24 PRODUCTS AND MARKETS

AMPELODESMOS finished stramma products, e.g. brooms leaves). Glass demijohns were coated with %MAURITANICUS and trays (spaselle), to fishmongers. stramma plaits to prevent them from The Second World War saw an breaking and to protect their content (wine or The role of mauritanicus intensification of the stramma trade, oil) from direct light. Iettola was also used to and fibre in central providing an emergency source of income for weave a large flexible container (sporta) that Recognition of the importance of non-wood local communities. According to elders, was tied on the back of mules and donkeys. forest products in developed countries has between 1939 and 1945, the inhabitants of More pieces of iettola were joined together to grown steadily in recent years. A research Maranola and neighbouring communities produce rough carpets and the flat project in the mountains of the Aurunci were engaged in the production of rough rectangular trays used by fishmongers to Regional Park (central Italy) has been ampelodesmos sacks used during trench display their merchandise. In the old days, initiated and aims at identifying practical warfare. These were commissioned by the fish was also sold in containers made of solutions for integrating traditional government and sent to the frontline, where ampelodesmos. knowledge of NWFPs into the management they were filled with sand. Other stramma items in the Aurunci of protected areas. To date, the study has The stramma trade died out completely at Mountains included shopping bags, sun hats, focused on the role of fibre plants in the the beginning of the 1960s, when synthetic round baskets for bread, eggs and village of Maranola in the southernmost area materials (such as nylon ropes) made their mushrooms and cylindrical containers for of Latina province, central Italy. way into the regional market and, more grains and legumes, up to 2 m in height. From time immemorial, the population of important, because of the disappearance of Stramma, together with straw, was also used Maranola has relied on a rural economy donkeys, the introduction of alternative as a filling for mattresses. The same mainly devoted to subsistence farming, means of transportation and the drastic provided roofing material for pagliare stock-raising and trade of minor timber and transformation of the rural economy (shepherds’ huts). Ampelodesmos brooms non-timber forest products. Trade in myrtle Ampelodesmos items are long-lasting. are still occasionally made for household (Myrtus communis L.) leaves existed up to the According to elders, the quality and durability needs. The most common broom type is used early 1950s. Official documents of the early of material depends upon how it is stored, for sweeping floors and consists of three nineteenth century show that the dried leaves and also upon the period of harvesting (e.g. bundles of pounded leaves bent together and were sold to leather tanners. Myrtle twigs collection must take place during “moon-less tied firmly with a string of the same material. were also utilized in the manufacture of fish days”). There were also other types of stramma traps by fishers in the neighbouring coastal The pounded fibres are dried in the open brooms: i) a miniature-like broom used as a town of Formia. Ropes of Agave americana L. until their colour turns from green to a device against witches; ii) one specifically (locally known as pugnale) were much yellowish shade. Then the fibres are wetted designed for cleaning fireplace chimneys; iii) appreciated for their durability and strength. and pounded with a wooden beater a longer one for cleaning bread ovens; and iv) Agave fibres made the strings of traditional (mazzucco), before being worked into ropes. a roughly made one for cleaning wine barrels. footwear (cioce) and livestock gears, such as Occasionally, for the manufacture of long- Although stramma items are now rarely capezza, a loose head-holder for mules and lasting items, stramma fibres were smoked made, small-scale production of new donkeys. Of particular importance was the with sulphur to prevent damage from ampelodesmos crafts is emerging, and use of Ampelodesmos mauritanicus (Poiret) woodworm. some young people are trying to revive the T. Durand et Sch. The word ampelodesmos The basic techniques for rope making tradition. Artist and basket weaver Giovanni originates from two old Greek cognates were acquired around the age of eight to nine. Morra believes that one of the challenges àmpelos (vine) and desmòs (tie) and, Small-size ropes (funinciegli) were widely ahead is to win over local prejudices traditionally, Aurunci farmers have used used in agriculture. Stronger ropes were attached to the use of ampelodesmos. ampelodesmos leaves exactly for the used for various purposes, such as for “Stramma is still associated with poverty purpose implied. securing heavy fruiting branches to the main and the hardship of war” he claims, “and Today this species is mainly regarded as trunk, and heavy-duty ropes were highly often local people regard it as a low-class an invasive grass; however, until the mid- sought after by youngsters for making material.” Another problem constraining the /late 1950s, it played an important role in swings. A different type of weave produced marketing of ampelodesmos items is the the household economy, was traded the so-called trezza (plait). A long and curved competitive prices of imported Chinese regionally and represented an emergency iron needle was used to insert additional baskets. source of income. In Maranola, the weaving fibres during the weaving of iettola (a wider According to local elders, the and trading of ampelodesmos (locally “plait” made of six to seven sets of pounded abandonment of sustainable stramma known as stramma) were female harvesting has led to an increase in fire prerogatives. The women were responsible hazards. Livia Forte, an ampelodesmos for trading the raw fibres in Formia. A full master weaver, claims: “Today, stramma donkey-load of stramma made one salma, has grown old, too dried and tall because no and consisted of two to three sheaves of one gathers it. So when fire arrives, it is unprocessed leaves, depending on the difficult to control. Flames are high and burn animal’s capacity. In the absence of so quickly.” donkeys, women would cover the same Undoubtedly, in the past, traditional distance (4–6 km) on foot, carrying “one grazing patterns, the harvesting of stramma sheaf of ampelodesmos” on their heads. In and other minor NWFPs, as well as the addition to the raw material, women sold clearing of underbrush, played a major role

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in fire control and management. At present, Birch bark: prostate cancer treatment? Funded by a US$300 000, two-year grant government prohibition on grazing on fire- The bark of the white birch tree contains a from the National Cancer Institute, Dr damaged land is fostering uncontrolled compound – betulinol – that might help Michael Wargovich will examine mahogany growth of ampelodesmos at the expense of fight prostate cancer. This finding is based – and four other medicinal plants native to other valuable species of the Mediterranean on research in mice and has yet to be West Africa – in a quest to discover novel, shrub. Preliminary research findings tested on people. anti-inflammatory compounds that could indicate that a combination of selective Preliminary tests show that betulonic prevent or treat colon cancer. The study, grazing and sustainable ampelodesmos acid, made from betulinol, may discourage the first of its kind, could be a major first harvesting could benefit and enrich post-fire human prostate cancer cells from dividing, step towards other studies on medicinal landscapes and the upland ecology as a and spur these cells to die. The tests were plants and cancer. Specifically, Wargovich whole. This, of course, challenges the logic conducted by scientists at Cornell is looking at how native medicinal plants in of strict/no touch protection embraced by University’s Weill Medical College. (Source: West Africa, used traditionally for pain the Regional Park authorities and calls for WebMD [United States], 28 July 2006.) relief, fever and inflammation, interact to the active participation of local resource inhibit the growth of cancer tumours. users and community experts in the While visiting Guinea and meeting some management of protected areas. of the country’s top health officials, the Future research into ampelodesmos will university cancer researcher was given a have to include a preliminary computation book, Pharmacopée traditionale on its potential commercial value, at least guineenne, that highlighted around 60 of for the village of Maranola. Such the country’s different plants and their computation should be based on projections health properties. He found that about 15 (gatherers willing to get involved, harvesting Natural pine bark extract relieves muscle plants had anti-inflammatory properties. patterns, seasonality, availability of cramp and pain For his study, Wargovich will focus on stramma, etc.). It is unlikely that the A study published in the June 2006 issue of extracts from five West African plants: the harvesting and sale of ampelodesmos will Angiology shows that supplementation with neem tree, baobab tree, Senegal return to their past glory but steps can be the pine bark extract Pycnogenol® mahogany, African basil and kinkirissi taken to identify new market opportunities improves blood flow to the muscles, which bush. for stramma. This, indeed, might have speeds recovery after physical exercise. The Wargovich is working with Clemson positive repercussions for both the local study of 113 participants demonstrated that University researcher Dr Feng Chen, whose economy and upland ecology. (Contributed Pycnogenol significantly reduces muscular expertise is in the chemistry of natural by: Dr Dario Novellino, Research Fellow, pain and cramps in athletes and healthy products. Chen is looking for the Department of Anthropology, Marlowe normal individuals. compounds in the mahogany bark that may Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Researchers at L’Aquila University in Italy be responsible for inhibiting inflammation. Kent CT2 7NR, United Kingdom. E-mail: and at the University of Würzburg in West Africa has a low incidence of colon [email protected]; www.kent.ac.uk) Germany studied the effects of Pycnogenol cancer, and the reason for this may be in on venous disorders and cramping in two the natural plants used by traditional separate studies. healers. (Source: News-Medical.net % BARK Pycnogenol is a natural plant extract [Australia], 27 March 2006.) originating from the bark of the maritime Uses of birch bark in the northern pine that grows along the coast of southwest hemisphere and contains a unique combination %BUSHMEAT Historically, indigenous cultures in the of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic northern hemisphere have utilized birch bark acids, which offer extensive natural health Bushmeat Research Programme to build canoes, houses and make baskets, benefits. The extract has been widely Bushmeat is the meat of wild animals shoes, etc. For the Anishinaabe people, this studied for the past 35 years and there are hunted by local people for income or bark was the primary resource used and the more than 220 published studies and review subsistence. The harvest of wild meat is a birch tree is still valued as a sacred tree of articles ensuring its safety and efficacy as focus of global concern. Unsustainable life. The bark was peeled from the tree in an ingredient. Today, Pycnogenol is available levels of hunting are believed to threaten June and sewn into useful objects that were in more than 400 dietary supplements, the survival of many target species around light, waterproof and durable. Designs were multivitamins and health products the world, particularly in the tropics. These scratched on the surface for decoration. worldwide. (Source: Medical News Today extinctions will not only threaten For the indigenous Scandinavians, birch [United Kingdom], 18 June 2006.) ecosystem services but are also likely to was also used for these purposes, although impact seriously upon the food security and strips of bark were typically woven, rather Mahogany bark may hold colon cancer cure livelihoods of those people who use the than sewn into useful objects. An unexpected entry in a traditional medicine resource. There is therefore an urgent need Both methods of working with birch bark book from Guinea has led a University of to develop successful initiatives that will will be demonstrated and displayed during South Carolina cancer researcher to study promote the long-term sustainability of the “The Art of Birch Bark”, to be held in July in whether medicinal properties in the bark of bushmeat harvest – both to protect Wisconsin, United States. (Source: Ashland mahogany trees may hold clues to threatened biodiversity and to secure the Daily Press [United States], 30 June 2006.) understanding colon cancer. trade’s social and economic values.

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The Bushmeat Research Programme at Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, sun bear, prized for its gall bladder and bile. the Institute of Zoology, the research arm of London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom. Some bears are smuggled to China, where the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), is E-mail: [email protected] or their parts are even more valuable. Although involved in research to enhance [email protected]; the Sumatran tiger is highly endangered, understanding of the bushmeat trade in West www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/ioz/projects/bushmeat.htm tiger penis can be found for sale in Jakarta, and Central Africa. A better understanding of the capital, as a cure for impotence. The the trade will assist both policy-makers and Bushmeat trade in Indonesia price: $40. (Source: Dr Syed S. Ahmed on project managers to develop effective Medan. The eight fruit bats dangle from a tropical biodiversity listserve, 22 May 2006.) methods of regulation and management for stick alongside one of the busiest streets in sustainability. This work is interdisciplinary in this teeming city. They hang head down, their its design: it tackles the biological, economic feet and mouths bound tightly with rubber and social aspects of the trade, using a variety bands. The bats, with black wings and of approaches including field research and reddish-brown fur, are caught in the rain mathematical modelling. forest about one hour from the city by The Bushmeat Research Programme stringing a net between two trees. They are currently incorporates the following ten kept tied up day and night until they are sold. projects across West and Central Africa. Yet they are not destined to suffer long: they 1. Bioeconomic modelling of bushmeat will be sold to passing motorists as a cure for harvesting systems asthma. The recommended treatment is to 2. Trade and sustainability along a cook the bat’s heart and eat it. “There is bushmeat commodity chain (Ghana) always a buyer,” said one roadside bat 3. Park protection, armed conflict and the vendor, who estimates that he and his bushmeat trade (Democratic Republic of partners have sold as many as 500 bats at the Congo) about US$3 apiece in the last three years. 4. The bushmeat trade around Virunga Bats are not the only unusual animals on The Wildlife Conservation Society National Park (Democratic Republic of the menu in Indonesia. In various parts of the estimates that one million tonnes of the Congo) country, cobra blood, bear paws, sea turtle bushmeat are taken from African forests 5. Incentives for the sustainable hunting of eggs, orangutan meat, crocodile and tiger every year. Another study puts bushmeat (Equatorial Guinea) penises, geckos, dried seahorses, monitor bushmeat consumption at 10 oz (284 g) 6. Poverty, sustainable livelihoods and the lizards, goat testicles, shark cartilage, a day per person. Jane Goodall, the well- bushmeat trade (Equatorial Guinea) pythons, sperm whales, rhinoceros horns and known primate expert, warned last 7. Simple indices of hunter effort and monkey brains are consumed as health month that gorillas, chimpanzees and sustainability (Equatorial Guinea) remedies, impotency cures or gourmet orangutans “are being eaten into 8. Solutions to bushmeat exploitation in the treats. extinction”. (Source: The Baltimore Sun, Sanaga-Cross region (Cameroon- In a nation with 300 ethnic groups 12 August 2006.) Nigeria) scattered across 17 000 tropical islands, it is 9. Habitat quality and bushmeat surveys not surprising that Indonesians have a wide (Sierra Leone) variety of eating habits. In addition, Indonesia 10. Species vulnerability to bushmeat is a country where health care is inadequate Roads and bushmeat hunting hunting and established medical treatment can be A new study links the presence of roads to This work encompasses several countries prohibitively expensive. Some people bushmeat hunting in the Congo rain forest in the region (Cameroon, Democratic suffering from long-term illness or impotency and also raises important questions for Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, are desperate enough to try anything. “These global conservation. The study, published in Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone) and animals are endangered not because they Conservation Biology, found that roads and involves collaboration with a variety of cure ailments but because people believe associated hunting pressure reduced the institutions in both the host countries and in they can,” said Meutia Swasono, Professor of abundance of a number of mammal species the United Kingdom. Medical Anthropology at the University of including duikers, forest elephants, The Bushmeat Research Programme is Indonesia. buffaloes, red river hogs, lowland gorillas also a component of the ZSL’s Bushmeat and Small restaurants and shops cater to and carnivores. The research suggests that Forests Conservation Programme. Through a popular demand for monitor lizard meat, bat even moderate hunting pressure can combination of field projects, applied hearts, raw monkey brains and cocktails significantly affect the structure of mammal research, policy work and education activities, made with cobra bile and blood. In the central communities in Central Africa. (Source: R.A. the programme aims to protect habitats and Jakarta neighbourhood of Kota, a shopkeeper Butler, mongabay.com, 9 May 2006.) wildlife through the management of the specializes in selling snakes, bats and dried bushmeat trade to achieve long-term lizard meat. He said he gets ten to 20 orders a Researchers in Africa warn about bushmeat sustainability. year for monkey brains and that each week he Researchers in Cameroon are trying to stop sells about 100 cobras, all caught in the wild. the spread of viruses by educating villagers FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: The quest for cures is contributing to the about the meat they cook. The researchers Dr Guy Cowlishaw, Senior Research Fellow near-extinction of some animals, particularly from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School or Marcus Rowcliffe, Institute of Zoology, the rhinoceros, valued for its horn, and the of Public Health in Baltimore are studying

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blood from monkeys, in an attempt to find International demand for bushmeat was viruses that could conceivably transfer from not driven by need, Prof. Brashares pointed apes to humans. The goal is to find emerging out. “It’s part of what is clearly a luxury diseases and stop them from spreading trade,” he said. And intercontinental trade, around the world. he adds, is again a tiny fraction (he estimates Cameroon is not far from West-Central less than 1 percent) of total bushmeat kill, Africa where, decades ago, chimpanzees are most of which stays in the country of origin. believed to have planted the seeds of the (Source: Melbourne Herald Sun [Australia], 7 AIDS pandemic. July 2006.) Monkey meat or bushmeat is a common and popular fare in the West African forest. Bushmeat boom benefits Ghana’s farmers Researchers have been warning villagers not Grasscutters are such a delicacy in Ghana to cook the meat if they have a wound on that they are now being farmed to meet their hand and advised not to sling dead demand. Teye Ocansey started to farm %CORK monkeys over their backs, since blood can be grasscutters as a hobby ten years ago. Since transferable if the person has cuts or then, he has seen his business grow to Future of cork oak forests hangs in the scrapes. generate a healthy profit from the 260 balance Although many have been compliant with grasscutters he keeps in a small shed in the Three-quarters of the western the researchers, others are not worried and Accra suburb of Awoshie. “It is a delicacy Mediterranean’s cork oak forests could be say that disease has never been a problem. meat and people prefer it to other meats,” lost within ten years, threatening an (Source: United Press International [United says Mr Ocansey, a member of a grasscutter economic and environmental crisis, States], 16 July 2006.) farmers’ cooperative. “The cholesterol is according to a new World Wide Fund for very low. There is no religious barrier. Nature (WWF) report. Gorillas on the menu in meat trade Everybody likes grasscutter.” WWF warns that up to two million ha of Chimpanzees and gorillas are finding their The farming may be new, but Ghanaians’ cork oak forests will suffer a heightened way on to dinner tables in western Europe taste for grasscutter is hallowed by tradition. risk of desertification and forest fires and the United States, an investigation has But the old ways of hunting the animals – by because of a predicted decline in the found. The investigation, by biologist Justin starting bushfires to scare them and other market for cork stoppers. Brashares from the University of California kinds of bushmeat out of their natural habitat The report Cork screwed? says that the at Berkeley, has discovered that primates, – have prompted environmentalist concern. future survival of cork forests strongly including the great apes, make up nearly “So if we have this market demand, how depends upon the market for cork wine one third of the illegal trade in African can we satisfy it without destroying the stoppers. However, the trend away from cork bushmeat. environment?” says Rita Weidinger, who stoppers could lead, in the worst-case Brashares recruited 15 volunteers, all works for the German Agency for Technical scenario, to synthetic and screw tops holding expatriates from West Africa, to visit Cooperation (GTZ). “Grasscutter hunting is a 95 percent of the closure market by 2015. clandestine meat markets in London, lucrative business, so we need to provide This would result in the loss of 62 500 jobs in Paris, Brussels, New York, Chicago, alternatives or hunters will continue to the cork-producing regions. Endangered Montreal and Toronto. They discovered that exhaust grasscutters.” For Ms Weidinger, species such as the Iberian lynx, Barbary just over 6 000 kg of bushmeat move that alternative is to encourage people to deer and imperial Iberian eagle would be put through the seven markets each month. farm grasscutters. As a commercial at further risk of extinction. Prof. Brashares believes that this could be enterprise grasscutter farming remains the Cork stoppers, which are biodegradable an underestimate. Guenon monkeys and preserve of no more than a handful of and can be recycled into other products, baboons formed a large part of the trade. people. But with thousands keeping them as represent almost 70 percent of the total cork Also sold were duikers, as well as rodents, a hobby, GTZ is working with the Ministry of market value. reptiles and birds. Agriculture to train farmers how to rear the Every year over 15 billion cork stoppers Bushmeat was often smuggled in from animals for the pot. The farmers say that are produced and sold to the wine industry. Africa concealed beneath legal shipments their business is a more attractive The cork landscapes provide a vital source of of smoked or dried fish. The investigation, proposition for customers than simply income for more than 100 000 people in the published in New Scientist, has confirmed buying on the street. cork-producing countries of Portugal, , long-standing rumours of such an illegal The next step could be to look further , , Italy, and France. market. afield. On the one hand, Ghana’s grasscutter Cork harvesting is an environmentally Glyn Davies, Director of Conservation at farmers are preparing to rear breeding stock friendly process during which not a single the Zoological Society of London, said that for neighbouring countries. On the other, the tree is cut down. Synthetic and screw top bushmeat traders were occasionally huge diaspora of Ghanaians overseas closures are more harmful to the arrested in London. “The bushmeat trade is longing for a taste of home could also prove environment because they use more energy huge and supports thousands of people in lucrative. But with local demand for in production and are oil-based products. Africa,” he said. grasscutters booming, most farmers are WWF is calling on the cork industry to African governments needed to be made unlikely to need to seek markets far from continue to invest in the quality of cork aware of the millions of dollars spent on the home. (Source: BBC News, 3 April 2006.) stoppers, and the wine industry to make cork parallel economy of the bushmeat trade. (Please see p. 44 for more information.) the preferred closure option. Better

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management practices in cork oak the number two producer, Spain, will see Pradesh and the northeastern Himalayan landscapes also need to be coupled with 30 000 tonnes. region, with Jharkhand contributing about Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Cork is produced from the bark of the 68 percent of total production, followed by accreditation – the highest environmental Quercus suber tree, also called cork oak, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and other certification system. which grows predominantly in Portugal and a states. Lac cultivation is carried out in four The report can be found at: few other countries around the crop seasons during a crop year, with each www.wine.co.za/attachments/PDF- Mediterranean. The trees are stripped every crop contributing different amounts, e.g. View.asp?PDFID=38 nine to ten years, when the bark is thick the summer crop season contributes about (Source: WWF, 16 May 2006 [in South African enough for viable commercial use. By cycling half of total annual lac production. Wine News].) the production schedule of trees, cork Lac is a cash crop by nature, thus foresters maintain a consistent and reliable enhancing the cash flow of a large number source of wood. of people involved in its cultivation, Nearly 99 percent of all cork harvested is processing and trade. used for commercial purposes in one way or In order to examine the current status of another. The highest-quality cork is generally lac cultivation and the problems in the reserved for wine stoppers, with lower higher production of stick lac, the study grades used in a host of products ranging selected a sample of 152 cultivators spread from linoleum and ceiling tiles to car parts over major lac-growing areas in Jharkhand, and shoe soles. Protected by the Portuguese Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Government as a renewable resource, the Maharashtra. The selected cultivators were average life span of a cork tree is more than classified into three categories based on 200 years. (Source: South African Wine the number of lac hosts: i) small cultivators News, 25 August 2006.) (up to 100 trees); ii) medium cultivators (from 100 to 250 trees); and iii) large Sustainability of cork cultivators (more than 250 trees). Cork is a truly sustainable product – it is %LAC The study revealed that palas remains renewable and biodegradable and cork the main lac host tree (81.4 percent), harvesting is an environmentally friendly Cultivation of NTFPs as the best measure followed by ber (14.1 percent) and kusum process with no loss of trees. As well as of poverty eradication of poor tribal (4.5 percent). providing a valuable source of income to cultivators. A case study of lac cultivation The gross return from lac cultivation on more than 100 000 people, these landscapes Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have ber host trees in different categories of also support one of the highest levels of always played a central role as a source of cultivators revealed that large cultivators biodiversity among forest habitats. income generation in community forestry were earning the highest amount per tree Traditional cork oak Quercus suber projects throughout the world. Forests are (about Rs122), while small cultivators were landscapes, which cover approximately 2.7 generally inhabited by tribal people, earning the least (about Rs59) and medium million ha in Portugal, Spain, Algeria, especially in India, who are protected by law cultivators about Rs98. Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France, are under and given the constitutional right to derive The study of gross returns from lac threat from a number of pressures. In their livelihood from forest produce. They cultivation on different types of host trees particular, the increasing risk of decline in are assigned the special status of scheduled among different categories of cultivators the global cork stopper market for the wine tribes. Most of the tribal population suggested that the difference in gross industry, because of the growing use of non- generally reside in the vicinity of a forest and return per host tree was mainly a result of cork substitutes, is threatening to reduce the are exclusively dependent on forest produce the varying crop yield rates realized. The market value of cork and the incentive to for their daily needs. price of lac obtained from kusum fetches a preserve and manage cork oak landscapes. A recent study by the authors focuses on comparatively high market price because of (Source: Cork screwed. Environmental and lac, which is a secretion of the insect its superior quality, whereas lac obtained economic impacts of the cork stoppers Laccifer lacca and is an important NTFP. from palas fetches a lower price mainly market. WWF [in TRAFFIC Bulletin, 21(1), Until the 1950s, India virtually had a world because of its inferior quality and colour. 2006].) monopoly in its production and trade and The study further revealed that lac accounted for nearly 90 percent in both. This cultivation is the most lucrative enterprise Cork harvest in 2006 biggest in latest nine- scenario changed in recent years, with for tribal cultivators, where little effort is year cycle domestic production declining from 45 000 maximized in the form of higher cash While Europe had another hot summer in tonnes in the 1950s to about 12 000 tonnes earnings and the conservation of trees. 2006, it also had the biggest cork harvest in in 2000. However, there has been a revival in However, in spite of such a lucrative return the last nine years, bringing in a total of lac production which, by 2003, exceeded from lac cultivation, a large number of lac 140 000 tonnes of raw cork, according to the 20 000 tonnes, with lac exports exceeding host trees remain unexploited every year. Cork Supply Group, the largest provider of Rs100 crore. Constraint analysis was carried out to premium natural cork wine stoppers in the Lac cultivation in India is spread over identify factors that affect lac production United States. major forest areas in Jharkhand, adversely and restrict higher production at This year Portugal, the largest producer of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, the farmer level. (Contributed by: Dr S.P. raw cork, will produce 110 000 tonnes, while Maharashtra, West Bengal, parts of Uttar Bhardwaj, India.)

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nationwide increased 17 percent, according • It is a semi-evergreen tree, 8–10 m tall FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: to Department of Agriculture statistics. with greyish bark and glabrous Dr S.P. Bhardwaj (Director) and Dr S.D. Sharma As usual, Vermont was the No. 1 syrup branchlets. (Principal Scientist), Indian Agricultural state with 460 000 gallons produced. Maine • The leaves are simple, 6–12 x 3–5.5 cm Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, was the No. 2 state with 300 000 gallons, thick, coriaceous, alternate, India. E-mail: [email protected] or followed by New York with 253 000 gallons. subopposite, broadly oblong to elliptic- [email protected] New Hampshire produced 64 000 gallons of oblong, glabrous, glaucus beneath, apex syrup, Massachusetts 40 000 gallons and obtuse or emarginate, margin entire or Connecticut came in at 10 000 gallons. slightly crenulate, base rounded with The rise in production is credited to an glands at the base of the leaf blade; increase in yield as well as an increase in petiole to 1 cm, orange-reddish, stipules the number of syrup taps. (Source: absent; secondary nerves seven to nine Associated Press [in Portsmouth Herald pairs. News (United States)], 16 June 2006.) • The flowers are pale yellow, small and bisexual, in terminal spikes up to 8 cm Maple syrup production in Canada long, bracteoles small and deciduous. Canada accounts for 85 percent of the Calyx tube ovoid, constricted above the world’s maple syrup production, with the ovary, limb campanulate with five United States supplying the remainder. triangular, valvate lobes. Petals are More than 80 percent of Canada’s absent; there are ten stamens, in two %MAPLE SYRUP production is exported to the United States. series – the upper five alternate with the Japan is the second largest market with calyx lobes, the lower five inserted Maple syrup tapping in the United States sales to this country growing significantly opposite; filaments are subulate, To obtain sap for syrup, a hole is drilled into in recent years – doubling, in fact, from exerted; anthers small; disc five-lobed, the maple tree and the sap drips through a 2001 to 2003. villous. Ovary one loculed, ovules two to spout or tube into a bucket or plastic bag. In 2004, Canada’s production of maple three pendulous; style subulate; stigma Black maple and sugar maple are the trees products dropped by 3.6 percent while small. commercially tapped in Michigan (United exports increased by 4.1 percent. Even • Fruit drupe, obovoid, green when young, States), although the sap from red and though production declined, Canadian later turning brown, 1.4–2.5 x 1.3–1.7 silver maples can also be made into syrup. suppliers were able to satisfy domestic and cm, very faintly five-ridged when dry, A tree needs to be about 40 years old and foreign markets by drawing on the high glabrous, indehiscent; seed solitary, at least 10 in (25 cm) in diameter to be inventory left over from the exceptional exalbuminous; cotyledons convolute. tapped; it can then be tapped for more than 2000 harvest. Quebec is Canada’s biggest The leaves usually fall from December to a century. Springtime is tap time, because producer of maple products (93 percent), February and new foliage and flowering warmer days and freezing nights make the with Ontario and New Brunswick start from March onwards and continue until sap flow. Once a tree starts budding, the accounting for most of the remainder. the end of April. Fruits appear at the syrup will taste bitter. In 2005, the Canadian maple products beginning of August until end-September. One tap will yield about 10 gallons of sap industry received a boost when the The fruit has high medicinal value as an per season, and it takes about 40 gallons of Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du antipyretic, a purgative and a diuretic. The sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. The Québec (Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup local tribal people use it: colourless sap is 2–3 percent sugar, and is Producers), in conjunction with the federal • as a decoction orally to prevent boiled to reduce the water content and government, announced plans to promote diarrhoea; concentrate the sugar until it becomes maple products on international markets • as a powder applied externally on the syrup. and to make the maple industry more affected part and given orally for Syrup comes in four United States innovative. (Source: The State of Canada’s swellings and fever; Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades: Forests 2005–2006.) • with honey, taken orally to cure peptic Grade A Light Amber is the lightest in colour ulcers; and tastes the mildest. Grade A Medium • as a powder, given orally with water to Amber is a little fuller in flavour and is MEDICINAL PLANTS control diabetes; usually used for pancakes and waffles. % AND HERBS • as an infusion, with the tuberous root of Grade A Dark Amber is even fuller in flavour Pimpinella tirupatiensis, in the and is used on breakfast cereals, and for Terminalia pallida Brandis treatment of venereal diseases; cooking and baking. The darkest, Grade B, is Terminalia pallida Brandis is an endemic • as a powder given orally as a remedy for best suited for baking. (Source: Detroit Free plant of medicinal importance in the coughs and colds; Press [United States], 6 March 2006.) Seshachalam hill range of the eastern • as a paste, mixed with turmeric and Ghats in India. It is a deciduous tree of the applied externally to the toes and feet to Maple syrup production in the United States family Combretaceae, regionally called cure fissures and cracks; and Maple syrup production rose by 12 percent tella karaka, and is a dominant tree on the • in veterinary medicine. in New Hampshire and Vermont and 13 Tirumala hills. It has the following Terminalia pallida is being exploited percent in Maine in 2006, while production characteristics. excessively for its fruit. Hence, immediate

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steps must be taken to conserve this wreck any chance of using these opportunity to boost health research in endemic plant before it becomes discoveries in the fight against disease, developing nations. endangered. (Contributed by: Prof. (Mrs) N. WWF declared. A senior ministry official says it is likely Savithramma, Department of Botany, Sri A promising anticancer substance has that China will launch research on Venkateswara University, Tirupait 517 502, been found in a Borneo shrub by researchers artemisinin, a herbal medicine from Andhra Pradesh, India. E-mail: for an Australian pharmaceutical firm, while Artemisia annua regarded as the best [email protected]) a chemical found in latex produced by the treatment for malaria, with African countries bintangor tree appears to be effective such as Kenya and South Africa. Moringa oleifera has multiple healing against the replication of HIV, the report said. The scheme has already attracted properties The report further says that researchers countries including the United States, Japan The Moringa oleifera tree can save millions found a powerful and previously unknown and Singapore, says Shang Yong, Vice- of lives around the world through its high antimalarial agent in the bark of a local tree Minister of Science and Technology. The first nutritional and medicinal properties. Every traditionally used by the Kenyah people of 50 programmes, which will be selected by his part of the tree is valuable as it is said to Kalimantan to treat malaria. In laboratory ministry and matched with international have beneficial properties that can cure tests this substance appears to kill the partners, will start by the end of 2006. various ailments. For instance, its leaves human malaria parasite. China hopes the project will help increase can cure high blood pressure, diabetes, In all, the report stated, 422 new plant its share of the global market for traditional diarrhoea and fever. species have been discovered in Borneo – medicines. Until now, entry into global Dr Jean Baptiste Nduwayezu, Moringa shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei markets has been hampered by a lack of Project Coordinator for the southern African Darussalam – in the last 25 years and many consensus as to how to measure the efficacy region, said research had also shown that others that could have medicinal of traditional medicine. Thus the project will consumption of fresh moringa leaves and applications are believed to be there. But “all also include efforts to develop international dry leaf powder increases the milk these promising discoveries could eventually standards for traditional remedies. “It is production of breastfeeding mothers and be lost if the disappearing rain forests of the much cheaper to develop a new herbal improves babies’ health. Nduwayezu said heart of Borneo are not adequately medicine than a Western one,” says Shang. that Moringa oleifera seeds, which have protected”, WWF said. Borneo’s forest cover “So our programmes will have a strong properties similar to olive oil, are used in has shrunk to 50 percent of its territory today appeal for transnational companies.” water purification and also provide edible from 75 percent in the mid-1980s. (Sources: Such companies will be able to express oils. Moringa seed oil is used in lubrication, Reuters, 27 April 2006 and others.) their wish to participate through their soaps and cosmetics and as a remedy for embassy or their home country’s science prostate cancer, bladder problems, gout Anti-inflammatory properties of copaíba administration. Shang added that companies, and skin diseases, among other functions. A study conducted by Brazil’s University of rather than colleges or research institutes, Nduwayezu, however, warned that São Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto Science would play the major role in each excess consumption of moringa roots in Department has certified the anti- programme, with an aim to “foster domestic powder form could be toxic and result in inflammatory properties of the copaíba pharmacists”. cardiac arrest or paralysis. He said that plant (Copaifera officinalis). Chinese drug companies will gain extra recent reports from Francistown and In testing on mice, this tree native to the funding and access to advanced facilities in Gaborone showed that some people were tropical regions of Latin America and developed nations to help them develop their now selling the powder from moringa roots western Africa showed anti-inflammatory traditional medicines. (Source: SciDev.Net in different dosages. Furthermore, some properties twice as strong as diclofenac Weekly Update, 3–10 July 2006.) unscrupulous vendors are making huge sodium, a synthetic medication. profits by selling products labelled moringa To date, copaíba has been used in scents Ginkgo biloba: how a herb could help the tea leaves but that are in fact from the and varnishes, but it has also been used in brain ground roots or stems of any tree or shrub traditional medicine to prevent scarring and Researchers have identified a key cellular species. against inflammation. (Source: pathway by which the herbal medicine Ginkgo He said there was a need for the Tierramérica, 3 August 2006.) biloba may protect brain cells. If the results establishment of a farmers’ association to are confirmed in humans, G. biloba might one be responsible for setting standards, testing China launches international project on day be used to lessen the effects of strokes. and approving moringa products. (Source: herbal medicine For centuries, traditional Chinese Daily News [Botswana], 14 September China, the world’s main producer of physicians have used extracts from leaves of 2006.) traditional and herbal medicines, has the maidenhair tree, G. biloba, to treat launched an international project to asthma, bronchitis and brain disorders. Healing plants found in threatened Borneo modernize the sector. The Ministry of Although many of G. biloba’s purported forest Science and Technology pledged an initial benefits remain unproven, doctors in the Plants thought to help treat or cure cancer, 100 million yuan (US$12.7 million) for United States are studying the herb’s AIDS and malaria have been found in the projects that focus on developing new potential to slow memory loss and ease rain forests of Borneo according to a new treatments for diseases such as cancer and confusion in patients with Alzheimer’s WWF report – Biodiscoveries, Borneo's HIV/AIDS. It is the first time that China has disease. No one knows for sure how the botanical secret. But the rapid destruction initiated a multinational research project of herbal extract affects the brain. (Source: of trees, much of it by illegal logging, could this kind, which it hopes will provide an ScienceNOW Daily News, 30 May 2006.)

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MULBERRY level of supplement intake, determined the flies, wasps and aphids. Galls can be found % amount of nutrients they consumed. As a on all groups of plants and come in all result, cattle produced more milk when sizes, textures and shapes, resembling given mulberry than when given Calliandra everything from marbles to dunce caps, or Leucaena. The extent to which farmers spikes, cups or buttons. used mulberry as fodder for dairy cattle was Most insect galls develop on oaks and similar to the extent Calliandra and are caused by cynipid wasps, a diverse Leucaena were used. (Source: New Vision group of small wasps numbering over 600 [Kampala], 23 May 2006.) species in North America and many thousands more worldwide. Silkworm cocoon production shifts from Some oak galls are quite valuable since east to west they have a concentrate mixture of resins Mulberry leaves nutritious for livestock In a bid to improve the silkworm cocoon and tannins, used commercially to make Mulberry (Morus alba), locally known as industry, the Chinese Bureau of Commerce permanent inks and astringent ointments. nkenene, is a multipurpose fodder shrub. It plans to support nine silkworm cocoon Inks of the best quality have been made plays an important role in the nutritional production areas under the project “West from oak galls, the most prominent coming security of both animals and people. Its shift of east mulberry”. The project from the Aleppo galls of Europe and Asia. sweet fruits are extremely valuable and includes 200 huge silkworm mulberry Commonly seen oak galls are thin- eaten mainly by children, while its leaves bases, which will form the new cocoon shelled, spongy “apples” that start out provide high-quality feed for small production areas, focusing on central and green and slowly turn brown during the ruminants. west China. Major provinces include summer. They are formed by the cynipid Kenyan farmers have been feeding cows Guangxi, Jiangxi, Sinkiang, Liaolin and Amphibolips confluenta, a tiny dark- and goats on mulberry leaves since the Sichuan. Guangxi has replaced Jiangsu coloured ant-like wasp. During the 1990s. Ugandan farmers have also begun Province as the most important in the summer, each gall contains a single male making use of the shrub. Mulberry was Chinese silkworm cocoon industry. or female wasp. The galls are stimulated to previously planted for the silkworm industry The Government of China will supply grow by chemicals in wasp saliva that and eaten as a fruit but now it is mixed with special funds and necessary support to mimic the effects of plant hormones. fresh forages (grasses and legumes) and carry out this project. (Source: In late June or July winged adults emerge given to livestock for a balanced diet. Fresh Fibre2fashion.com, 22 August 2006.) from their oak apple condominium to mate. grasses such as Tanzania (kakira kambwa), After this brief sexual phase, the males die elephant and Guatemala are a source of Extensive mulberry plantations to be and the females burrow into the ground and carbohydrate and contribute 70 percent to raised in Indian state lay fertilized eggs on oak roots. These hatch the diet. Fresh legumes such as mulberry, Rajahmundry. Plans are afoot to raise into all-female larvae that begin feeding on Calliandra (kalibwambuzi), Sesbania mulberry plantations in 10 000 acres root tissue, which stimulates development of (muzimbandegeya), Leucaena, Tephrosia (4 047 ha) in Andhra Pradesh during 2006 in another type of gall below ground. This (muluku), lablab, Gliricidia (mutamesse) addition to the existing 90 000 acres phase of the life cycle lasts more than a year, and Ipomea temirostris (ekabowabowa) are (36 422 ha), according to the Sericulture and then the larvae develop into wingless protein-giving foods. Commissioner. She said that so far eight asexual females that look completely The cows and goats graze and browse crore saplings had been planted in 3 500 different from their sexual parents. These every type of grass and shrub but, among acres (1 416 ha). As many as 5 000 tonnes of crawl up the oak tree to lay unfertilized eggs the legumes, it is mulberry and Calliandra silk had been produced from 55 000 tonnes on developing leaves. No males are required. that are consumed first. Fresh forages are of cocoons. Oak apple gall wasps of both sexes and all cut on a daily basis, chopped, mixed and fed Steps were taken to produce 75 000 life-cycle phases are stingless. (Source: to the animals. cocoons in 2006. The existing production in Sara and Jim Lawrey, Rappahannock News According to the Paths to Prosperity the country is 14 000 tonnes as against a [United States], 28 June 2006.) 1998–99 report by the International Centre 25 000-tonne demand. The Government is for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), a planning to set up spun silk mills in the state similar experiment was carried out in in a phased manner. (Source: FreshPlaza, central Kenya from 1997 to 1998 to the Netherlands, 22 August 2006.) determine the voluntary intake of tree- shrub fodder supplements by heifers. Mulberry had the highest voluntary intake %OAK GALLS of the fodder used in this trial, compared with dairy meal. This high intake and the Galls are tumorous mutated oak leaves. fact that the bark was eaten are indications They serve as both protective homes and of mulberry’s high nutrition. Sweetness is food supply for tiny wasps that alternate an important factor in intake. between sexual and asexual generations. With each type of fodder, cattle were able All galls are aberrant plant growths to select the more nutritious parts. And caused by a variety of micro-organisms, their selective feeding, together with the nematodes, mites and insects, particularly

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%SANDALWOOD smoke surrounds the bridal couple. For the best-quality sandalwood in the world and is meditative yogi, the oil and incense the only place in Kerala where it grows Sandalwood oil – aromatherapy for the encourage a serene state of mind. naturally. Smuggling of this costly wood is mind, body, and spirit Sandalwood is valued in the traditional rampant, where a single tree can fetch more Sandalwood is one of the world’s most Indian medicine system of Ayurveda. It is than a lakh of rupees. Marayoor, which widely used essential oils, prized for its indicated for inflammatory, intestinal and earlier had over one lakh sandalwood trees, scent in perfumery, for its therapeutic genito-urinary conditions that require now has only 59 000. effects in Chinese, Ayurvedic and Tibetan cooling. Modern aromatherapy considers Except in some patches of Kerala and medicine systems, and for its ability to focus the oil an effective skin care agent for dry Karnataka forests, there are no sandalwood the mind in meditative yogic traditions. skin, general irritation and acne; it can help trees left in India and it will be some time Sandalwood essential oil is most often in cases of bronchitis, catarrh, dry before the industry can be resuscitated, extracted via steam distillation from the persistent coughs, laryngitis and sore since it takes conservatively 50 years before wood of the sandalwood tree, with the throats; it may relieve diarrhoea and a sandalwood tree can be uprooted for its heartwood of the roots producing the nausea, and can be supportive in cases of valuable oil. In the 1990s the price was 3 highest-quality oil. Sandalwood is an cystitis. Sandalwood essential oil is also a lakh rupees per tonne and in 2006 it was 30 evergreen tree, growing to a height of 9 m, great tonic for the hyperactive mind. lakh rupees per tonne. with leathery leaves and small purple Finally, sandalwood is one of the few Who will fill the gap to supply the 6 000 flowers. Native to southern tropical Asia, the essential oils that improve with age. tonnes of sandalwood logs required annually tree is parasitic, gaining its nutrients from Because of increasing demand, the price of for the world trade? Other nations, mainly one of several other tree species. Because it the oil is climbing significantly every year. Australia with its vast uncultivated lands, can only be grown this way, and as a result (Source: Market-Day.net [United States], 14 have stepped in. The greatest advantage of of its seemingly strict set of environmental September 2006.) Australia is that its sandalwood farms are in conditions, sandalwood is difficult to the private enterprise sandalwood industry. propagate. To add to the challenge of India, Australia and the sandalwood market It is already ensuring the topmost security of successful cultivation, sandalwood takes India’s 5 000-year-old sandalwood industry its sandalwood, and there are no poachers nearly 30 years to mature before yielding oil is in its last gasp, thanks to smugglers who or smugglers. of any worth. have ensured that the official trade is killed. Australia has become the home for Sandalwood oil has a woody, balsamic, Sandalwood production in the country has sandalwood plantations with a total annual sweet and slightly musky aroma; it is a pale fallen from about 4 000 tonnes/year in the harvest currently standing at 2 000 tonnes. It yellow, greenish or brownish liquid with 1960s to under 1 000 tonnes during the has embarked on a long-term sandalwood excellent tenacity (the aroma tends to last a 2000s. tree project and the largest sandalwood long time) and superior fixative properties. Three years ago India exported 1 800 farm in the world is at Kunnumurra in There are several varieties available, with tonnes of hard-core sandalwood, of a world western Australia, with 12 000 sandalwood Sandalum album considered the most trade of 6 000 tonnes. In 2005 it was a bare trees in each of its 300-acre (121.4-ha) farm important therapeutically. The Mysore 400 tonnes. As a result, India, once the segments. The oil content of Australian- region of eastern India is thought to produce undisputed leader in the 1 800 crore-a-year grown trees is between 1 and 2 percent, the highest quality of this oil type, although market for global sandalwood exports, has which compares with 6 percent from Indian its harvesting is creating a strain on the lost its position to suppliers in Australia and trees. But now plant scientists in Australia area’s natural environment. Recently, an oil Indonesia. India’s own local requirements have developed a method of extracting of the Austrocaledonia species has been are about 150 tonnes a year; in 2006 sandalwood oil from trees as young as 15 produced on the South Pacific island of supplies can continue for about two more years, unlike in India where the trees are not Vanuatu from successfully cultivated years since stocks are on the decline. touched until they are 40 years old. That sandalwood trees. This oil has a fantastic A sandalwood tree lives for 60 to 70 years. means for one extraction cycle in India, aroma, with a woody, smoky scent that is an When it is brought down for profit, it is never there are three in Australia. The Australian excellent base note in perfume and felled like other trees, but uprooted in the scientists are also striving to achieve an oil cosmetic blends. rainy season, when the roots are richest in production figure closer to the Indian trees. In the West, sandalwood oil is perhaps the precious essential oil. The yield of oil is Scarcely two decades old, the Australian best known as a natural, woody, sweet body highest in the roots, about 10 percent, and sandalwood industry has today the green perfume used “as is”, or as a familiar aroma lowest in chips, which are a mixture of sandalwood resources available for harvest in many cosmetics, aftershaves and the like. heartwood and sapwood (1.5–2 percent). in excess of 200 000 tonnes and the quantity In the East, however, sandalwood’s The oil content of the heartwood varies from of dead sandalwood available for harvest importance in cultural and spiritual tree to tree and is higher in older trees. One was in excess of 15 000 tonnes. At the same traditions cannot be overstated. The wood is tonne of sandalwood yields 40–50 litres of time, Australia does not want to flood the carved into furniture and religious icons, oil. The bulk price at the factory is more than market by lowering prices and its Ministry of used to build temples and burned as incense Rs50 000 a litre. On the Internet the oil Agriculture has decided to keep exports in a great variety of ceremonies. The oil is retails at Rs1 350 for 10 ml. Each tree yields locked at around 3 000 tonnes a year. used to anoint the dead. In Myanmar, around 30 kg of heartwood. India is already importing hundreds of women sprinkle it on passers-by on the last Environmentalists say the smuggling of tonnes of sandalwood from Australia and day of the year. In Hindu marriages, sandalwood could be well in the region of the famous Australian red sanders sandalwood is burned in a tent so that the Rs500 crore annually. Marayoor has the sandalwood is very well received in India for

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its oil content. Many Indian companies are has risen in value by a compound 22 because of a huge demand for sandalwood also interested in investing in Australian percent a year over the past 15 years. products – bark, stem and seeds – in India. sandalwood plantations and setting up units The other major grower of Indian Smugglers working with some residents over there. (Source: Navhind Times, 21 sandalwood in the Ord, ITC Limited, has were buying the wood at K Sh3/kg. In August 2006.) now planted 750 ha; its first harvest is collaboration with other stakeholders, planned for 2014. (Source: ABC Online members of Laikipia Conservancy have been Indian perfume capital on the brink [Australia], 19 June 2006.) trying to stop the illegal harvesting of the With sandalwood hardly available for the tree. attar or itr distilleries in Kannauj, the Vanuatu sandalwood competes with Indian Sandalwood, which was originally found in “perfume capital of India” might lose its product India and Australia, is a small evergreen tree status in the next few years. Of 21 Recent field surveys of natural stands of that grows up to 4 m high in Kenya and up to sandalwood oil distilleries, 19 have shut sandalwood in Vanuatu have uncovered a 20 m in India. It sometimes attains 2.4 m in down, while the remaining distilleries are range of varieties that possess exceptional diameter. Its bark is dark brown, reddish, functioning with cheaper African wood. And oil qualities. The main survey was carried dark grey or nearly black in younger trees. every perfumery owner now relies on a out in 2004 by local and Australian experts “The bark when boiled produces a dark- second business for a living. on six islands in Vanuatu – Malakula, Santo, coloured solution which was used to flavour Virendra Dixit, the owner of Pandit Moso, Erromango, Tanna and Aniwa – in tea. It was also used together with other Chandrabali Sandalwood Distillery, one of order to quantify morphological and genetic herbs for cleaning blood. For others, the the oldest, blamed the situation on the variation. The survey was also intended to boiled product was given to women after “shortsighted policies of successive domesticate the good-quality trees for giving birth to boost their appetite,” governments”, with no efforts being made to expanding plantings to meet international remembers Joseph Thuita, a resident of increase the area under cultivation and/or standards for sandalwood oil. Majani village. Another elder, Charles improve production. Dixit, who is also This new development opens the way for Ndun’gu, says: “The wood of the sandal tree president of the Perfumer’s Association, local communities to make a greater was sold in many markets in central Kenya said the government has imposed 16 contribution to the sandalwood industry just before independence. It was boiled and percent excise duty on sandalwood and 10 through planting superior varieties. The used as tea and some people said it lifted percent on other perfumes, thus forcing the sandalwood oil industry also stands to their mood.” After Kenya gained collapse of surviving distilleries. He added benefit through future access to a independence, sandalwood products were that sandalwood oil, which was available for consistent supply of quality oil that is abandoned as better branded and packed Rs7 000–8 000 about ten years ago, is sold required for developing premium branded products hit the market. for no less than Rs50 000 now, and the profit products. In India, however, the tree products have margin per kg is between Rs200 and Individual sandalwood trees (Sandalum attained sacred status. When harvested, the Rs1 000. austrocaledonicum) were assessed and stem, which is known as heartwood, is Another perfumery owner stated that wood core samples collected from nine ground and its steam distilled into oils for use “there is no life left in the industry”. He said populations on the six islands. A total of 28 in manufacturing cosmetics, soaps, candles, many people have closed down their units percent of trees sampled in the two medicines and perfumes. The wood yields and have moved out of Kannauj. (Source: northern islands produced a natora oil between 4 and 10 percent oil when distilled. Lucknow Newsline [India], 10 July 2006.) meeting the international standard, with a Because of the rising demand for content of more than 41 percent a-santalol sandalwood products, the tree is considered and more than 16 percent b-santalol. The endangered in India, which is why smugglers selected trees from the remaining southern have found East Africa an easy source of the populations had a mean of 31 percent of a- products. and b-santalol. The Kenyan Government has banned The survey now places Vanuatu in second harvesting of the tree, but the lure of quick position after Indian sandalwood, Sandalum money has forced people to target isolated album, in the world market. Sandalum forests and bushes where it is found. (Source: austrocaledonicum is mainly found in The East African [Kenya], 5 September 2006.) Big expansion for sandalwood plantation Vanuatu and Mare island in New Caledonia in Australia compared with Sandalum yasi in Fiji and An Indian sandalwood plantation in the Ord Tonga with poor-quality oil. (Source: Port % STEVIA Valley is undergoing its biggest expansion in Vila Presse [Vanuatu], 21 February 2006.) seven years. Tropical Forestry Services is The changing market for stevia planting a further 235 ha of the exotic Saving the sandalwood tree in Kenya Stevia, also called sweet leaf or honey leaf, hardwood, increasing its total plantation to Residents of Majani village in the Laikipia is a medicinal plant indigenous to South more than 800 ha. The company plans to district of Kenya’s Rift Valley Province America, where it has been used for harvest its first crop in 2012, banking on recently noticed that sandalwood, known centuries by the Guarani Indians to sweeten continuing strong demand from Asia, locally as muthirioni, was being uprooted and foods and beverages. An estimated 280 Europe and the United States. Premium taken away at night. Even those in private species of stevia now grow wild in North and sandalwood is fetching more than farms were not being spared. The residents South America. However, the only species A$100 000 a tonne at global auctions and later learned that this was happening with the sweetening properties that have

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attracted so much attention to the herb is in the United States. Around the same time, regulations limiting the sale of stevia Stevia rebaudiana. an anonymous firm lodged a trade complaint products to supplements and medicinal Despite the challenging regulatory with the Food and Drug Administration teas, the herb continues to grow in obstacles that stevia products have faced (FDA), stating that stevia was being used as popularity among natural and mainstream over the past 15 years, sales continue to an unapproved sweetener in the products of consumers alike. (Source: K. Rourke, climb year after year in both the natural and a successful tea company. As a result, FDA Natural Products Insider [United States], 18 conventional markets. Currently, sales of banned its import in 1991 and changed its September 2006.) stevia and medicinal tea with added stevia classification from a food to a food additive. total US$14.4 million in the natural channel, This change in classification was a blow up by 32 percent over the previous year. Total to producers. Foods do not need pre-market dollar sales are lower in the conventional approval before they enter into the food channel, but they have grown nearly twice as supply, as they are automatically considered much in the same period – 63 percent over safe. Food additives, however, must undergo the previous year to $3.6 million. expensive toxicological research studies in From Latin America to Asia, stevia is used order to meet FDA’s safety requirements. as a natural and safe non-caloric sweetener. While owners of patented food additives are For example, the herb accounts for 40 guaranteed large profits because of their percent of the sweetener market in Japan, lack of competition in the marketplace, Stevia can help meet sugar crisis where artificial sweeteners have been stevia would be impossible to patent. As Stevia serrata (family name Asteraceae), a banned as a result of strict food additive soon as the herb had been approved for sale herbal plant widely used as an alternative regulations. Stevia has been used in Japan as a food additive, anyone could to sugar in many developed countries such for approximately 30 years with no reported manufacture and sell it as a sweetener. as Australia, Canada, China, Japan and the negative effects. Understandably, manufacturers were United States, can help meet a country’s Stevia is almost completely free of reluctant to invest millions of dollars on growing demand for sugar. Herbal scientist calories, making it a wonderful natural product research that cannot promise a Dr Alamgir Mati said the compound made alternative to synthetic non-nutritive return on investment. of stevia leaf (sometimes known as sweet sweeteners such as sucralose, acesulfame- Since 1992, the American Herbal leaf or chinipata) is 300 times sweeter than K and aspartame, which many natural Products Association (AHPA) has submitted common sugar: 5 g stevia leaf has the consumers tend to avoid. Stevioside and at least two petitions to FDA challenging same effect as 1 kg sugar. Rebaudioside A are two chemical stevia’s status as a food additive. In Dr Mati said that 1 kg of sugar is being components present in stevia. Together, September 1995, FDA finally lifted its four- sold at Tk65 while it takes at best only Tk5 they give the plant a taste that is 200 to 300 year import ban on stevia. However, the to produce 5 g of stevia. Since Bangladesh times sweeter than refined sugar, without a reintroduction of stevia to the United States is an agrobased country, he believes that single side effect. was limited to its sale as a dietary the plant could be easily cultivated in its Besides being a natural alternative to supplement and prohibited its use as a vast char lands since it grows well on open sugar, stevia has a number of other healthful sweetener or flavouring ingredient in any land with regular sunlight. He added that benefits that make it an ideal sweetener for food products. “after 60 days of cultivation, the leaf of the anyone with blood sugar problems. Rebecca Today, stevia is sold in most natural food plant can be harvested and turned into Wood, author of The New Whole Foods stores in the supplement department. It is granules like those of sugar”. This could Encyclopedia, noted that stevia has available in several forms, including powder help minimize sugar imports as well as traditionally been used to balance glucose and plain and flavoured liquid. Although it create job opportunities for a large number levels because, unlike refined sugars, it does has been banned for sale as a sweetener, of unemployed youth. not cause spikes in blood sugar. Blood sugar consumers still purchase stevia for this Dr Mati stated that stevia has no side regulation is increasingly important to purpose. Unlike aspartame, stevia is heat effects as an alternative to sugar; rather it consumers in the United States. stable up to 392°F (200°C). However, baking reduces blood pressure, risks of obesity Because of its regulatory action on the with stevia is not the same as baking with and diabetes because it has a low pancreas, stevia also helps to maintain sugar. The molecular structures of the two carbohydrate content. (Source: The New proper digestion and appetite. Regular use sweeteners are completely different. Nation [Bangladesh], 2 June 2006.) of the herb can help minimize hunger Sucrose (sugar) will caramelize when sensations and cravings for sweets or fatty heated, giving baked goods a brown crust. Sugar-free honey project foods. In addition, stevia has an antifungal Stevia, on the other hand, does not have this In an effort to motivate beekeepers to effect and can be used to combat topical browning quality. Cooking times may differ produce sugar-free herbal honey, India has fungal infections such as athlete’s foot. It is from traditional recipes, and ingredient introduced a new ecofriendly beekeeping ideal for candida sufferers, as it does not measures are not the same (since stevia is system in the state of Himachal Pradesh. feed yeast or other micro-organisms. It also 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar). The National Horticulture Board (NHB) has has antibiotic properties that have been As more studies question the safety of sent the state 5 000 beekeeping boxes shown to prevent oral bacterial conditions, non-natural sweeteners such as sucralose, together with the bees, to be distributed in specifically cavities and gum disease. acesulfame-K and aspartame, consumer ten of the 12 districts in 2007, an official said. During the late 1980s, stevia was quickly demand for safe non-caloric sweeteners is These bees will be fed on stevia herbal gaining momentum as a popular sweetener increasing considerably. In spite of federal plant leaves that are said to produce sugar-

NON-WOOD NEWS No. 14 January 2007 PRODUCTS AND MARKETS 35

free honey. The plant is considered a natural Namibia, the Nama people will sell you the that cultivating truffles may create a viable sweetener and also attracts bees. odd kilo of truffles for a few dollars or so, industry for large commercial farmers and These leaves will come in handy in the unless they are keeping them to eat. bypass small-scale, destitute farmers. countryside during dry winters and the rainy Kalahari Desert truffles (Terfezia pfeilii) (Source: Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2006.) season when the bees are unable to fly out in are distantly related to French black search of food. In the lean season, the truffles, but they are not so aromatic. Unlike Mad about truffles in New Zealand hungry bees are normally fed sugar by the black French truffle, with its hard, Waipara truffle grower Gareth Renowden is beekeepers, resulting in the production of knobbly outer layer, Kalahari truffles have a confident that the delicacy will become a poor-quality honey. Stevia will change this smooth brown skin similar to a small round big export earner for New Zealand. practice. potato. Like the French truffle, which is Renowden has established a truffière on Sugar-free honey is much in demand by always found near the roots of oaks, the the steep and stunning terrain of north diabetics and those who do not wish to gain Kalahari truffle has a symbiotic relationship Canterbury’s Waipara Gorge. He is weight but at the same time want to enjoy with a plant – the desert melon. convinced that truffle farming has a huge the taste of honey. It is also said to reduce The Nama recommend carrying a stout future in New Zealand and that truffles will cravings for sugar and fat besides being stick when truffle hunting to flip aside one day sit beside other boutique helpful in controlling blood sugar and high adders, although it seems that they rarely agricultural enterprises and become an blood pressure. bother with such fancy precautions important export earner. An official said the project was sent to themselves, thrusting their hands into the There are few truffle experts in the world NHB by the Himachal Organic Association to dense grasses to pluck out the truffles that but Renowden, the New Zealand Truffle popularize healthy sugar-free honey. are betrayed by a small crack in the red Association president, is fast becoming Eventually the state government plans to sand. recognized as knowledgeable about the procure some 100 000 beekeeping boxes to Namibians are as inventive about edible fungi that can command up to produce herbal honey. (Source: India Kalahari truffles as others are about the NZ$3 500/kg. This is despite his 0.5-ha eNews.com, 28 August 2006.) potato. They bake them, boil them, mash truffle enterprise being in its infancy and them, slice them raw with salt or serve that it has so far yielded only one black cooked slices in a salad. They barbecue truffle in nine years. He quickly does the %TRUFFLES them, grate them over pasta and fry them mathematics and says that a hectare of in lashings of butter and eat them on toast. land with a conservative yield of 20 kg could Burgeoning business in truffles in Some recommend wrapping small ones in make $60 000. Hungary bacon and baking them whole. Renowden says that truffles are a high- Truffling is becoming big business in Kalahari truffles are cheap in Africa: value product not vulnerable to the Hungary, where its natural environment for collectors are often poorly paid or ask little commodity market because they are at the the rare tubers that grow around tree roots for their goods. But if the Kalahari truffle top end of the hospitality industry, which is is slowly being recognized by the ever found its way into the markets of Paris in its early stages in New Zealand. international truffling community. or Rome, it would doubtless create ripples However, those who have entered the While French and Italian truffles fetch of excitement, attract curious buyers and market have proved that quality truffles can huge sums on the market, it is still possible command higher prices – if not the sky- be grown and harvested in New Zealand. to find truffles relatively cheaply in high prices of European black or white There is a huge market in the northern Budapest markets: 1 kg can be bought for truffles. hemisphere just waiting to be tapped as little as 60 000 forints (€230) from stall The difficulty with exporting truffles, because the southern hemisphere can sellers compared with thousands of euro in however, is not just their short shelf-life – produce truffles outside the northern culinary centres such as London. about a week – but regularity of supply. season, he says. “We know the challenge is Hungarian truffle gatherers collect 6–7 This wet season desert fungus is widely to grow enough to be able to meet demand. tonnes of wild truffles a year. available one year and scarce the next. I think the industry is going to start to take Approximately 25 farmers have started Prof. Varda Kagan-Zur of Ben-Gurion off big time within the next five to ten cultivating truffles, although their farms University in Israel has been studying the years.” All New Zealand growers have to do will only start to yield them after several cultivation of the Kalahari truffle and is to produce enough not only to satisfy the years. European farmers, mainly in France, melons in Namibia in an effort to local market, but also to get quality fresh Italy and Spain, produce 60–400 tonnes of commercialize them. Dave Cole, who truffles to northern hemisphere chefs. “But truffles each year, accounting for almost all belongs to a Namibian non-profit we cannot even supply the local demand of the global production. (Source: MTI association of development experts, the yet, let alone the international demand.” [Hungary], 14 September 2006.) Centre for Research Information Action in Big plantations are being planted in Africa, is helping to coordinate the project, Australia, but rather than seeing them as Namibia’s four-star fungus now in its final year. He says it has had competition, he says that the two countries Black truffles have long been prized in mixed results, “but we have learned quite a are working together to develop the France, where pigs or trained dogs snuffle few good things”. industry and set up quality control about under oak trees to bring the The study, under way for the better part standards and a marketing infrastructure treasured delicacies to market for as much of a decade, aims to create a predictable to protect the international market as US$1 200/kg when truffles are scarce. supply for markets and provide a livelihood potential. (Source: Stuff.co.nz [New But in the Kalahari Desert in southern for poor rural farmers. One fear Cole has is Zealand], 8 September 2006.) p

NON-WOOD NEWS No. 14 January 2007