New Cover 6/24/98 9:56 PM Page 1 Current Issues in Non-Timber Forest Products Research Edited by M. Ruiz Pérez and J.E.M. Arnold CIFOR CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 1 CURRENT ISSUES IN NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS RESEARCH Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 3 CURRENT ISSUES IN NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS RESEARCH Proceedings of the Workshop ÒResearch on NTFPÓ Hot Springs, Zimbabwe 28 August - 2 September 1995 Editors: M. Ruiz PŽrez and J.E.M. Arnold with the assistance of Yvonne Byron CIFOR CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 4 © 1996 by Center for International Forestry Research All rights reserved. Published 1996. Printed in Indonesia Reprinted July 1997 ISBN: 979-8764-06-4 Cover: Children selling baobab fruits near Hot Springs, Zimbabwe (photo: Manuel Ruiz PŽrez) Center for International Forestry Research Bogor, Indonesia Mailing address: PO Box 6596 JKPWB, Jakarta 10065, Indonesia Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 5 Contents Foreword vii Contributors ix Chapter 1: Framing the Issues Relating to Non-Timber Forest Products Research 1 J.E. Michael Arnold and Manuel Ruiz PŽrez Chapter 2: Observations on the Sustainable Exploitation of Non-Timber Tropical Forest Products An EcologistÕs Perspective Charles M. Peters 19 Chapter 3: Not Seeing the Animals for the Trees The Many Values of Wild Animals in Forest Ecosystems 41 Kent H. Redford Chapter 4: Modernisation and Technological Dualism in the Extractive Economy in Amazonia 59 Alfredo K.O. Homma Chapter 5: Trade, Indigenous Rain Forest Economies and Biological Diversity 83 Model Predictions and Directions for Research David S. Wilkie and Ricardo A. Godoy Chapter 6: Smallholder Forest Management: Looking Beyond Non-Timber Forest Products 103 Christine Padoch and Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez Chapter 7: Household Extractive Economies 119 Mauro W.B. Almeida Chapter 8: Developing Research Frames for Non-Timber Forest Products Experience from Ghana 143 Julia Falconer v Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 6 Contents Chapter 9: Forest Products Research in Relation to Conservation Policies in Africa 161 Roderick P. Neumann Chapter 10: Living in Abundance The Forest of the Wayampi (Amerindians from French Guiana) 177 Pierre Grenand and Fran•oise Grenand Chapter 11: Technology and the Organisation of Production, Processing and Marketing of Non-Timber Forest Products 197 Eric L. Hyman Chapter 12: PeopleÕs Dependency on Forests for Food Security Some lessons learnt from a programme of case studies 219 Britta Ogle Annex I: Report of the CIFOR Workshop on Research on Non-Timber Forest Products Hot Springs, Zimbabwe, 28 August - 2 September 1995 243 Annex II: Report of the CIFOR Workshop on Research on Non-Timber Forest Products Soto del Real (Madrid), Spain, 11-16 February 1996 259 vi Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 7 Foreword Throughout the tropics hundreds of millions of people derive a significant part of their livelihood from a vast range of non-timber products that they harvest from forests. In many cases hunting and gathering practices have their origins rooted deep in the past and are based upon a highly developed understanding of forest systems. Researchers are constantly surprised by the sophistication of the forest management practised by forest-dwelling com- munities. But the world is going through a period of incredibly rapid change. Economic development and improved communications lead to new oppor- tunities for people hitherto dependent on forests and to both new markets for their products and new competition from cultivated or synthetic substitutes. We know that the extent of dependence on these products is enormous but we have very little basis upon which to predict the likely evolution of the use of non-timber forest products or the future lifestyles of the people who depend upon them. A prominent feature of the recent concern for forest conservation has been the fact that many of the traditional uses of non-timber forest products are not only important to large numbers of people, they are also to a large extent consistent with the maintenance of the global biodiversity and carbon sequestration values of the forest themselves. Many of the systems meet our criteria for ÒsustainabilityÓ, whereas there are countless examples of modern agricultural and forestry systems that have been imposed upon forest lands and are neither sustainable nor meet the needs of the people who depend on the forests. Decisions to change the use of forest land or intensify the management of forests have often been taken without due regard to the values that people are already deriving from NTFP. Simple economic analysis may suggest that conversion to plantations or agriculture will yield greater utility than retention of the natural forest. But often such calculations ignore the need to provide substitute incomes and employment for forest-dependent people. CIFOR recognises that there is already a vast body of scientific knowledge on non-timber forest products. A great deal of it is specific to localities, products or groups of people. In its present forms, this knowledge does not allow us to predict future trends, nor does it allow us to elaborate policy to promote sus- tainability or enhance the welfare of people dependent upon the products. This book presents the main issues that emerge from the existing body of knowledge on NTFP and proposes further research which will help us to vii Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 8 Foreword better understand NTFP-based systems and to optimise their future benefits. This book is the product of a workshop held in an area of eastern Zimbabwe where people are heavily dependent upon a large variety of products from the savannah woodlands. It was organised by Dr Bruce Campbell and colleagues from the University of Zimbabwe who actively research this subject. We are very grateful to them and colleagues at the Centro de Investigaci—n de Espacios Protegidos Fernando Gonz‡lez Bern‡ldez, Soto del Real (Madrid), Spain, who hosted a follow-up meeting to examine recommendations arising from the workshop in Zimbabwe and attempt to prioritise these issues as well as suggest ways of implementation. We hope that this book will serve to launch new research efforts on this vitally important subject both by CIFOR and by our collaborators throughout the tropical world. Jeffrey A. Sayer viii Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 9 Contributors Mauro W.B. Almeida, Dep. de Antropologia - IFCH, Cidade Universit‡ria Campinas - S.P., BRAZIL J.E. Michael Arnold 19 Hayward Road, Oxford OX2 8LN, UK Julia Falconer, Overseas Development Administration, Collaborative Forest Management Unit, Forestry Department Kumasi, GHANA Ricardo A. Godoy, Harvard Institute for International Development 1 Eliot Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Fran•oise Grenand, Dpt de Linguistique Culturelle CNRS-LACITO, 44, rue de lÕAmiral Mouchez, 75014, Paris, FRANCE Pierre Grenand, Dpt SUD, ORSTOM 209-213, rue La Fayette, 75480 Paris cedex 10, FRANCE Alfredo K.O. Homma, CPATU/EMBRAPA Caixa Postal, 48, BelŽm, Par‡, 66095-100, BRAZIL Eric L. Hyman, Appropriate Technology International 1828 L. Street, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036, USA Roderick P. Neumann, Department of International Relations, Florida International University University Park, Miami, FL 3319, USA Britta Ogle, Department of Rural Development Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences PO Box 70 05, S-750 07 Uppsala, SWEDEN Christine Padoch, Institute of Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden Bronx, New York 10458-5126, USA Charles M. Peters, Institute of Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden Bronx, New York 10458-5126, USA ix Front pages 6/24/98 10:02 PM Page 10 Contributors Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, Columbia University New York, New York 10027, USA Kent H. Redford, The Nature Conservancy, Latin America and Caribbean Division 1816 North Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209, USA Manuel Ruiz PŽrez, Center for International Forestry Research PO Box 6596 JKPWB, Jakarta 10065, INDONESIA David S. Wilkie, Associates in Forest Research and Development 4601 Connecticut Avenue, NW, #217, Washington, DC 20008-5701, USA x chapter 1b.qxp 6/24/98 10:10 PM Page 1 Chapter One Framing the Issues Relating to Non-Timber Forest Products Research J.E. Michael Arnold and Manuel Ruiz PŽrez Introduction Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) provide substantial inputs into the livelihoods of very large numbers of people in developing countries, and their production and use can constitute one of the main demands placed upon the forest resource. A complete understanding of the NTFP situation is therefore central to both the task of conserving and managing tropical forests, and of ensuring that these forests continue to contribute appropriately to the welfare of local populations. The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is conducting research in the field of NTFP. An initial review of the state-of-knowledge in this area showed that, while much useful research has been carried out, most of this has been situation spe- cific, has had a narrow sectoral focus, and has been restricted to examining a situation at a particular point in time. Differences in objectives, scope and methodology have meant that it is difficult to compare the results of individual studies. Hence it has not proved possible to carry out syntheses that provide the broader framework of information necessary to make sound policy and management decisions. Consequently, policy proposals are being formulated, and development actions are being implemented, without a clear understand- ing of their impacts and implications. In order to address these data and analysis weaknesses, CIFOR initiated a process designed to encourage the development of a framework within which individual studies can be pursued in a manner that provides answers to a com- mon set of questions, and that produces information that will be comparable across projects.