey Ltd; Oxford; UK

Blujdea, V; Dragoi, S; Vancura, K (ed.); Hradilova, E. 2001. General overview on the forest products and services in Romania. Seminar on valuation of forest goods and services. A contribution to the work of the MCPFE, Opocno, Czech Republic, 19-21 November 2000. 2001, 48-54.

    The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of the forest products sector in Romania in general, and the non-wood forest products and services in particular, against the overall background of the whole forestry sector. The indicators of the national forest fund along with the structural features are intended to provide a brief description. The variety of Romanian forest services including protective, conservation and special functions is depicted. Non wood products specific to the forest fund include all game within its extent, all fish from mountain water, fish farms, lakes and ponds from the forest fund, forest fruit, forest seed, edible mushrooms from the spontaneous flora, medicinal and aromatic plants.

Deutschman, D.H. 2001. Design and analysis of biodiversity field experiments. Ecol. Res. 16(5):833-843.

Gerwing, J.J., and Vidal, E. 2002. Changes in liana abundance and species diversity eight years after liana cutting and logging in eastern Amazonian forest. Conserv. Biol. 16(2):544-548

Gustafsson, L. 2002. Presence and abundance of red-listed plant species in Swedish forest. Conser. Biol. 16(2):377-388.

Kodandapani Narendran; Murthy, I.K.; Suresh, H.S.; Dattaraja, H.S.; Ravindranath, N.H.; Sukumar, R; Narendran, K: 2001. Non-timber forest product extraction, utilization and valuation: a case study from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Southern India. Economic-Botany. 2001, 55: 4, 528-538.

    The authors evaluated the diversity, social, and economic aspects of non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), in southern India. The NBR is a region known for its floral and faunal diversity, as well as an area with increasing human pressure. Fifty to 75% of the households in rural areas gather a diversity of forest products. Dominant NTFPs contributed 25-60% of the average annual per capita household income from NTFPs. The mean annual per capita household income from NTFPs ranges between Rs.134 and Rs.4 955. The mean annual income per hectare ranges from Rs.93 in the montane zone to Rs.3 780 in the moist deciduous. NTFPs contribute 15-50% of the annual per capita income of rural households. Ethnicity plays an important role in the collection of NTFPs and ethnic tribes derive a large proportion of their annual per capita income from NTFPs.

Mayers, J., et al. 2001. Forestry Tactics: Lessons learned from Malawi's National Forestry Programme.Policy that works for forests and people series no. 11. International Institute for Environment and Development, London. ISBN: 1-899825-85-1.

For more information, please contact:
Earthprint Limited,
Orders Department,
P.O. Box 119, Stevenage,
Herfordshire, SG1 4TP,
UK.
Tel. +44 1438748111
Fax. +441438748844
Email: [email protected]
www.earthprint.com


Nath, Snehlata; Roy, Pratim; John, Matthew; Leo, Robert. 2001. Honey hunters and beekeepers of Tamil Nadu.

For more information, please contact: Bees for Development, Troy, Monmouth, NP25 4AB, United Kingdom
Fax: +44 (0) 16007 16167.
Tel: +44 (0) 16007 13648
E-mail: [email protected]


Padmini, S., Rao M.N.; Ganeshaiah, K.N., Shaanker, R.U.. 2001. Genetic diversity of Phyllanthus emblica in tropical forests of South India: impact of anthropogenic pressures. Journal-of-Tropical-Forest-Science. 2001, 13: 2, 297-310

    In the Indian subcontinent, extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is a major occupation of the forest dwelling and forest fringe communities. A substantial portion of their livelihood is derived from the extraction of NTFPs. Despite the widespread dependence, little is known of the possible impacts that such extraction has on the regeneration and genetic diversity of the species. The authors examined the impact of anthropogenic pressures on the regeneration and genetic diversity of Phyllanthus emblica, an important NTFP species, across increasing gradients of pressures (disturbance) at two sites in the deciduous forests of south India.


Salafsky, N; Cauley, H; Balachander, G; Cordes, B; Parks, J; Margoluis, C; Bhatt, S; Encarnacion-C; Russell-D; Margoluis-R. 2001. A systematic test of an enterprise strategy for community-based biodiversity conservation. Conservation-Biology. 2001, 15: 6, 1585-1595

    A commonly held belief is that if people can benefit financially from enterprises that depend on nearby forests, reefs, and other natural habitats, then they will take action to conserve and sustainably use them. The Biodiversity Conservation Network brought together conservation and development organizations and local communities to systematically test this hypothesis across 39 conservation project sites in Asia and the Pacific. Each project implemented one or more community-based enterprises (such as setting up an ecotourism lodge, distilling essential oils from wild plant roots, producing jams and jellies from forest fruits, harvesting timber, or collecting marine samples to test for pharmaceutical compounds). Each project team collected the biological, enterprise, and social data necessary to test the network's hypothesis in 1998. The authors present the results of this test. They found that a community-based enterprise strategy can lead to conservation, but only under limited conditions and never on its own.


Singh, N.M. 2001. Women and community forests in Orissa: rights and management. Indian Journal of Gender Studies. 2001, 8: 2, 257-270.


Turner, N.J.; Cocksedge, W. 2001. Aboriginal use of non-timber forest products in Northwestern North America: applications and issues. Journal of Sustainable Forestry. 2001, 13: 3-4, 31-57

    Aboriginal peoples in northwestern North America have traditionally used hundreds of different forest plants for food, materials and medicines. Plant products have also been economically important as trading goods. Today, there are excellent prospects for aboriginal people to participate in the harvesting and marketing of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), but there are serious issues of access to and control of resources, respect of intellectual property rights, and concerns for conservation of plants and ecosystems that must be addressed. The authors provide an overview of past, current and potential use of NTFPs by aboriginal peoples in British Columbia, Canada, and neighbouring areas, and discuss the relevant issues and concerns, with recommendations about how these can be accommodated.


Vancura, K; Hradilova, E; Vancura, K (ed.); Hradilova, E. 2001. Seminar on valuation of forest goods and services. A contribution to the work of the MCPFE,-Opocno,-Czech-Republic,-19-21-November,-2000. 2001, 136 pp.; Forestry and Game Management Research Institute, Jiloviste-Strnady, Czech Republic.

    Seventeen conference papers on forest valuation are presented. The papers deal with valuation methodologies and cover valuation issues concerning forest externalities, biodiversity, forest services, and wood and non-wood forest products.


Vinay, Kumar; Bhat, S.A.; Kumar, V. 2001. Technology management in rural industries: governmental initiatives in India. National Bank News Review Mumbai. 2001, 17: 3, 45-52.

    The government of India has given special emphasis on enhancing technology management capabilities of rural industries. It is taking appropriate measures on technology upgrading, technology transfer, technology adoption, technical training for capacity building, etc. The article discusses and presents an overview, along with case studies, of the government's efforts in this direction. The case studies deal with technology management with respect to cashew processing, fruit and vegetable processing, non-wood forest produce, vegetable dyes, and the guar gum industry.

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last updated:  Friday, August 28, 2009