No. 08/01
Welcome to the 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. Survey on the commercial potential of selected tropical NWFP from the state of Acre, Brazil
2. Hunting in the Taï region
3. Voices from the Forest
4. Russian Berries to Quench EU Thirst
5. New Web site for NTFP Project in Vietnam
6. Amazonia Web site
7. Forthcoming events
8. Proceedings on the International Seminar on Non-Timber Forest Products, China-Yunnan, Laos and Vietnam
9. Community Based Natural Resource Management: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Nepal
10. Publications of interest
11. Miscellaneous announcements
1. Survey on the commercial potential of selected tropical NWFP from the state of Acre, Brazil
From: Guy Henry, CIRAD, Campinas-SP ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>)
We are currently assisting the government of Acre, Brazil, in assessing the market potential of seven tropical NWFP (copaiba, andiroba, patua, buriti, murmuru, cat's claw and açai), as part of a project (
Any information regarding the uses, demand and international markets for these products would be appreciated since pertinent available information seems to be scarce, out of date, too aggregate and/or not quantified.
Contact:
Hector Escobar (Unicamp, Campinas-SP)[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Guy Henry (CIRAD, Campinas-SP)[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
2. Hunting in the Taï region
From: J.B. Maas [[email protected]]
Game is an important food resource in West Africa, but in Côte d'Ivoire hunting is forbidden. Hans Ulrich Caspary and his colleagues argue that only regulated reopening of hunting will be able to reduce poaching in protected areas. Sustainable wildlife management is urgently needed.
Poaching is a typical phenomenon all over Côte d'Ivoire and the Taï region, at the border with Liberia, is no exception. The influx of migrants has increased the pressure in land and the marginalized farmers need access to game resources for their animal proteins and to supplement their income. The illegality of hunting means, however, that the marketing of bush meat does not generate any incomes for the state, while the local population does not have any say in wildlife management. These problems could be solved under a new sustainable game management strategy. To support such a strategy, a study was carried out under the Tropenbos Côte d'Ivoire Programme in 1998-1999 to shed light on different forms of hunting and the various links in the bush meat supply chain in the Taï region.
The results showed that in the Taï region there are about 73,000 subsistence hunters, 2,200 semi-professional hunters and 220 professionals. In the park itself there are about 20,000 subsistence hunters, 600 semi-professional and 60 professional hunters. The yearly game takeoff by the subsistence hunters, who operate principally in the peripheral zones of the park, is estimated between 1,500 and 3,000 tonnes and is valued at US$1.5-3 million. The catch of the hunters, mainly rodents and other small game, reflects the impoverished range of wildlife. The professional hunters' takeoff, working in the park itself, is estimated at between 56 and 720 tonnes (valued at US$43,000-920,000). Monkeys and bovidae dominate the hunting catch.
Hunting in the Taï region is highly destructive. In order to preserve the unique biodiversity of this and other regions, sustainable wildlife management models need to be developed. These models should combine protection and utilization and be applied in close collaboration between all parties concerned. A list of recommendations is provided to facilitate the development of wildlife management.
Reference: Casapary, H.-U., Koné, I., Prouot, C. and Pauw, M. de (2001). La chasse et la filière viande de brousse dans l'espace Taï, Côte d'Ivoire. Tropenbos Côte d'Ivoire Series 2. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, the Netherlands. ISBN: 90-5113-148-1
For more information or to obtain copies of this publication please contact:
The Tropenbos Foundation
P.O. Box 232
6700 AE Wageningen
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (317) 495502
Fax : +31 (317) 495520
E-mail:[email protected]
www.tropenbos.nl
3. Voices from the Forest
From: Eric van Poederooijen, Profound [[email protected])
I would like to draw your attention to the fourth edition of the bulletin "Voices from the Forest" of the NTFP Exchange Programme in Southeast Asia. The bulletin is available on www.NTFP.org
The exchange programme, and the bulletin more in particular, aims to provide a platform for sharing forest community-based NTFP ideas and concerns, mainly through practical information and cases.
For more information, please contact:
Eric van Poederooijen
ProFound
Hooghiemstraplein 128
3514 AZ Utrecht
The Netherlands
tel: +31 (0)30 2769262
fax: +31 (0)30 2720878
www.ThisIsProFound.com
4. Russian Berries to Quench EU Thirst
From: Taiga ntfp listserve ([email protected])
Next time you're stuck in a supermarket in Western Europe thirsting for some mors, don't panic: Russia's ill-defined national berry drink could be right in front of you. That's because Chudo-Yagoda, or Wonder Berry, has become the first Russian product to be given the green light by the British Retailer Consortium (BRC).
"This is the first Russian company to come to our attention," said a spokesman for the London-based BRC. Nearly every major food retailer worldwide requires an independent certificate of quality before it will use own-label suppliers, and the so-called "technical standard" certificate of the BRC, which represents 90 percent of all British retailers, is one of the most prestigious, industry players say.
The maker of Wonder Berry, juice and dairy giant Wimm-Bill-Dann, calls getting BRC approval for one of its products - which entails a thorough inspection of production facilities and technologies - a major development in its quest to expand its exporting operations around the world. Wimm-Bill-Dann already sells small amounts of Wonder Berry in specialty stores in several countries, such as Holland, Germany, Israel, Mongolia and Canada. But the new certificate will be a big bargaining chip in its current negotiations with Britain, France, Australia and the Scandinavian countries, said WBD spokeswoman Yulia Belova.
"Working to the BRC Technical Standard should confer an important marketing advantage to WBD when it comes to selling its products. It will open up new markets for them," said the BRC.
Belova said the reason her company chose mors - a sort of berry compote without the chunks - to be its first internationally certified product was simply because of its uniqueness. "After extensive marketing research we decided that mors would be the first WBD product on the international market because it has no analogue".
Wonder Berry is produced from berries collected in the forests of Russia, not cultivated. A similar product is also produced in Ireland, but it is not exported.
"WBD can enter the international market and survive there only if it offers an original product or, better yet, a national Russian product," said Vadim Zuykov, president of the National Trade Association.Wonder Berry is a unique product, but to make sales profitable abroad it needs to spend a lot.
(Extracted from the Moscow Times, June 6, 2001)
5. New Web site for NTFP Project in Vietnam
From: Marlynne Hopper [[email protected]]
The Sustainable Utilisation of Non Timber Forest Products Project Vietnam, based in the Non Timber Forest Products Research Centre, Hanoi and supported by IUCN, has a new web site.
The new site is hosted on MekongInfo.
E-mail:[email protected]
Please visit:www.mekonginfo.org/partners/ntfp/index.htm
6. Amazonia Web site
From: Vag-Lan Borges [[email protected]]
This site makes information on the Amazon region available to the public, with the aim of helping to make clear the structure of public and private agencies, both Brazilian and foreign, that are active in the area.
The site is an attempt to orient the surfer to the various "worlds" that exist in the Amazon.
http://www.amazonia.org.br/ingles/
7. Forthcoming events
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
International symposium on biodiversity as a source of new medicines
Cali, Colombia
16-19 August 2001
For more information, please contact:
Ligia Pabon de Majid, Colombia
Tel/Fax: (57)-2-330-2461
Email :[email protected]
www.biofarmacongress.com
Biodiversity of Guyana: A global perspective for the future.
Georgetown Guyana.
7-13 October 2001
For more information, please contact:
V. A. Funk PhD, US National Herbarium, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution MRC 166, Washington DC 20560-0166 USA.
Tel:+1-202-357-2560;
Fax: +1-202-786-2563.
Email:[email protected]
www.guyana2001.org
(From FIU 4 JUN 01)
Indigenous Peoples and Forest Management in Fennoscandia and Canada
Jokkmokk, Sweden
10-12 October 2001
The focus of this conference, which will bring together indigenous representatives, environmental groups, governmental and intergovernmental bodes and industry, will be on forest use, land rights and indigenous strategies for sustainable development. The programme will highlight market-based and legal instruments emphasizing forest certification schemes.
For more information, please contact:
E-mail:[email protected]
www.sapmi.se/forestconference
International conference on medicinal plants, indigenous knowledge and benefit sharing
A parallel session of the COP-6 of the CBD
The Hague, The Netherlands
16-19 April 2002
For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dr. L. Jan Slikkerveer, Institute of Cultural and Social Studies & the Leiden Branch of the National Herbarium of the Netherlands, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333AK Leiden, The Netherlands.
Email:[email protected]
(From FIU 11 JUN 01)
8. Proceedings on the International Seminar on Non-Timber Forest Products, China-Yunnan, Laos and Vietnam
From: Jeannette van Rijsoort [[email protected]]
Rijsoort, van J. & He Pikun, 2001. Proceedings on the International Seminar on Non-Timber Forest Products, China-Yunnan, Laos and Vietnam.
The proceedings are published by the Forest Conservation and Community Development Project (FCCDP), a Chinese-Dutch funded project in Yunnan, China. Last December the project organized an international seminar together with two other Dutch-funded projects in Vietnam and Laos respectively, on 'The role of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in forest conservation and community development.'
It was the first time such a regional seminar on this specific issue was held with the three bordering countries of Yunnan-China, Vietnam and Laos. During the seminar the participants exchanged ideas and experiences on issues related to NTFP and forest conservation, community development and marketing & processing. This resulted in a better understanding between the three countries about the various aspects of NTFP conservation and development and set the stage for future information and exchange sharing in the region. The proceedings present a clear overview of lessons learnt, similarities and differences in the region, possibilities for future collaboration, as well as various interesting papers from the participants of the three countries.
A first copy of the proceedings is free, more copies would cost 40 RMB (less than US$5) per copy.
For more information, please contact:
Jeannette van Rijsoort
Forest Conservation and Community Development Project (FCCDP)
Simao Forestry Department
Zhen Xing Lu 48
665000 Simao City, Yunnan, P.R. China
Tel/Fax: +86-879-2144046
Email:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
9. Community Based Natural Resource Management: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Nepal
From: Pradip Maharjan [[email protected]]
Pradip Maharjan, Senior Officer at Herbs Production & Processing Co .Ltd, has recently undertaken research on Community-based Natural Resource Management: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Nepal.
Nepal is rich in natural resources. Forest occupies 34% of the total land area and contributes about 14% to the national GDP. The country still belongs to the developing world, where 92% of the total population lives in the rural economy.
Medicinal and aromatic Plants (MAPs) have been vitally important to local people and the country, contributing to the livelihood of the rural poor and in the GDP.
MAPs are found in all the bio-climatic zones of Nepal ranging from the Tropical to the Alpine.
Exploitation of commercially traded plant species threatens the fragile Eco-system.
The challenge is to establish mutual sustainability focusing on the growing need of the people and deteriorating natural resources.
For more information, and to receive a copy of the research article, please contact:
Pradip Maharjan
E-mail:[email protected]
10. Publications of interest
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
Jan H.D. Wolf and Cornelis J.F. Konings
Toward the sustainable harvesting of epiphytic bromeliads: a pilot study from the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico
Biological Conservation, Vol 101 Issue 1, pp 23-31
www.elsevier.nl/PII/S0006320701000532
International Forestry Review 1/3 March 2001
Win:Win landuse strategies for Africa: 1. Building on experience with agroforests in Asia and Latin America. R.R.B. Leakey
Win:Win landuse strategies for Africa: 2. Capturing economic and environmental benefits with multistrata agroforests. R.R.B. Leakey
For more information, please contact:
R.R.B. Leakey
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, Scotland, UK.
E-mail:[email protected]
Stoian, D. 2000. Shifts in Forest Product Extraction: The Post-Rubber Era in the Bolivian Amazon. International Tree Crops Journal 10 (4): 277-297.
Stoian, D. 2000. Variations and Dynamics of Extractive Economies: The Rural-urban Nexus of Non-timber Forest Use in the Bolivian Amazon. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Freiburg, Germany. Reference: MK 2001/2137 / DF 4.2001/97
Stoian, D. and Henkemans, A.B. 2000. Between Extractivism and Peasant Agriculture: Differentiation of Rural Settlements in the Bolivian Amazon. International Tree Crops Journal 10 (4): 299-319.
11. Miscellaneous announcements
From: The Mountain Forum List
Please find below an excerpt of an e-mail, a plea for experiences and techniques for bamboo techniques sent in by a member of the Philippine Task force on NTFP. Please help the women producers of the Kankanaey communities in the Cordillera Range of the Philippines.
"Please send me any information regarding bamboo treatment. I might be conducting a seminar with the basket makers of Banayakeo with DOLE. So, any valuable info is most welcome!"
Contact: Pureza <[email protected]>
From: Sharon Lam ([email protected])
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong is looking for an Agriculture Officer, specializing in Agroforestry.
Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden (KFBGC) is a registered charity dedicated to promoting the awareness of our relationship with the environment through conservation and education. We are located on a picturesque 148-hectare hillside site in a semi-rural area in the New Territories.Our centre includes a forest reserve, terraced organic farming, orchards, wild animal rescue centre, as well as plant conservation and propagation facilities.
The Agriculture Department at Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden is engaged in the development of sustainable practices that integrate agriculture and ecological principles, and plays a leading role in the organic movement in Hong Kong. We are looking for a dynamic person to join our team as an Agriculture Officer.
Responsibilities
*Oversee development of an integrated waste/resource management system
*Undertake field research on sustainable agriculture experiment and appropriate technology
*Develop a nutrient management strategy for Farm production
*Act as Agroforestry "specialist" for Farm production
*Facilitate outreach and extension projects in local and regional communities
*Organize volunteer network and training programmes
*Participate in general department administration duties
Applications should be made by sending C.V. (with expected salary) and a short essay (on relevant experience and reasons for interest in the post) to:
Agriculture Department
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden,
Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR,
email:[email protected]
www.kfbg.org.hk
From: M M Lohia, India [[email protected]]
I am a member of Rural Development Forestry Network (RDFN) and International Network of Forests and Communities (INFC) and am working as Deputy General Manager with Trifed (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd) at New Delhi, a national level cooperative federation fully supported by Govt of India.
Trifed aims to help tribals /indigenous people of India by procuring their NTFP/NWFP through our branches and member network in India and marketing the same, assuring fair economic/remunerative prices to tribals.Target population in India is 67 million, a large number of who live below the poverty line. Marketing of NTFP is the main source of their livelihood and a variety of problems, institutional, logistic, financial as well as policy, exist. There are opportunities for research, which can lead, to enhanced earning of tribal populace on sustainable basis, leading to alleviation of abject poverty among them.
I would like to:
* associate myself, in my individual capacity, with any ongoing/intended research project undertakenas a research collaborator for issues relevant to India pertaining to sustainable use and development of NTFP, Participatory Forest Management, Ethical Trading, Economic Empowerment of Indigenous Populace for poverty alleviation, Institutional Management, Ethan-botany and Policy level review;
* identify institutes interested in preparation of a Country Profile on NTFPs: Policy and Practices or on status of Participatory Forest Management in India;
* identify other institutes that can help me in taking up a research project in the above areas; and
* Find a professional course to pursue higher studies in these areas.
I have recently co-authored a Country Profile for India on "The context for Community Forestry in India, Forestry Legislation and Policy":www.forestsandcommunities.org/Country_Profiles/india.html
Contact:
Mr. M Aloha
Deputy General Manager
Trifled
2nd floor, NCI Building, August Kraut Marge
New Delhi 11 00 16 India
Fax: 6866149
E mail[email protected]
www.trifed.net
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