People, money, and protected areas: the collection of the caterpillar mushroom Ophiocordyceps sinensis in the Baima Xueshan Nature Reserve, Southwest China (original) (raw)
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The China Quarterly, 2000
Villages scattered along the steep slopes of north-west Yunnan present a serene picture of colourful prayer flags fluttering from rooftops and only the occasional vehicle raising dust from dirt roads. But for the past few years, summers have been a time of intense and often violent conflict. In late July, neighbouring villages prepare to fight once again over access to forests which produce wild matsutake mushrooms, a high-value Japanese luxury food that has been harvested and exported from the region for the past 12 years. The quiet summer nightlife in the nearby county seat has been transformed to a bustling mushroom market busiest between midnight and dawn. Why has this market come into existence, and what have been its effects on access to and control over forest resources?
2016
Areas of high biodiversity often coincide with communities living in extreme poverty. As a livelihood support, these communities often harvest wild products from the environment. But harvest activities can have negative impacts on fragile and globally important ecosystems. This paper examines trade- offs in ecological protection and community welfare from the harvest of wild products. With a novel model and empirical evidence, I show that management of harvest activity does not always resolve these trade- offs. In a model of continuous harvests in a two- dimensional landscape, managed harvest activity improves welfare, but is uniformly bad for other ecosystem services that are sensitive to the presence (as opposed to the intensity) of human activity. Empirical results from a unique dataset of mushroom harvesters in Yunnan, China suggest more experienced, poorer, and more vulnerable individuals tend to rely on more distant harvests. Thus, policies that limit the extent of forest travel, such as protected areas, may protect fragile ecosystems but can have a disproportionately negative effect on those most vulnerable.
Ecology & Society, 2009
Since Hardin’s (1968) paper on the "Tragedy of the Commons," property rights of common pool resources have been a central concern for natural resource management scholars. Matsutake, a common-pool resource, is an economically important mushroom in several locations around the world. Driven by growing international demand over the last few decades, matsutake management is a relatively new practice both for local communities and government agencies. In Northwest Yunnan, China, one of the most productive areas for matsutake globally, numerous local practices and systems have emerged in the last two to three decades. In this study, we investigate the differences between management systems in eight communities and the factors associated with them. The methods used for field research included key-informant interviews, household surveys, and questionnaires. Three main management patterns were identified through use of statistical clustering based on indicators such as physical environment, resource characteristics, tenure arrangements, regulations and implementation, harvesting behavior, income, and market regulation. It was found that private access—the principal characteristic of which is the exclusive use of resources—results in more income at lower labor cost per household than either of the other open access management patterns. Even though under the context of ongoing Second Forest Tenure Reform in China—in which collective forest privatization is the key task—application of private-access regimes is limited because of site conditions including physical, institutional, and market environments. Common access management systems have advantages in terms of managing conflict and balancing equity needs. No matter the type of access right, the key issue for wise matsutake management is institutional. Locally rooted innovative strategies should be encouraged, and institutional capacity building should be carried out to support innovations in matsutake management.
Oryx
Products obtained from forests or other natural environments play a crucial role in sustaining the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries through income generation and the creation of employment opportunities. Although studies have been carried out to evaluate the dependence of local livelihoods on environmental products, quantify the linkage between poverty and biodiversity, and assess the impacts of resource depletion on household economics, most have been focused geographically on the tropics. Our study was conducted in the mountain village of Jumla, Nepal, to quantify the economic contribution of Chinese caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis (yarsagumba) to local households. Income from yarsagumba accounted for up to 65% of the total household cash income, on average, and its contribution was highest in the poorest households. It contributed to reducing income inequality by 38%, and the income was utilized to purchase food and clothes, celebrate festivals, pay f...