COMMERCIAL HARVEST OF NATIVE PLANTS CONSIDERATIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION (original) (raw)
Related papers
2004
Increasing subsistence as well as commercial expectations from non-timber forest products necessitates more careful assessment of resource base and sustainable harvesting scheme. Forest User Groups as well as supporting organizations are facing challenges to ensure sustainable harvesting of these products, and in several instances, they are developing specific methods to cope with this. This paper reviews ANSAB and some other organizations' experiences with commercial medicinal herbs and fiberyielding shrubs. These cases demonstrate the need for a diversity of resource assessment approaches to respond to specific plant form and product types, as well as a holistic consideration of social and ecological factors to address often ignored dimensions of sustainable harvesting. Finally, the paper identifies challenges and draws key lessons in developing sustainable harvesting system and practices that could be applicable in the context of participatory forest management.
Nontimber forest products (NTFP) in the United States are harvested for commercial and noncommercial purposes and include thousands of wild or semi-wild species or parts of species used for medicines, foods, decorations, fragrances, containers, dyes, fuel, shelter, art, ceremonial purposes, and more. Despite the known and substantial economic value of a few individual NTFPs, and the unknown, but likely high economic value of NTFPs in aggregate, historically managers have not included them as important factors in forest management. Not only do NTFPs comprise a significant part of the biological diversity of forest ecosystems, but given the lack of formal NTFP research, the many people who harvest NTFPs part or fulltime have the most knowledge about them. Consequently, efforts to conserve biodiversity are unlikely to succeed unless knowledge about NTFPs, and the effects on them of various forest management activities such as timber removal, grazing, prescribed burning, and NTFP harvesting practices, becomes an integral part of forest management. This research project attempts to address these issues through achieving two objectives: 1) to advance understanding of the role and impact of NTFP management in forest ecosystem sustainability and biodiversity; and 2) to support the ability of U.S. forest managers to assess NTFP sustainability. We developed five interrelated components to meet these objectives. The first component is an online species database expanded from 857 to 1,343 entries. The database serves as an initial tool for identifying NTFP species that currently or formerly existed in their region and that can potentially be incorporated into planning for biodiversity conservation, forest restoration, cultural use patterns, and sustainable economic development. The second component is an online bibliographic database expanded from 1,468 to over 2,600 entries. The database aids in identifying NTFP references of books, journals, and gray literature. A large portion of the entries are annotated. The academic publications included in the database are drawn more heavily from the international NTFP arena, which is where the majority of NTFP research has been done thus far. The third component is a national survey of Forest Service Ranger District employees and state forest managers for the purpose of examining NTFP management in relation to biodiversity. The surveys include several questions specifically addressing inventory and monitoring activities. The fourth component is ethnographic fieldwork throughout the lower 48 United States that entailed driving over 37,000 miles to meet harvesters and other stakeholders in their communities. The fieldwork included formal and informal interviews and participant observation with hundreds of NTFP harvesters and other stakeholders including land managers, scientists, Native Americans, commercial businesses, and environmental groups. The fifth component is a series of four all-day multi-stakeholder workshops and a three-day retreat of the seven member project team held to discuss the possibilities for inventory and monitoring programs involving NTFP harvesters. The results of these meetings including rationale, harvester incentives, barriers, case studies, recommendations, and steps for creating participatory inventory and monitoring programs are incorporated into a companion document to this report.
Sustainable Forest Management for Nontimber Products
Sustainability
Many of the plants and fungi that are harvested for nontimber products (e.g., foods, medicines, crafts) are critical to healthy forest ecosystems. These products also are essential to rural societies, contributing to the material and nonmaterial composition of communities and cultures. Product sales make important contributions at all economic scales, from household to national economies. Nontimber forest products (NTFPs) have been harvested for generations, sometimes centuries, yet they are seldom integrated into forest management. Few methods exist for inventory and assessment, and there is little evidence that harvests are sustainable. This article examines three elements of sustainable forest management for nontimber products: sociocultural, economic, and ecological, and elaborates with detailed examples of edible and medicinal species from United States (U.S.) forests. We synthesize the state of knowledge and emerging issues, and identify research priorities that are needed to ...
Nontimber forest products and biodiversity management in the Pacific Northwest
Forest Ecology and Management, 2007
Nontimber forest product harvesting in the Pacific Northwest is neither a new activity nor a disappearing relic of the pre-industrial era. Though the emphasis may have shifted from subsistence to commercial and recreational pursuits, harvesting and harvesters of wild species are still widespread throughout the region. Hundreds of businesses and thousands of harvesters earn part or all of their income
Expanding the production of specialty products in agroforestry systems depends on intensification and innovation. The transition from wildcrafting to intentionally producing non-timber resources from forest environments requires increasing applications of management, labor and other inputs, together with skill in linking production activities and market forces through entrepreneurship. The financial opportunities and aesthetic and environmental service benefits of domesticating, cultivating and commercializing non-timber forest products in agroforestry systems are socially appealing. What incentives are needed to motivate landowners to invest in comparatively unfamiliar and untested land use, production and marketing practices, and how can these be brought to bear on the decisions of numerous landowners operating in a broad spectrum of socio-ecological contexts? These questions are addressed in a national assessment of the potential of growing specialty products in agroforestry systems by locating and characterizing existing pockets of innovation through networks of professional and practicing natural resources and enterprise managers.
An Overview of Non-Timber Forest Products in the United States Today
Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 2001
As people become more interested in personal health and family activities, demand for wild forest products has increased. This increased demand coupled with an increased concern for sustainable m anagement practices has focused attention on the variety of issues and products involved in the non-timber forest products industry. Forest management organizations have gradually increased funding for research and management of non-timber forest products over the past two decades. The broad categories of U.S. non-timber forest products include floral greens, Christmas greens, ornamentals and craft materials, wild edibles, medicinals, ceremonials/culturals, and native transplants. The increase in resource pressure has had many policy reactions, including restricted access, harvesting fees, and harvest limits. Opportunities for public input to policy decisions on federal, state and private land are often unclear or nonexistent. Researchers, managers, and policy makers are working to understand the multitude of issues surrounding non-timber forest products, including biology, management, public policy and equity issues.
NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS IN SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT
The forests of Southern United States are the source of many non- timber forest products (NTFPs). The collection, trade and use of these products have been important to rural economies since Europeans settled in this country. At the same time the plants from which these products originate are crucial to healthy ecosystems. Over the last decade, the market demand and the interest in managing forests for NTFPs has grown tremendously, which has generated concern for the ecological sustainability of forest resources from which they are produced. The health and functioning of the forest ecosystems and the associated rural communities depend on the sustainable management of the NTFP resources. And yet, the scientific knowledge of these products is not well developed. Sustainability and the full range of benefits cannot be realized unless non-timber forest products are included in the scientific management of the forest resources. We examine the status of forest management for non-timber p...