Page 1 of 7 Selected Non -Timber Forest Products for Natural Resources Conservation and Community Development in Southwest Yunnan, China 1 Wang Kanglin, Xu Jianchu, Pei Shengji and Chen Sanyang 2 1. Introduction Peters (1994) definition of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are biological resources other timber winch are harvested from either natural or managed forests. It includes fruits, nuts, oil seeds, latex, resins, gums, medicinal plants, spices, wildlife and wildlife products, dyes, ornamental plants, and raw materials such as bamboo and rattan. This paper focuses exclusively on the role of several selected non-timber forest products in natural resources conservation and community development, with particular emphasis on traditional knowledge and practices of bamboo and rattan in indigenous community. The main objective of this article is to give an introduction of non-timber forest products that has been management and used in indigenous communities of southwest Yunnan. More specifically, dime objectives have been identified as central concerns of this article. 1) review the concept and importance of non-timber forest products; 2) determine and describe traditional knowledge and practices of bamboo and rattan by indigenous community; and 3) recommend some priority model and pre- pare some recommendation for sustainable development. 2. Importance of NTFPs In the past, non-timber forest produces were viewed to be of less economic and ecological importance, and government policies and activities focused mainly on timber. In recent years, however, NTFPs have been accorded international priority in contrast to their categorization as "minor forest products". This heightened attention results from recognition of the need for sustainable use of the resources and the need for development while maintaining biodiversity (Williams et al. 1991). The argument of Hall and Bawa (1993) that non-timber forest products from tropical forests have become a subject of mounting international concern as a result of several factors which affect the availability of many tropical species. First, continuing deforestation in the tropics threatens to eliminate hundreds, if not thousands, of species during the next few decades. Second, effective conservation and management of NTFPs is viewed as a means of improving the rural economy and the well-being of indigenous societies that rely on. Third, there is a growing recognition that rural community, which rely on a variety of plant and animal species for their livelihoods, should participate in conservation of tropical biodiversity. Fourth, many species that yield of NTFPs are assumed to be potential sources of new genes as well as new products particularly drugs, and thus are valuable to the international agriculture and pharmaceutical industries. Non-timber forest products have had significant assigned value in the life of people living in and around forests (Chopra, 1993). Campbell (1996) listed some common assumption about managing forests for NTFP which include 1) important for trials and forest dependent communities (subsistence needs, and commercial benefits: employment and income), 2) represents hidden value of forests (management may conserve biodiversity) , 3) important source of state revenue, 4) potential for sustainable harvesting, 5) potential for local value addition (enterprise development, processing and marketing) , 6 ) benefit may be more equitably shared, 7) builds on indigenous knowledge, and 8) fits with community/joint forest management. 3. Case Studies in Xishuangbanna Mengsong is a mountain community, located in Xishuangbanna prefecture, Southern Yunnan province, Southwest China. It has a southern sub-tropical climate, the annual temperature averages are 16 oC - 18 oC, and annual precipitation ranges from 1400mm - 1600mm a year, of which 80% - 90% are concentrated in the rainy season. This area is mainly covered with evergreen broad -leaf forest, some areas are still well protected Page 2 of 7 tropical rainforest. There are 11 minority nationality villages with a population of 2620 in Mengsong, among these Hani people (Akha) dwell in 10 villages and Lahu people in one village. In Mengsong, indigenous communities have unique knowledge system for sustainable utilization and conservation of natural resources, and rattan and bamboo cultivation, utilization and conservation can provide an experimental example. 3.1 Bamboo As an undoubtedly the most economically important of non-timber forest products, bamboo is a plant of ancient and increasing importance for humanity. Known as " the wood of the poor" in India, "the friend of the people" in China, and "the brother" in Vietnam. The most significant uses of bamboo in Asian countries for writing instruments, building materials, furniture, weaving materials, household utensils, and agricultural tools. The shoots of some species are used as vegetable. Other important uses are as source of raw material for making paper, musical instrument, religious articles, medicine, weapons and other novelty items. In short, bamboo has been used widely in the daily life of the people as a sustainable natural resource. All ethnic communities in Yunnan have a long-term tradition for planting, managing and conserving bamboo resources. Bamboo forests are classified into dime types of property: national, community and family/individual bamboo forests. These are managed or protected by different agencies or individuals. In many indigenous communities, bamboo has been reasonable management and efficient conservation, which are given below: 3.1.1 Community based conservation Many bamboo species, naturally distributed and cultivated, are protected in community forests, such as bamboo in "Sangpabawa" (community rattan protected forest), "Nong Man" or "Nong Meng" (communities Holy Hills), "Nong Ban" (village Holy Hills in Dai ethnic groups), "Ba Hao" and "Lao Ben" (Graveyard forests, in Dai and Hani communities, respectively)," Gai Mei San Ha" (Water-source forests in Hani communities) are efficient protected and well managed. 3.1.2 Family/individual based conservation Homegardens, bamboo gardens (Apeya, in Hani community), agroforestry practice, and swidden farming form a series of traditional systems for sustainable cultivation, management and conservation of bamboo resources. The bamboo clumps or forests belonging to every family are cut, managed, and conserved by the families. The Mengsong Hani people have developed an agroforestry system. They cultivate bamboo in the swidden lands, and plant rattan using the bamboo clumps as support for the climbing rattan. Tobacco is inter- cropped among the bamboo clumps. The bamboo branch or culm is sometimes burned and the ash is used to fertilize tobacco. In other cases, bamboo is intercropped with maize, beans, vegetables and other crops in the agroforestry system of the Hani community of Mengsong. Short, medium and long-term income is obtained from the bamboo, rattan and these crops. The sloping swidden land is used for long-term agriculture products, thanks to the conservation of soil by the well developed roots-system of bamboo and rattan plants. 3.2 Rattan Considered a minor forest product in comparison to timber, rattan as a non-timber forest resource, is very important economically. Based on its extraordinarily versatile characteristics, such as its remarkable beauty, cheapness, extremely durable and tough, resilient, flexible, and renewability, rattan canes are utilized in making baskets, suitcases, winnowing trays, furniture, tables, chairs, sleeping mats, ropes, clotheslines, agricultural tools, fish traps, and others. Some parts of the rattan plant are used for food, such as the ripe fruits which can be eaten, and very young shoots (cabbage) of some species are used as vegetable. As such, rattans have very close interrelationship with man's everyday life (Dransfield 1976; Ave 1988; Piper 1992). The report of Bote (1988) emphasized the potential and prospects of the rattan industry for further growth and development: 1. It is an industry that generates foreign exchange; 2. It is an industry with high value added; 3. It requires very little imported components; 4. It uses a renewable resource; 5. It is a highly labor intensive industry, which are in backyard-level operation; 6. It is a rural-based industry contributing to the arrest of rural-to-urban migration; and 7. It is industry with established markets abroad. Page 3 of 7 On the other hand, rattans are an important component of tropical rain forests, as an indigenous system producing both food and cash crops without ecological disruption (Weinstock 1983). In some studies (Chen et al. 1993; Godoy and Feaw 1991), the forest has been controlled and managed by the villages under their folk laws, the villages ran collect rattan products, and the forest has been protected. It is believed that rattans are forest plants which have an important role in protecting biodiversity, especially when local people get involved in protecting and maintaining sustainable of the rattans in the forest. In Mengsong, local people have indigenous practices on planting, management, harvesting and conservation of rattan. Based on their thinking, these practices system can be divided into two kinds: 3.2.1 "Qeiya-Aneya"- Indigenous rattan cultivation in swidden fields All villages of the Mengsong community have practiced swidden cultivation for the last 400 years, and cultivation of rattan in swidden fields is a common traditional practice among Hani villages of this community.