The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology THE ECOLOGY, MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS IN THE ALTO RIO GUAMÁ INDIGENOUS RESERVE (EASTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZON) A Thesis in Ecology by James Campbell Plowden 2001 James Campbell Plowden Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2001 We approve the thesis of James Campbell Plowden. Date of Signature Christopher F. Uhl Professor of Biology Chair of the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology Thesis Advisor Chair of Committee James C. Finley Associate Professor of Forest Resources Roger Koide Professor of Horticulture Ecology Stephen M. Smith Professor of Agricultural Economics iii ABSTRACT Indigenous and other forest peoples in the Amazon region have used hundreds of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for food, medicine, tools, construction and other purposes in their daily lives. As these communities shift from subsistence to more cash-based economies, they are trying to increase their harvest and marketing of some NTFPs as one way to generate extra income. The idea that NTFP harvests can meet these economic goals and reduce deforestation pressure by reducing logging and cash-crop agriculture is politically attractive, but this strategy’s feasibility remains in doubt because the production and market potential of many NTFPs remains unknown. The need to obtain this sort of information is particularly important in indigenous reserves in the Brazilian Amazon since these comprise the country’s largest category of protected forests, and indigenous people are actively seeking economic means to support community development. Between 1996 and 2000, I spent a total of two years in the Alto Rio Guamá Indigenous Reserve in eastern Pará state, Brazil studying production ecology of five regionally important NTFPs: oleoresin from copaiba trees (Copaifera spp.), resin from breu trees (Protium spp.), aerial roots from titica vines (Heteropsis spp.), latex from amapá trees (Parahancornia amapa and Couma guianensis), and seed oil from andiroba trees (Carapa guianensis). My studies were primarily based in the Tembé Indian village of Tekohaw that is a one or two day journey by river and road from the regional center of commerce in Belém. The objectives of NTFP case studies on copaiba, breu and titica were to: 1) quantify the amount of marketable product that could be obtained per plant and per area of forest, 2) identify key factors that influenced variation in these amounts, 3) estimate the amount of harvest that would be possible on a repeated basis and the length of this harvest cycle, 4) estimate the amount of time a harvester needs to spend to find, harvest and process a unit of product and how much income they would earn for this time invested. Results showed that a variety of factors contributed to the low economic returns that could be obtained by harvesting the NTFPs investigated in this project. Copaiba oleoresin had a relatively high unit price, but the availability of the product was severely restricted by the low density of the trees (<1 tree/ha), the limited percentage (15%) of trees that yielded more than 50 ml of oleoresin when drilled, and a sharp drop-off iv in oleoresin yield in trees that were retapped one year after the initial drilling. While the likelihood of obtaining oil from these trees was greatest in trees in the 55-65 cm Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) group, there was drop-off in oleoresin harvest in even larger trees because most were hollow and had apparently lost their capacity to store oleoresin in enclosed trunk cavities. Breu trees had a density of 10 trees per ha, and about 40% of trees yielded some resin. The amount of resin increased with tree size and was related to the degree of attack by a bark-boring weevil whose larvae develop inside the resin lumps that form on the trunk. The larvae of a syrphid fly are also found in resin lumps from some types of breu trees, but it is unlikely these flies stimulated resin flow. Breu resin loses about 17% of its weight while drying, but some of this may be due to resin removal by stingless bees. The low market price for the resin makes it difficult for harvesters to regularly earn the Brazilian minimum wage (about $US 3.50 per day in 1999), but since it will take about four years for resin levels to rebound to initial harvest levels, it is a resource that if managed wisely can provide a periodic source of income. Titica vines are very common in some forests and can be found on as many as several hundred host trees per ha. To meet the demands of wicker furniture makers, harvesters only take relatively thick mature aerial roots. While harvesters may gather 10 to 40 kg of roots per day, the removal of bad pieces, stripping of root cortex, and drying reduces the commercial product to 20% of the harvested weight. This processing of roots can take as much time as the harvesting. Among the products studied, titica offers the best short-term revenue, but since many harvested roots die or fail to regrow after being broken from the main plant, it may take decades for a titica population in an area to return to a harvestable condition. These case studies showed that it was difficult to find NTFPs that met all the conditions (high density, high yield, low percentage of loss during processing, high price, quick resource renewal) to make their commercial collection worthwhile to Tembé harvesters on an ongoing basis. Better understanding NTFP production capabilities and the factors that influence them will help communities realistically assess how much each resource can contribute to their annual income and how harvesting can be managed to preserve each source population as a long-term resource. An increase in demand for consumer goods, however, will probably necessitate greater investments in intentional NTFP planting and other economic activities. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………….……………………………………….. vii LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………………………………………… viii LIST OF APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………………………….. ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………….........………………...……………….. x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………........... 1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………......... 2 SELECTION AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY AREA ………..………………………………… 5 SELECTION OF STUDY SPECIES …………………………………………………………………. 7 REFERENCES .......……………………………………………………………………………. 10 CHAPTER 2 THE ECOLOGY OF COPAIBA (COPAIFERA SPP.) OLEORESIN HARVEST IN THE AMAZON …….……………………….……………………………………………………… 13 ABSTRACT .…………………………………………………………………………………………. 14 INTRODUCTION: REVIEW OF COPAIBA PRODUCTION AND USE ….………………………. 16 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ….………………………………………………………………………. 23 STUDY SITE ……………….………………………………………………………………………... 24 METHODS …………………….……………………………………………………………………... 25 RESULTS ……………………………….……………………………………………………………. 25 DISCUSSION ……………………………………….………………………………………………... 38 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ………………………….……………………………………... 55 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………….……………………. 72 CHAPTER 3 THE HARVEST OF BREU RESIN FROM BURSERACEAE TREES IN THE EASTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZON AND THE ROLE OF WEEVILS AND BEES IN ITS FORMATION AND MARKETING ………………….……………………………………………….. 81 ABSTRACT ………………………………………….……………………………………………….. 82 INTRODUCTION …………………………………….………………………………………………. 83 STUDY AREAS ……………………………………………………………………………………… 85 METHODS …………………………………………………………………………………………… 86 RESULTS …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 90 DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………………………… 104 CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………………………………………… 118 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………………... 142 vi CHAPTER 4 THE ASSOCIATION OF AN ALIPUMILIO FLY (DIPTERA: SYRPHIDAE) WITH BURSERACEAE TREE RESINS IN THE EASTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZON …………. 153 ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………………………... 154 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………….. 154 STUDY SITES ………………………………………………………………………………………... 156 MATERIAL AND METHODS ………………………………………………………………………. 157 RESULTS ……………………………………………………………………………………………... 158 DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………………………… 160 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 164 CHAPTER 5 THE ECOLOGY, HARVEST AND MARKETING OF TITICA VINE ROOTS (HETEROPSIS SPP.: ARACEAE) IN THE EASTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZON ………………… 167 ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………………………... 168 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………….. 169 STUDY AREA ………………………………………………………………………………………... 172 METHODS ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 173 RESULTS ……………………………………………………………………………………………... 178 DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………………………… 187 CONCLUSIONS: CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE TITICA HARVEST ...………………….. 198 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………………... 216 CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS ………………………………………………………… 220 FACTORS THAT AFFECT NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCT HARVEST AMOUNTS AND PROFITABILITY …………………………………………………………………………………. 221 RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ROLE OF NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS IN FOREST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ……………………………………………………... 227 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………………... 232 EPILOGUE ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 241 CHALLENGES AND LESSONS STUDYING NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCT ECOLOGY IN AN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY …………………………………………………………… 242 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 252 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 2.1 CROSS-SECTION ILLUSTRATION OF SOLID, OLEORESIN BEARING AND HOLLOW COPAIBA TREES ………………………………………………………………………. 67 FIGURE 2.2 PERCENT OF HOLLOW AND FIRE DAMAGED COPAIBA TREES AT TEKOHAW 68 FIGURE 2.3 HEARTWOOD AND HOLLOW