Non-timber Forest Products Ecological and economic aspects of exploitation in Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia IUCN'S FOREST CONSERVATION PROGRAMME IUCN's Forest Conservation Programme coordinates and supports the activities of the IUCN Secretariat and members working with forest ecosystems. The goal of forest conservation is achieved through promoting protection, restoration and sustainable use of forest resources, so that forests provide the full potential range of goods and services. The programme makes contributions to policy at various levels and uses field projects to derive lessons to feed into the policy debate. The principles of Caring for the Earth, published jointly by IUCN, WWF and UNEP in 1991, are applied to these projects, which combine the needs of conservation with those of local communities. One major activity is to develop coherent and informed policies on forest conservation in order to advocate the translation of policies into effective actions. IUCN frequently advises major development institutions on forest issues, to ensure that conservation priorities are adequately addressed in their projects and programmes. The Forest Conservation Programme receives generous financial support from the Government of the Netherlands. PRINCE BERNHARD CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL NATURE CONSERVATION Prince Bernhard Centre for International Nature Conservation fosters and facilitates strategic and applied research and training on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of natural resources and biodiversity. The Centre is interested in conservation and development projects including an implementation component. It works in bilateral or multilateral cooperation with universities and NGOs in tropical countries. Follow-up to the study presented in this book has led to further research and a training programme on sustainable and multiple exploitation of forest products in Northern Bolivia. This programme, which involves eight Bolivian and five Dutch scientists, is a result of cooperation between the Universidad Tecnica del Beni, the Instituto para Hombre, Agricultura y Ecologia in Riberalta (Northern Bolivia), the Government of the Netherlands and the Prince Bernhard Centre. THE NETHERLANDS COMMITTEE FOR IUCN The Netherlands Committee is an independent foundation uniting the Dutch NGO members of IUCN, the Dutch members of international IUCN Commissions, and the State as an observer. It promotes the implementation of IUCN's objectives within and by the Netherlands, addressing public and private sectors alike. Among other things, the Committee carries out programmes on promoting ecologically sound development cooperation, including involvement in the Sustainability Agreements between the Netherlands and Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica, and lobbying the European Union, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and other multilateral development agencies. Tropical forests have always been a major focus. At present, conservation and social aspects of foreign timber trade are a central issue. The Committee administers a fund for small local NGO projects aimed at conserving tropical forests. It has been instrumental in putting non-timber forest products on the international forest agenda with a study on the economic value of such products in Southeast Asia in 1989, and pursues the subject in several ways. Its involvement in the present study should be seen in that perspective. IUCN, the Netherlands Committee for IUCN, and Utrecht University are grateful to the Government of the Netherlands for the contribution, through the Ministry of Development Cooperation (DGIS), to the study and to this publication. The IUCN Forest Conservation Programme Non-timber Forest Products Ecological and economic aspects of exploitation in Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia Guido Broekhoven IUCN - The World Conservation Union Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Utrecht 1996 Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK in collaboration with the Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Utrecht. Copyright: (1996) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Broekhoven, G. (1996). Non-timber Forest Products: Ecological and economic aspects of exploitation in Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. pp. vi + 126. ISBN: 2-8317-0308-5 Printed by: SADAG, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, France Cover design: James Butler Layout: Patricia Halladay Cover photo: Baskets from Colombia's Chocó region made with palm fibre and natural dyes. G. Broekhoven. Available from: IUCN Publications Services Unit 219c Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK or IUCN Communications Division Rue Mauverney, 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland. The presentation of material in this document and the geographical designations employed do not imply expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or of other participating organisations concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or the other participating organisations. The text of this book is printed on chlorine-free paper. Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Background 3 Extractive reserves in Brazil 9 Chapter 2 Valuing non-timber forest products 11 Chapter 3 Non-market values 14 Chapter 4 Other values 28 Chapter 5 National economies 35 Chapter 6 Sustainable harvesting 67 Chapter 7 Brazil nut and palm heart 81 Chapter 8 Conclusions and recommendations 92 Endnotes 96 References 97 Appendix 111 Contributors 122 Table 1 Indicators of value 23 Table 2 Plant species 24 Table 3 Number of tree species 25 Table 4 Meat consumption 25 Table 5 Game meat consumption 26 Table 6 Protein needs 26 Table 7 Game meat consumption: species groups 27 Table 8 Agriculture vs. non-timber products 33 Table 9 Annual production value, Acre, Brazil 33 Table 10 Income and NPV 33 Table 11 Economic values of non-timber products 34 Table 12a Export from Colombia: 1974-1982 56 Table 12b Export from Colombia: 1983-1991 57 Table 13 Production for 1990: Colombia 57 Table 14a Volume: export of non-timber products, Ecuador 58 Table 14b Value: export of non-timber products, Ecuador 59 Table 15 Export of non-timber forest products, Bolivia 60 Table 16 Production of non-timber forest products, Bolivia 61 Table 17 Monkeys 61 Table 18 Export value 61 Table 19 Export of parrots and parakeets 62 Table 20 CITES-reported export 63 Table 21 Registered export 64 Table 22 Exports, 1985 66 Table 23 Export of parrots 80 Table 24 Export of non-timber forest products, Peru 112 Table 25a Non-timber forest products, Peru: 1978-1983 113 Table 25b Non-timber forest products, Peru: 1984-1989 114 Table 26 Export of non-timber forest products, Brazil 115 Table 27a Volume of non-timber forest products, Brazil 116 Table 27b Value of non-timber forest products, Brazil 118 Table 28 Export of non-timber forest products, Brazil: 1985 120 Table 29 Export of non-timber forest products, Belize 120 Table 30 Export of non-timber forest products, Guatemala 120 Table 31 Some non-timber forest products: Colombia 121 Table 32 U.S. import of xaté from Guatemala and Mexico 121 Table 33 U.S. imports, non-timber forest products (average) 121 Introduction This report is the result of a study in order to make correct estimates. of the value and the ecological Although several studies suggest that impact of the exploitation of non- the value of extraction of non- timber forest products in Colombia, timber forest products is higher than Ecuador and Bolivia. It is based on that of other types of land use, it is information derived from literature, very difficult to be more specific statistics, interviews and a field about these findings. survey in Bolivia. Chapter 5 contains information The value of non-timber forest about the volume and value of products should not be expressed export and production of non-timber only in economic terms, since these forest products in Colombia, Ecuador products are important in many and Bolivia. Experience from the aspects of the lives of people who past illustrates the vagaries of the live in or near the forest. The value market cycle as it has applied to of local use and parameters for specific commercial products, par- measuring it are outlined in Chap- ticularly rubber and quinine. ters 2 and 3. Ecotourism can be seen as an- Non-timber forest products also other product of tropical forests. The have importance at national and value of ecotourism at local and international levels, as illustrated by national levels is discussed in Chap- the development of medicines based ters 4 and 5. Sustainability of exploi- on plant extracts. The potential tation is discussed in ecological, value of related intellectual property economic and socio-cultural terms in rights is discussed in Chapter 4. Chapter 6. Calculation of the Net Present Several commercial extraction Value, in the same chapter, demon- systems are not sustainable and lead strates that it is necessary to calcu- to over-exploitation, as is the case late value over a long period of time with palm heart (Chapter 7). In Non-timber Forest Products