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C O U N T R Y C O M P A S S

NON-WOOD NEWS No. 24 May 2012

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AFGHANISTAN

Killing heroin with saffron Weaning Afghanistan’s poppy farmers awayfrom growing the raw material for the bulkof the world’s illicit heroin has never beeneasy, but Kashmir’s saffron cultivators mayhave the answer. A high-value crop, saffronhas long been seen as a counter-narcoticscandidate, but the idea has a chance ofcoming to fruition with expertise fromfarmers in India’s Jammu and Kashmir statewho produce the finest saffron anywhere.

An agreement between the agricultureministries of the two countries paved the wayfor a 25-member delegation from Afghanistanto visit Jammu and Kashmir in November 2011and see how the state’s success with saffroncan be emulated.

After touring Pampore, the main centre ofthe saffron industry, located 14 km east ofSrinagar, delegation chief Naseem Atai toldIPS that he was hopeful of a “change of choice”in his country. “Once our farmers grow saffronin the manner of their Kashmiri counterparts,they will certainly find it a profitableagricultural activity and they may ultimatelygive up growing poppy,” Atai said. “We haveseen how Kashmiri farmers are earning gooddividends by growing saffron. We can do thesame for Afghanistan if we adopt the samemethods and techniques.”

Afghan farmers, said Atai, have alreadybeen growing saffron since 2000 in Heratprovince near the border with the IslamicRepublic of Iran, “but the yield and quality arenot good since the farmers have no expertiseor access to good technology”.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and Spain arethe two other countries where saffron is grown,with Iran producing 85 percent of the world’ssupply. Yet the quality of Kashmiri saffron –essentially the dried stamen of the flower – isconsidered to be far superior to that grownelsewhere in the world.

Saffron is sought for the aroma, colour andflavour it gives to rice and other food. It has alsobeen used for centuries in medicines and as anatural pigment. Depending on the variety,some 400 000 or more stigmas may go intomaking 1 kg of saffron. The work must be doneby hand and, since it calls for nimbleness, theindustry holds out employment prospects forlarge numbers of women.

Saffron is considered the world’s costliestspice, and Kashmiri varieties currently fetchUS$3 600/kg, although prices in recent yearshave gone as high as US$6 000/kg.

Support from India to prop up varioussectors of Afghanistan’s economy was

planting initiatives in towns and villagesthroughout Armenia, an expansion ofreforestation programmes in northernArmenia, maintenance of recently plantedforests, environmental educationprogrammes that train teachers andinspire youth, and community training insustainable forest management. (Source:Armenia Tree Project press release, 14 March 2012.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:Armenia Tree Project, 65 Main Street,Watertown, MA 02472, United States ofAmerica. E-mail: [email protected];www.armeniatree.org/

AUSTRALIA

ACIAR'S forestry research in Pacificisland countries The Australian Centre for InternationalAgricultural Research (ACIAR)’s mainstrategies in the Pacific islands have beento focus on research that supports thegrowing of high-value trees by landowners,developing value-adding opportunities fortimber and non-timber products, and theprotection of plantations from insects anddiseases.

Forests and trees have great culturalsignificance for Pacific island people andprovide many benefits for subsistence andlivelihoods. In some of the Pacific islandcountries, such as the Solomon Islands,Vanuatu and Fiji, forests have also beencommercially exploited and forest industriesare important contributors to the nationaleconomies. Forests are held under customlandownership, but governments regulatecommercial forestry operations. Whiletimber is important, there are many NTFPsthat provide significant cash income forpeople in remote locations. Nuts fromCanarium trees are an important, locallytraded NTFP in the Solomon Islands andVanuatu. Sandalwood (Santalum

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formalized under a “strategic partnershipagreement” signed in New Delhi during a visitby Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the firstweek of October 2011. This agreement cameeven as the United Nations Drug ControlAgency released the report of a survey thatshowed land under poppy cultivation inAfghanistan increasing as a result of risingopium prices on the one hand and economichardships faced by Afghans on the other.According to FAO, while Afghanistan’s NationalDrug Control Strategy aims to eliminate illicitopium poppy cultivation by 2013, the UN surveyfound that poppy is now grown in 17 of thecountry’s provinces. “Cultivation of poppy hasdevastated our agriculture and reputation. Ourcountry is now known more for poppy andconflict than for any positive activity. We want tochange that,” said Asadullah Aurakzai, amember of the delegation. (Source: IPS in RealChange News, 25 January 2012.)

ANGOLA

Environment Ministry to create supervisionbody The Angolan Environment Ministry,supported by its partners, will soon create anational environment controlling body tomanage the country’s parks. “This will beimplemented under the policies andgovernment programmes aiming atimproving control and management actionsin the conservation areas, mainly in thenational parks, where ecotourism needs tobe promoted,” said the Environment Minister,Maria de Fátima Jardim.

The project started with a group of 45former military personnel selected in thenorthern Cabinda province, who said they areready to learn techniques to enable them totake care of Mayombe Forest, mainly itsnational park. (Source: Angola Press, 9February 2012.)

ARMENIA

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairsmakes major commitment to ArmeniaTree Project Yerevan. In recognition of Armenia TreeProject’s successful record in tree planting,environmental education and sustainabledevelopment, the Norwegian Ministry ofForeign Affairs has awarded it a US$1.2million grant. The Norway funding willprovide partial support for some of theproject’s core programmes, including tree

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austrocaledonicum) has been traded forcenturies and is still a very important forestproduct in Vanuatu. (Source: Tony Bartlett,Forestry Research Program Manager,Australian Centre for InternationalAgricultural Research.)

BANGLADESH

Improving livelihood status throughcollection and management of forestresources A recent paper explored the role of forestresources in improving the livelihoods offorest-dependent people in and around twoforest ranges in Sylhet Forest Division. Theauthors conducted an intensive field surveyfrom early May to mid-August 2010,collecting primary information throughcommunity profiles and householdinterviews, using a semi-structuredquestionnaire focusing onsociodemographic, livelihood activities andoverall impacts on forest resources. A totalof 58 respondents from two forest ranges(36 from Kulaura and 22 from Habiganj-2range) were interviewed.

Data analyses show that overall, 26 and33 percent of people respectively in the tworanges, are totally dependent on the forestfor their livelihoods. About 42 plant speciesbelonging to 32 families were used by thepeople. Of these species, trees dominated(50 percent), followed by herbs(29 percent). Collecting forest resources,especially NTFPs and building materials,helps people meet important householdneeds and are sources of income – such asleaves and medicinal herbs, food forlivestock, fruits, fuelwood and honey –while also supporting the production ofsecondary goods such as processed orprepared food (animal and vegetable),baskets and other crafts.

The paper concludes that research onthe use of forest resources and co-management practices should beimplemented through forest-dependentpeople to continue to live in and around thestudy areas in a sustainable manner.(Source: Improving livelihood status

through collection and management offorest resources: an experience fromSylhet Forest Division, Bangladesh. InInternational Journal of Forest UsufructsManagement, 12(2), July–December 2011.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Most. Jannatul Fardusi, Md. Habibur Rahmanand Bishwajit Roy, Department of Forestry andEnvironmental Science, School of Agriculturaland Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University ofScience and Technology, Sylhet 3114,Bangladesh. E-mail [email protected]/

BENIN

Ethnic differences in use values and usepatterns of Parkia biglobosa in northernBenin The African locust bean tree (Parkiabiglobosa) is a multipurpose species usedwidely in arid Africa by local communities.The present study focused on ethnicdifferences in use values and use patterns ofP. biglobosa in northern Benin, where thespecies grows widely. The use valuesaccording to the various ethnic groups in thestudy area have been evaluated in detail.

From 13 ethnic groups, 1 587 peoplewere interviewed in the study area usingsemi-structured questionnaires. Allinterviewees in the study area knew at leastone use of P. biglobosa. The various usesidentified were medicinal (47 percent),handicraft and domestic (3 percent),medico-magic (1 percent), veterinary (1 percent), cultural (1 percent), food (25percent) and commercial (22 percent). Thevarious parts involved in these types ofuses were: fruits (shell [2 percent], pulp [22 percent] and seeds [36 percent]), bark(17 percent), leaves (9 percent), roots (3 percent), flowers (1 percent) andbranches (10 percent). The ethnic groupconsensus values for P. biglobosa partsshowed that the seeds are used the most.

The study concluded that P. biglobosa iswell known and used in different ways bythe local populations in the study area.Local knowledge on the species isdiversified and influenced by ethnic group.Ethnic differences in use values and usepatterns of the species were evident in thisstudy. (Source: K. Koura, J.C. Ganglo, A.E.Assogbadjo and C. Agbangla, C. 2011.Ethnic differences in use values and usepatterns of Parkia biglobosa in NorthernBenin. Journal of Ethnobiology andEthnomedicine, 7: 42.)

Bénin: quand les dieux préservent lesforêts (Syfia Bénin.) Le Bénin conserve encoreprès de 3 000 forêts sacrées, réservoirs debiodiversité et remparts contre ladésertification. Bientôt intégrées dans lesaires protégées, elles contribuent à leurpréservation, en dépit de pressionscroissantes.

À Ouidah, capitale économique du Béninsituée à 40 km de Cotonou, un lopin deforêt oppose encore une résistance à unecité en pleine urbanisation. Dans la partiede la forêt accessible au public, de petitescases décorées de dessins de serpents etdes amulettes accrochées aux pieds degrands arbres alertent le visiteur qu’il setrouve en un lieu habité par les esprits.Nous sommes dans la forêt sacrée deKpassè. «Cet endroit est sacré parce quec’est ici que se trouve l’esprit du roi Kpassèqui, disparu en 1661, s’est transformé enarbre», raconte Anicet Zantchio, guide danscette forêt érigée en site touristique. «Nousavons décidé d’ouvrir une partie dudomaine au public à la demande duGouvernement. En principe, seuls lesinitiés sont autorisés à se rendre dans cetteforêt où nous organisons les cérémoniesrituelles, en particulier l’enterrement descrânes des défunts de notre lignée», ajouteGédéon Kpassènon, membre de la familleroyale de Ouidah qui assure la gestion de laforêt.

Le Bénin, terre du vaudou, regorgetoujours de réserves boisées conservéespar les gardiens de la tradition, en grandemajorité de petits îlots forestiers éparpilléssur le territoire. Une récente étude arépertorié 2 940 forêts sacrées et autresplantations «déifiées», abritant divinitéstutélaires, sociétés secrètes ou cimetières,pour une superficie totale d'environ 18 360hectares.

Rempart contre la désertification Même si les forêts sacrées sontprioritairement consacrées aux rituelsvaudou, elles constituent, aux yeux denombreux spécialistes, la formetraditionnelle par excellence de conservationdes écosystèmes. «Leur gestion et leuraccès, indique Nestor Sokpon, enseignant ensciences agronomiques à l’Universitéd’Abomey-Calavi, sont réglementés par desprincipes religieux qui se matérialisent àtravers tout un ensemble d’interdits, deprescriptions et de pratiques rituelles qui ontlongtemps permis leur protection et leurrégénération». La réglementation de l’accès

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au lieu et à ses ressources ont souventrepoussé les propensions humaines à leurdestruction. «Nos parents avaient descoutumes pour préserver les écosystèmes,forêts, marigots, etc. Quand ils sentent lapression démographique, ils implantent unfétiche pour faire reculer l’activité humaineet garantir un certain équilibreenvironnemental», souligne Ferdinand Kidjo,directeur technique du Centre national degestion des réserves de faune (CENAGREF).

L’importance de ces forêts dans lapréservation de la biodiversité est beaucoupplus forte dans le Nord du pays, où les ritesd’initiation en forêt sont encore légion. «Laconservation des forêts à des fins initiatiquesconstitue un vrai rempart contre ladésertification, très avancée dans cetterégion du pays», atteste Ferdinand Kidjo.Pour lui, ces forêts sont comme un réelinstrument d’adaptation au changementclimatique. «Si on les regarde, renchéritÉvariste Alohou, coordonnateur du projetd’intégration des forêts sacrées dans lessystèmes des aires protégées du Bénin, on yretrouve des espèces végétales quin’existent plus nulle part ailleurs. Ellesregorgent d’une biodiversité que nous neretrouvons plus dans les végétationsexploitables.»

Il faut sauver la forêt Mais la force des esprits qui préservaientautrefois l’intégrité de ces surfaces boiséessemble s’effriter au fil du temps. «La forêtsacrée de Kpassè couvrait une superficie de360 hectares, aujourd’hui elle est confinéedans un périmètre de 4 hectares parce que ledomaine a été morcelé au profit deshabitations», se désole Gédéon Kpassènon.Évariste Alohou constate que beaucoup deforêts sont aujourd’hui menacées dedisparition, car confrontées à unedégradation avancée face à des pressionsdémographiques et économiques, liéessurtout au recul du pouvoir des religionstraditionnelles. «Les gens croient de moinsen moins aux esprits des forêts sacrées, quicommencent à faire l’objet d’une exploitationfrauduleuse», affirme-t-il. Ferdinand Kidjoestime, pour sa part, que l’absence desforêts sacrées dans le système national desaires protégées a contribué à leurdégradation.

Conscient du péril, l’État béninois a lancéen 2010 le projet d’intégration des forêtssacrées dans le système des airesprotégées. «Il s’agit pour nous de développerdes aires communautaires, de promouvoirun système d’utilisation durable et d’étendre

les principes de bonne tenue de ces forêtssacrées et de leur environnement», affirmele coordonnateur du projet financé par leFonds pour l’environnement mondial (FEM).En attendant de passer la main au Codeforestier national, les esprits gardenttoujours le contrôle sur ce qui reste desforêts sacrées contre la convoitise humainede plus en plus pressante. (Source: SyfiaInfo, 22 décembre 2011.)

BHUTAN

Locals worry over sustainability of bamboosupply Sephu Geog, an area once providing anabundant bamboo harvest, is now facing ashortage in its supply as demand forbamboo handicrafts has increased. Thedemand for bamboo has also doubled as aresult of the booming constructionindustry, which is struggling to findalternatives for timber. (Source: HeadlinesHimalaya, 188, 26 December 2011.)

BURKINA FASO

Empowering women for better trade in shea Shea is one of the main forest products inthe Sahel zone of West Africa and shea nutsand butter represent a significant source ofincome for rural communities in Benin,Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali,Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. The trees grownaturally throughout the semi-arid region ofWest Africa, but their largest concentrationis in Burkina Faso, where exports of sheaproducts accounted for the country's thirdmost important export in 2000. Shea butter– often termed as “women’s gold” byvillagers in Burkina Faso – is extracted fromthe kernel through arduous processing, andis the exclusive prerogative of rural women,who are also totally involved in the collectionof shea nuts.

With communally owned woodedsavannahs comprising approximately half of

the landscape, shea has emerged as a vibrantsector for local economic development andsustainable forest management in BurkinaFaso. The growing demand for cooking andcosmetics uses, both for domesticconsumption and export, has further fosteredthis strong growth in recent years.

The improved economic condition of theshea trade, however, has not equitablybenefited the women who have toiled themost. While women’s participation hadremained restricted to local markets, mencontinued to dominate the lucrative exportmarkets, resulting in a very unfair situationfor women. Low literacy levels, lack oftechnical skills and poor access to marketinformation and formal credit have furtheraggravated their plight.

In response to these changes, particularlyafter structural adjustment had negativelyimpacted the livelihoods of numerous poorfamilies, the Government of Burkina Faso andother national and international organizationstook several initiatives. The key focus of thesemeasures has been the development of theshea sector through the empowerment ofwomen engaged in this enterprise. Some ofthese initiatives include launching the Projetnational karité (PNK, National Shea Project),with financial and technical assistance fromthe Centre canadien d'étude et de coopérationinternationale (CECI, Centre for InternationalStudies and Cooperation); mobilization offunding support from Taiwan Province ofChina; monitoring of exports by the UnitedNations Development Fund for Women(UNIFEM); and the establishment of acoordinating committee by the government toensure synergy among various donorinstitutions. The support of UNIFEM, forexample, ensured direct purchases through anetwork of more than 100 shea groups thathave been set up and a greater share ofbenefits for local women engaged in theindustry. The women were also trained in thetrade, in order to produce a better-qualityproduct.

The empowerment of women through theorganization of local shea cooperatives,besides creating better economicopportunities for women producers, hashelped them earn the respect of their familyand provide new opportunities for theirinvolvement in community development.(Contributed by: Jagannadha Rao Matta,Ph.D., Forestry Officer (Finance), ForestEconomics, Policy and Products Division,Forestry Department, FAO, Viale delle Termedi Caracalla, 00153 Rome. Fax: +390657055137; e-mail: [email protected]/)

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CAMEROON

Promoting sustainable medicinal wildlifeuse in Cameroon As the first phase of a two-prongedcommunity education project, “Promotionof the sustainable use of indigenouswildlife resources as medicinal wildlife, inCameroon’s Northwest Region”, a studywas carried out from February toNovember 2010 both to identify wildlifespecies that are used for traditionalmedicine and the means of theiracquisition. The main objective of theproject was to raise public awareness ofthe sustainable use of medicinal wildlifeand the study, a questionnaire survey, wasinitially to establish the fact that wildlifeproducts/parts are actually applied intraditional medical treatment orprevention.

To achieve the goal, we set out toadminister questionnaires to 60 traditionalpractitioners in all seven administrativedivisions of the Northwest Region, theproject site. At the end of the field work wehad approached 62 practitioners. Of the 61 who responded, two said they did not usewild animals for medicines and could not gointo any detail.

From the responses of the 59 traditionalpractitioners, 58 wildlife species –comprising 26 mammals, eight birds, teninsects and two fish – were indicated ashaving medicinal values in 53 cases oftraditional treatment of illnesses and othermedicinal usages. Of the 53 indicatedmedicinal usages, mystical protection,mental ills, disabled children andrheumatism rank in descending order asmost necessitating medicinal wildlife.However, and most important of all, of the58 identified medicinal wildlife species, 13 are of “Class A” or “totally protected” inCameroon, one is endemic and 14 are listedunder the Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species of Wild Faunaand Flora (CITES) – banned frominternational trade.

Paradoxically, the only wildlife speciesthat are extinct in the Northwest Region –and classified as “totally protected” inCameroon – rank as the first and secondhighly used medicinal wildlife species: theelephant (Loxodonta africana) and the lion(Panthera leo). The chimpanzee (Pantroglodytes) and the African rock python(Python sebae), both of “Class A” inCameroon and listed as “endangered” inthe International Union for Conservation of

Nature (IUCN) Red List, both rank as thethird most used medicinal wildlife species.

Furthermore, from the survey, only two ofthe 59 respondents had inherited the wildlifeproducts used, while 13 non-licence-holdingtraditional practitioners hunted the requiredproducts by themselves and the rest affirmedthat they ordered them from local hunters orbought them from the open but secretivebushmeat markets. This was revealing of theunsustainable use of the wildlife products,considering that only one hunter hadobtained and operated with a hunting licencethat year in the Northwest Region. Unless thepractitioners bought their products out of theregion (which was not indicated), most ofwhat they used was illegally harvested.

The study result was presented at theBamenda Symposium on SustainableMedicinal Wildlife, held in Bamenda, the chieftown of the Northwest Region on10 November 2010 and presided over by theRegional Delegate of the Ministry of Forestryand Wildlife. During the historic symposium,a medicinal wildlife poster was launched forfree public distribution.

Concrete recommendations were made byworking groups for the three stakeholders(the government, NGOs and traditionalpractitioners) for them to take action in theirrespective spheres for the sustainableuse/management of medicinal wildlife.These recommendations were the following. For the government: take the lead in raisingpublic awareness of the sustainable use ofmedicinal wildlife; intensify the protectionof identified medicinal wildlife species;facilitate the obtaining of medicinal wildlifeproducts; and promote research on the useof indigenous wildlife species for traditionalmedicine.For conservation and pro-healthNGOs/groups: carry out research, trainingand community education on thesustainable use of medicinal wildlife; andcreate networking among stakeholders inmedicinal wildlife use/management.For traditional practitioners: researchalternatives to protected medicinal wildlifespecies; seek legal access to medicinalwildlife species; and create networksamong practitioners to use medicinalwildlife sustainably.

For the second phase of the sustainablemedicinal wildlife initiative, which isongoing, key activities include: (i) running a“medicinal wildlife quarter hour” bimonthlyradio slot; (ii) production of a short film onsustainable medicinal wildlife, with sceneson wildlife sensitization; (iii) reproduction of

more medicinal wildlife posters, to raisefurther awareness; (iv) subsidize (by75 percent) the acquisition of huntinglicences by local people to set an examplefor legal access to medicinal wildlife; and (v)train some traditional practitioners to betrainers on sustainable wildlife use.

Both phases of the initiative have been orare being realized with funding supportfrom the Rufford Small Grants Foundation,the institutional support of the regionalservices of the Ministries of Forestry andWildlife and of Public Health in theNorthwest Region and of the Centre forIndigenous Resources and Development(CIRMAD), a local conservation NGO.(Contributed by: Emmanuel Liyong Sama,Wildlife and Protected Area ManagementSpecialist, Conservator of Kagwene GorillaSanctuary, PO Box 4081, Bamenda,Cameroon. E-mail: [email protected];www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/rsg/projects/emmanuel_liyong_sama/)

La valorisation des PFNL au Cameroun:cas de la forêt communautaire deMorikouali-Ye dans la région de l’EstUne étude menée dans la forêtcommunautaire de Morikouali-Ye a pourprincipal objectif de concilier lacommercialisation des produits forestiersnon ligneux (PFNL) et leur exploitationdurable. De façon spécifique, il s’agit d’unepart, de déterminer le bénéfice que lesménages tirent de la vente des PFNL et,d’autre part, d’évaluer ce que ces ménagessont prêts à payer en vue d'exploiterdurablement ces ressources.

L'étude a utilisé la méthode d’évaluationcontingente à travers deux approches, l’uneparamétrique (modèle Logit) et l’autre nonparamétrique (estimateur de la borneinférieure de Turnbull), ainsi qu’un modèleTobit censuré, sur un échantillon stratifié de60 ménages ruraux. Les résultats obtenusont été les suivants:

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Ainsi, Termitomyces stratus s’appelle gougouti bobo, gougou champignon et bobo termiteen sango, et Termitomyces spp. se dénommengawe (jeune fille) en yakoma. L’étude amontré que les populations sont de grandesconsommatrices de champignons, chaqueethnie détenant des connaissancesmycologiques variées et en faisant un usagedivers. Ces différences portent tant sur lanomenclature locale que sur laconsommation, l’utilisation médicinale et lesmodes de préparation. (Auteur: Yolene RelleaKouagou, stagiaire à la FAO dans le cadre duprojet PFNL, s/c FAO B.P. 2157, Bangui,République centrafricaine. Courriel:[email protected]/)(Please see pages 67–68 for more informationon this project.)

Commercialisation de Gnetum spp. dans laLobaye La préfecture de la Lobaye en Républiquecentrafricaine est une zone très riche enproduits forestiers non ligneux (PFNL) telsque Irvingia gabonensis (mangue sauvage),Gnetum spp. (koko), Pentaclethramacrophylla (ebai) ou Ricinodendronheudelotii (essessang). Les communautésautochtones Aka, principales bénéficiaires deces PFNL, représentent 30 à 40 pour cent dela population de cette zone. Ce sont degrandes collectrices de PFNL du fait de leurparfaite maîtrise de la forêt et de leurdépendance à l'égard de ces produits et desautres ressources naturelles forestières(fruits, écorces, feuilles, miel, gibier, etc.).Dans la plupart des cas, les prélèvementssont effectués de manière traditionnelle envue de l’autoconsommation. Si une partie dela récolte est vendue sur les marchés locaux,la vente se fait à vil prix ou les PFNL sontéchangés contre d'autres produits – tels quesavon, sel, huile, cigarettes, farine de manioc,vêtements ou alcool.

Dans le cadre d'un stage pour l’obtentiondu diplôme d’ingénieur agronome à l’Institutsupérieur de développement rural (ISDR), uneétude de filière sur Gnetum spp. a été menéeavec l’appui du projet de la FAOGCP/RAF/441/GER «Renforcement de lasécurité alimentaire en Afrique centrale àtravers la gestion durable des produitsforestiers non ligneux».Celle-ci a montré quela commercialisation de Gnetum spp. dans laLobaye par les collecteurs primaires, lesgrossistes, les spéculateurs et les détaillantsse fait de façon informelle. Cette faiblesseorganisationnelle est due dans la majorité descas à la méconnaissance des marchés locaux,nationaux et régionaux, lesquels pourraient

• L’étude sur la valorisation des PFNL amontré que cinq espèces sont les pluscollectées dans la zone d'étude: Irvingiagabonensis, Ricinodendron heudelotii,Gnetum, le jujube et les écorces. Leurvente contribue significativement à41 pour cent du revenu total desménages. Cette part est fortementinfluencée par le nombre de personnesdu ménage, l’âge, le niveau d’instruction,le temps passé à la collecte etl'emplacement dans la forêtcommunautaire. Elle diminue en outreconsidérablement du fait del’augmentation de la population et de lamauvaise exploitation de la forêt.

• Quelque 68 pour cent des ménagesinterrogés sont disposés à payer pourgarantir une exploitation durable desPFNL, en vue de profiter de l’usage de cesressources et de conserver les revenusqu’ils tirent de leur vente. L’estimation duconsentement moyen à payer par lemodèle Logit et par l’estimateur deTurnbull est respectivement de l'ordre de6 845 FCFA et 4 940 FCFA par ménage etpar an, avec un coût social de ladégradation évalué à 3 237 820 FCFA l’an.La probabilité du paiement augmenteavec le revenu, le sexe, le nombre defemmes dans le ménage, l’âge et l’activitéen tant que commerçant de PFNL, etdiminue avec l'argument dudéveloppement durable.

(Auteur: Sophie Michelle Eke Balla, s/c TitaIsaac, B.P. 11507, Yaoundé, Cameroun.Courriel: [email protected] [email protected]/)

CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC

Contribution à l’inventaire ethnobiologiquedes champignons comestibles en vue d'unessai de domestication La République centrafricaine dispose d'unmassif forestier important et d'une savaneétendue sur tout le territoire. À l'instar dubois, les produits forestiers non ligneux(PFNL) contribuent considérablement auxmoyens d'existence des populations urbaineet rurale riveraines. Ces PFNL sont variés etrépandus sur toute la superficie, tant en forêtqu’en savane. Pratiquée par plus de la moitiéde la population, leur cueillette contribue àl’alimentation, sert au traitement de certainesmaladies et génère des revenus.

Parmi les PFNL, les champignonscomestibles sauvages offrent un attrait

particulier du fait de leur saveur et de leurvaleur alimentaire et commerciale. Ilsconstituent en effet un aliment completcontenant des minéraux, des glucides, desprotéines et des lipides. Certains chercheursont étudié l'apport alimentaire deschampignons comestibles sauvages,parvenant à des résultats intéressants,comme l'illustre l'exemple de Auriculariacornea séché – valeur énergétique:397 kilocalories pour 100 grammes;composition chimique moyenne enpourcentage: protéines, 7,9; lipides, 1,2;vitamine B12, 2.10-4; fer, 64,5.10-3.

L'étude et la conservation de ceschampignons constituent un axe de rechercheprioritaire pour la sécurité alimentaire et lalutte contre la pauvreté en Républiquecentrafricaine. Ainsi, à travers le projetGCP/RAF/441/GER «Renforcement de lasécurité alimentaire en Afrique centrale àtravers la gestion durable des produitsforestiers non ligneux» mis en œuvre par laFAO, une étude ethno-mycologique a étémenée sur les marchés de Bangui et desenvirons.

L’objectif était de collecter les diversesespèces de champignons comestibles,recueillant leurs noms vernaculaires et leurssubstrats, voire leurs habitats, en vued'effectuer un essai de domestication et demontrer leur importance pour la sécuritéalimentaire des populations urbaine et rurale.Une analyse conduite par la suite enlaboratoire devait déterminer lescaractéristiques organoleptiques deschampignons. Il s'agissait en outre d'estimer,en termes de commercialisation, lacontribution de ces produits dans l’économielocale des ménages, les femmes en étant lesprincipales vendeuses sur tous les marchés.Par ailleurs, l'étude visait à renforcer lescapacités de tous les acteurs impliqués dansla filière.

Cette étude a permis de recenser leschampignons comestibles et d’établir lacorrespondance entre leurs nomsvernaculaires et leurs noms scientifiques.

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permettre aux acteurs concernés de tisserdes relations commerciales et d’obtenir dela valeur ajoutée sur la matière première.Des contraintes d’ordre institutionnelentravent en outre sérieusement ledéveloppement de la filière.

Pour analyser le circuit decommercialisation de la filière Gnetumspp. et estimer la marge bénéficiaire desdifférents acteurs, l'étude s'est penchéesur 12 ménages issus des populations Aka(collecteurs), 74 ménages issus descommerçants grossistes et 54 ménagesissus de commerçants détaillants (hommesou femmes). L'objectif était d’évaluerl’impact socioéconomique de ce PFNL. Dufait du caractère informel de la filière, il estdifficile de quantifier exactement la margebénéficiaire dégagée par chaque catégoried’acteur. En revanche, de façon qualitative,les enquêtes ont révélé que lacommercialisation de Gnetum spp. génèrede la valeur ajoutée et améliore les revenusdes producteurs et autres acteurs impliqués.

Il est difficile pour le Gouvernementcentrafricain de pouvoir mesurer lacontribution des PFNL à l’économie du pays.Une stratégie nationale pour ledéveloppement du secteur est en coursd’élaboration et sa mise en œuvre devraitenclencher une nouvelle dynamique,notamment en termes d’organisation de lafilière Gnetum spp. La recherche de solutionsalternatives, telles que la domestication deGnetum spp. par les acteurs, constitue unlevier important susceptible de galvaniser lafilière. (Auteur: Elodie Annette Hondet, élèveingénieur agronome (option Eaux et forêts),stagiaire à la FAO dans le cadre du projetPFNL, Institut supérieur de développementrural (ISDR) de Mbaïki. B.P. 909 Bangui,République centrafricaine. Courriel:[email protected]/)(Please see pages 67–68 for more informationon this project.)

CHINA

China kicks off new era of interagencycooperation on wildlife law enforcement A kick-off meeting of China’s National Inter-Agencies CITES Enforcement CoordinationGroup (NICECG) was held in Beijing in order toenhance efforts by China’s responsiblegovernment agencies to combat smugglingand illegal wildlife trade in China. The meetingmarked the formal establishment of NICECGand included high-level representatives frommore than 15 agencies. A number of “liaisonagencies” also participated.

The meeting reviewed the progress ofCITES-related law enforcement in Chinaduring the past three decades, analysed thechallenges and problems facing wildlife lawenforcement in the country and plannedmajor activities for the next 12 months.

“The demand for wild animals and plantsfor traditional Chinese medicine and food isstimulating illegal trade and overexploitationof wildlife,” said Madam Yin Hong, viceminister of the Forest Police Bureau andConservation Department of the StateForestry Administration and Chair of theGroup. “With the establishment of NICECG,we can enhance exchange and sharing ofinformation, integrate and coordinaterespective efforts and design and carry outjoint enforcement actions to implement CITESbetter in China.”

The representatives at the meeting agreedto strengthen, through leadership andcoordination roles, cooperation andcollaboration among the agencies to improvethe implementation and enforcement ofCITES regulations. “Only through interagencycooperation and collaboration can we solvethe problems facing us in enforcing CITES andin addressing illegal trade in wildlife,” said DrMeng Xianlin, Executive Deputy Director-General of China’s CITES ManagementAuthority.

Several priority joint enforcement actionswill be undertaken under the coordination andleadership of the Group in 2012. (Source:TRAFFIC News Update, 21 December 2011.)

COLOMBIA

Palm hearts and sustainable extraction inColombia Long eaten by indigenous populations, palmhearts have also been popular abroad,usually in fine dining establishments.However, palm hearts are cut out of the innercore of various palm tree species, in some

cases killing the tree. A new study, publishedin mongabay.com's open access journalTropical Conservation Science, looks at thesustainability of palm heart extraction fromthe palm species Prestoea acuminata in theColombian Andes. While harvesting from P.acuminata does not kill the host tree, bettermanagement is needed to ensure thepractice does not become unsustainable.

The researchers found that it took P.acuminata 23–40 years before it reached asuitable size for palm heart extraction. Giventhis slow growth, and the fact thatoverharvesting from a plant can impactsexual reproduction, the authors recommendthat only 10 percent of any population beharvested annually. "Our results show thatthe sustainable harvest potential of P.acuminata under natural conditions is toolow to be economically viable. However,sustainable household extraction, as fortraditional consumption by Indians andcampesinos, is possible," they write.

In the Colombian Andes, palm hearts areextremely popular during Holy Week wheneating meat is not allowed. The authors sayfuture research should look at the size of thispractice and whether it is unsustainable.(Source: www.mongabay.com, 12 December2011.)

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Locals key to saving primate-rich wetlands Saved from being converted into a vast palmoil plantation by PALMCI in 2009, the EhyTanoé wetlands and forest in the Côted'Ivoire are home to three gravelyendangered primates as well as many otherspecies. Since 2006, a pilot communitymanagement programme has been workingto protect the 12 000 ha area, and a newstudy in mongabay.com's open accessjournal Tropical Conservation Science findsthat long-term conservation of the EhyTanoé wetlands and forest is, in fact, vital forlocals who depend on the area for hunting,fishing, fuelwood, building materials andmedicinal plants. In addition, the study findsthat the ecosystem has special cultural andspiritual importance for local people.

"Today, all over the world and especiallyin the global South, many people sufferfrom large-scale destruction of forestwealth depriving them of natural resourcesfrom which they have always drawn theirlivelihoods," writes the study's authors,who point out that the Côte d’Ivoire has oneof the highest rates of deforestation


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worldwide, plunging from 15 million ha offorest cover in the early twentieth centuryto around 3 million ha today.

"Decommissioning of some protectedareas is even suggested by someauthorities as a solution to the lack ofarable land to meet the needs due to theincreasingly growing population growth.The effect of deforestation, and poaching ofwildlife in general, is dramatic. Wildlife isscarce in most national parks andreserves," the authors write.

Examining the community managementpilot programme in the area, whichincludes input from NGOs, government andresearchers, the study found that the valueof the Ehy Tanoé wetlands and forest "is notlimited to the specificity of its biodiversity.In fact, maintaining such a forestpreserves, at the same time, the livelihoodsof riparian communities and essentialvalues for social and spiritual balancewithin these communities".

The community managementprogramme has proved successful incombating major threats as well, includingkeeping loggers out of the wetlands andhalting the palm oil project. (Source:www.mongabay.com, 12 December 2011.)

FINLAND

Akwé: Kon collects traditional Sámiknowledge The words Akwé: Kon come from the Mohawklanguage spoken in North America. Theoriginal meaning of the words is "everything increation”. However, in UN language theymean the principle that indigenous peoples’traditional relationship to and knowledgeabout nature must be preserved. The principlewas formulated in the United NationsConvention on Biological Diversity, but itsadoption is voluntary for the participatingcountries. A Finnish working group planningits adoption suggested that the principle befollowed in all planning and guidance of landuse in the Sámi homeland in Finland. Theresponsibility for this was delegated to severalpublic authorities and the municipalities in theSámi homeland: Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankyläand Utsjoki.

While the working group was still dealingwith the matter, the state-owned forestrycompany Metsähallitus decided to test theAkwé: Kon principles in the Hammastunturiwilderness area in Upper Lapland, where themanagement and land-use plan was beingupdated. Last spring, Metsähallitus and the

Sámi Parliament established an Akwé: Kongroup, which continues its work until nextspring, when the management and land-useplan will be finalized. Akwé: Kon demandsthat representation must be balanced interms of several aspects: the structure oflivelihoods, age and sex, for example. This canalso be seen in the make-up of the Akwé: Kongroup. The group will comment on thepreparation of the management and land-useplan continuously.

Ms Elina Stolt, Area Manager atMetsähallitus, who is responsible for theAkwé: Kon work in the company, says withpride: “This is the first time in the world thatthese principles are being applied in practice”.

It was expressly suggested thatMetsähallitus prepare permanent guidelinesto implement the principles.

Metsähallitus’ work has already led to oneconcrete result. The management and land-use plan of the Hammastunturi wildernessarea is going to include the right to gather rawmaterials for traditional Sámi crafts fromnature free of charge. However, there aresome exceptions: raw materials cannot betaken from strictly protected parks, and theymay not be sold on to third parties – althoughthe products made from them may be soldfreely. The decision introduces an importantprinciple,” says Stolt. ”Now nobody will needto check whether anyone sees them break offa few small branches for craft work.” (Source:www.forest.fi, 2 December 2011.)

Finns get fresh in forests on weekdays, too During the second National OutdoorRecreation Demand and Supply Assessmentor LVVI 2, the recreation activities of nearly9 000 Finns were researched in 2009–2010. Aprevious, similar study was carried out in1998–2000. The sample size of 9 000 isconsiderable in Finnish conditions.

On average, the nearest forest is just 700 maway from one’s home. For half of thepopulation, the trip to close-to-home forest isjust 200 m and the nearest bigger forest areais situated within 1 km. The most popularrecreation activities are walking and Nordicwalking, walking the dog and running. Thepopularity of running and cross-country skiinghad increased since the previous study.

Forest land covers around 66 percent ofFinland’s land area. About 70 percent of it isowned by private persons or companies.

The LVVI 2 study found out for the first timehow much Finns rely on “everyman’s rights”for recreation. The tradition of everyman’srights means that anyone can move about andstay for a short time on privately owned lands

in the Nordic countries. According to thestudy, private land is much used for recreationin Finland. Forty percent of Finns get theiroutdoor recreation at least once a week onprivately owned lands, says Mr HarriSilvennoinen, researcher at the Finnish ForestResearch Institute. The most commonactivities are walking and picking mushroomsor berries, he adds.

According to Silvennoinen, the majority ofrespondents felt positively about everyman’srights. The most significant related problem isthe commercial use of these rights. Somehave taken paying groups of tourists on tripsto private forests, without prior discussionswith the landowners. Some companies bringforeign pickers to pick berries andmushrooms every year. One-third of thosewho have met guided tours or commercialberry or mushrooms pickers felt theseactivities were disturbing. On the other hand,only one-fifth had met a tour group and one infour commercial pickers on private land.

Landownership affects attitudes.Landowners were more critical than otherstowards everyman’s rights-based use oftheir land for these kinds of commercialactivities. Some were also prepared torestrict the scope of everyman’s rights.(Source: www.forest.fi, 9 December 2011.)

GABON

The first community forests of Gabon:towards sustainable local forestmanagement? Gabon is part of the Congo Basin, home to thelargest dense humid forest range in Africa.The dense forest covers almost 85 percent ofits territory, a surface area of more than 22million ha. If the low population density andthe underdeveloped road infrastructureshave partly preserved that vast area, loggingcompanies have gradually establishedthemselves and today their concessions

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cover almost 12 million ha – practically half ofthe forest surface area.

Even though rural populations havetraditionally had little interest in commerciallogging, they have, for generations,maintained close sociocultural ties with theforest. The communities rely directly on thisecosystem as a source of food, medication,fuelwood and construction wood and, morerecently, farmland. However, their formalinvolvement in the management of thisresource is only minimal. Relegated to a roleof passive actors, they are barely taken intoaccount in the process of allocation of largepermits and perceive only a small part of theprofits from this activity which is neverthelessperformed, in most cases, in areas wheretheir customary rights apply.

Forest resources abound in Gabon. Speciesdiversity and quality of trees in the Gaboneseforests make it a very lucrative productionniche. Even though international forestoperators are well established there and aremaking a profit, the Gabonese ruralcommunities have not yet developed their ownoperations. In view of their remoteness fromdecision-making centres, villagers oftenunlawfully lose, without being aware of it, agreat deal of the riches in their villages.

Today, the rural socio-economic componentis not sufficiently integrated in the managementfactors of the resource, even thoughpopulations that depend on them daily aresupposedly the best placed individuals to makewise use of them. In this sense, communityforestry helps to promote sustainable use offorest resources on a scale that is at par withthe needs of the community, and seeks toguarantee that profits are shared at villagelevel. In Gabon, the process of legalization ofcommunity forests has been ongoing since2001. Pilot projects such as DACEFI(Development of Community Alternatives toIllegal Logging) strive to assist communities insecuring their community forest. However, theirlegalization is slow in coming, while loggingactivities in the rural forest estate areincreasing and the quality of the species isdeteriorating continually. (Source: Q. Meunier,M. Federspiel, C. Moumbogou, B. Grégoire, J.-L. Doucet and C. Vermeulen. The firstcommunity forests of Gabon: towardssustainable local forest management? InNature & Faune, 25(2): 40-45.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Quentin Meunier, Technical Assistant, ProjectDACEFI-2, c/o WWF-CARPO, Gabon Country Office,Montée de Louis, PO 9144, Gabon. E-mail:[email protected]/



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GEORGIA

The Georgian Red List The International Union for Conservation ofNature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission(SSC), upon receiving information fromwithin the IUCN network, is currently lookingat the Georgian Red List, specifically itsquality in terms of applying the IUCN RedList categories and criteria. Theconsultations began as a result of recentlegislative changes in Georgia that allowhunting of some Red List species.

Georgia enacted its Law on the Red Listand Red Book in 2003 and established thecurrent national Red List of threatenedanimal and plant species in 2006. The lawaims to protect and restore threatenedspecies existing on the territory of Georgia,and to save specific biodiversity andgenetic resources considering the interestof present and future generations.(Source: IUCN press release, 20 February2012.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: IUCN Caucasus Cooperation Centre,Gogebashvili Street 38, Tbilisi 0179, Georgia. E-mail: [email protected]/

GHANA

Shea butter project employs 3 500 women PlaNet Finance, the global non-profitmicrofinance organization, says its sheabutter project in northern Ghana hasemployed 3 500 women so far, and will createat least 1 500 more jobs next year. The project,which started 16 months ago, involves theprovision of financial and other assistance towomen involved in shea butter production toboost their output and incomes. PlaNetFinance has provided gloves for picking theshea nuts, grading mills for processing andsilos to store the shea butter for up to twoyears. Additionally, the women have receivedmobile phones to help them check the pricesof shea butter in markets in the cities.

French economist and president of PlaNetFinance, Jacques Attali, told the Business &Financial Times (B&FT) during a visit toGhana to see the project that his organizationintends to move up the supply chain byestablishing a factory to add value to the sheabutter produced. Currently, part of theproduction is sold as raw material to a localcosmetics maker and the rest exported toEurope. “What we intend to do after 2013 is toestablish a social business with the women asshareholders that tries to pursue the highestform of value-addition to the product,” hesaid. He added that a study by StanfordUniversity in the United States of Americashowed that the project had improved theliving standards of the women involved by65 percent in the first year.

“But this is more than money. It is also ameans to keep the women in the villagesand stem migration to the cities,” he said.

His organization is hoping to use itssuccess in Ghana as a model that can bereplicated in other countries.

PlaNet Finance coordinates the projectthrough its local headquarters in Tamale. Itspartners include the Agence franςaise dedéveloppement (AFD), the European Unionand the German software company, SAP,which together provided the €6.5 millionfunding for the project. Globally, theorganization works in 80 countries andmanages US$1 billion in funds. (Source:SpyGhana.com, 21 February 2012.)

INDIA

Saffron and silk wither in Kashmir Srinagar. The saffron and silk industries inKashmir have been dying a silent death overthe last decade, with production rates for both


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Under the new regulations, each species islabelled with a price tag, allowing anyindividual who has paid a fixed price tohunt for them anywhere, excludingprotected areas and national reserves. TheMinistry of Energy and Natural Resourcesof Georgia published the hunting quotasand terms for the year 2012 on 10 January.

The Government of Georgia has notexplained the initiative publicly. However,the newspaper Kviris Palitra recentlypublished an interview with GeorgianMinister Alexander Khetaguri, where he isquoted as saying “hunting is a verypopular pastime so it can attract manytourists; they spend heavily on hunting”.

According to Tbilisi-basedenvironmental NGOs, the government’smove will cause “irreversible damage” toGeorgia’s unique biodiversity. Endangeredspecies such as the eastern and westernCaucasian tur, chamois, brown bear, reddeer and wild goat will decrease toalarming rates. (Source: Georgia Today, 26January 2012.)

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commodities witnessing up to 50 percentdeclines in some areas of the Kashmirvalley. A growing market for cheap, fakesaffron – either chemically manufactured or“cut” with additives to increase its weight –has dealt a harsh blow to traditional, world-renowned saffron producers and sellers inKashmir. Meanwhile, a mismanagedgovernment monopoly over the silk industrycoupled with an invasion of cheap Chinesesilk has choked local production, pushingthousands of producers out of business.

As a result, saffron farmers and silk rearersare facing hard times in the lush Kashmir valley.

Kashmir is one of a handful of places onEarth that grows natural saffron, along withthe Islamic Republic of Iran and Spain, and haslong been considered to have the best-qualitysaffron in the world, with rich plantations inPampore, Pulwama, Budgam and Kishtiwar.But Saleem Shakeel Mir, Managing Director ofKashmir Kesar Leader, Kashmir’s leadingsaffron producer, told IPS that the influx offalse saffron has lacerated the market forhonest producers. Since non-experts areunable to differentiate between pure andartificial saffron, the cheaper product is sellingfast, Mir added. "If pure Kashmiri saffron costs110 rupees/g (or just over US$2), syntheticscost as little as 30 rupees. As a result,traditional Kashmir saffron growers havesuffered an almost 70 percent loss."

Mir also blames saffron growers’ hardshipson the rampant industrialization in the valley,including the proliferation of residentialhouses in the area, which eats up swathes ofland that could otherwise be used for crops. "A decade ago, ten kanals (6 050 square yards [5 060 m2) of land were under saffroncultivation; today just four kanals, less thanhalf the original amount, are used," he said.

According to Malik Farooq, Director of thestate Sericulture Department, governmentefforts to save the silk industry have gainedmuch less ground, possibly because adecades-long government monopoly overthe silk industry contributed to its decline inthe first place. Silk is one of Kashmir’s oldesttrades. In 1855, Europe was Kashmir’sbiggest silk trading partner, purchasing70 kg of silkworm seeds every year. Theperiod immediately following the end ofBritish rule opened a glorious phase forKashmiri silk. "After the1980s, there was asudden decline in silk production and theindustry began to suffer," Farooq told IPS.The rigid state monopoly that had onceboosted the industry became its greatestimpediment. The government bought all thesilk cocoons from the locals but managed

every other stage of the production processthemselves.

According to official governmentstatistics, the number of silkworm rearersshrank from 60 000 in 1947 to a mere 7 161in 1995. The area of land under mulberrycultivation shrivelled from thousands of hain the early 1900s to less than 2 000 ha in1990. From employing 1 830 labourers on584 silk production units, the silk industrynow only has the capacity for 200 workerson 30 silk production units. (Source: IPSNews, 9 December 2011.)

Six non-timber forest projects in Maoist-hit areas The Indian Government announced on Friday sixprojects on NTFPs, such as gum and medicinalplants, to cover around 60 Maoist-affecteddistricts in the country. Addressing a nationalconference on NTFPs, Rural DevelopmentMinister Jairam Ramesh said the projects in"lac, gum, medicinal plants, tasar, bamboo andnon-edible oil seeds such as neem and mahua"will maximize return for tribals engaged incollection of these forest products. He said theprojects, to be executed in six months in thepublic-private partnership mode, will coverJharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, MadhyaPradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Ramesh said that generation of NTFPs andexpansion of their markets in a sustainablemanner were challenges that needed to beaddressed. The minister said projects will bepart of the National Rural Livelihood Missionand focus primarily on livelihood generationand value addition. (Source:Mangalorean.com, 3 February 2012.)

Edible weeds in grape fields of Theni districtin Tamil Nadu An extensive survey was conducted on edibleweeds in the grape (Vitis vinifera L.) fields of theTheni district in Tamil Nadu. The investigationrevealed that 21 weeds of 17 genera belongingto 12 families of grape fields are commonlyconsumed as vegetables. The utilization ofthese undesired but useful weeds can: (i) freethe fields from weeds; (ii) play an importantrole as a source of additional income forfarmers; and (iii) provide promise as normaland/or scarcity or famine foods through theirnutritional values (more comprehensiveresearch should be carried out on theirnutritional status). (Source: S. Shanmugam,N. Kamaladasan, T. Arunraja, B. Sakthivel andK. Rajendran. 2011. Edible weeds in grape(Vitis vinifera L.) fields of Theni district inTamil Nadu, India. In International Journal ofForest Usufructs Management, 12 (1).)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: S. Shanmugam, Post Graduate and ResearchDepartment of Botany, Thiagarajar College,Madurai – 625 009, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail:[email protected]/

EDIBLE WEEDS

• Alternanthera sessilis DC. Leaves andtender shoots are fried as vegetables ormixed with potato and cooked.

• Amaranthus graecizans L. Leaves arecooked as vegetables with onions andtomatoes.

• A. spinosus L. Leaves are cooked asvegetables.

• A. viridis L. Leaves and tenderbranches as well as young shoots arecooked to prepare curry.

• Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson.Leaves are cooked to prepare currywith onions.

• Basella rubra L. Leaves are cookedwith onions and tomatoes.

• Bidens pilosa L. Leaves are cooked asvegetables.

• Cardiospermum halicacabum L. Leavesand tender shoots are cooked asvegetables and leaf extract is used toprepare rasam (soup).

• C. microcarpum (Kunth) Blume. Leavesand tender shoots are cooked asvegetables and leaf extract is used toprepare rasam.

• Coccinia grandis L. Unripe fruits areused to prepare curry and pickles.

• Commelina benghalensis L. Rhizomesare cooked as curry with potatoes orother vegetables.

• Eclipta prostrate (L.) L. Mant. Leaves,tender branches and young shoots arecooked and eaten with other leafyvegetables.

• Ipomoea aquatica Forss. Leaves andtender stems are cooked as curry.

• Oxalis corniculata L. Leaves arecooked as curry.

• Portulaca oleracea L. Leaves andtender shoots are fried with potatoesor cooked with other vegetables.

• Pupalia atropurpurea (Lam.) Moq. Leavesand tender shoots are fried with potatoesor cooked with other vegetables.

• Solanum nigrum L. Young leaves andtender branches are cooked as vegetables.



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TRAFFIC helps claw back illegal parrot trade A parrot in captivity is one of the more visiblesymbols of illegal trade in India, where allnative wildlife is fully protected. To helpenforcement officers identify the 12 nativeparrot species, and thereby clip the wings ofthe illegal bird trade, TRAFFIC India, withsupport from WWF India, has produced anidentification poster called “Parrots of India inillegal trade”. The posters will be distributedto the police, Customs, forest departments,railway protection forces and educationalinstitutions, including schools and colleges.

Despite the blanket ban since 1990–91 ontrade in all Indian bird species, hundreds ofparrots are collected and traded annually inthe country. They are taken from the wild andsmuggled to various parts of India andbeyond. The bulk of the trade is in three- tofour-week-old chicks. Parrots are caughtusing nets and bird lime. Adult parrots aretraded throughout the year, with chicksarriving in trade between December andJune. For every bird that reaches themarketplace, several are believed to die enroute. Of the 12 native species, eight areregularly found being illegally traded. Theyinclude the Alexandrine, rose-ringed, plum-headed, red-breasted, Malabar, Himalayanand Finsch’s parakeets and the vernalhanging parrot.

For centuries, parrots have been kept aspets mainly because they are straightforwardto keep and easy to replace because of thelarge numbers in trade. This has in turncreated demand that has led to an organizedillegal trade in parrots. (Source: Traffic NewsUpdate, 17 February 2012.)

JAMAICA

Launch of nutraceutical industry with sevenproducts Renowned local scientist Dr Henry Lowe lastnight delivered on a promise made a year agoby launching what he said was the region'sfirst indigenous nutraceutical industry withseven products, including his flagship AlphaProstate Formula 1 made from Jamaican ballmoss or Old man's beard (Tillandsiarecurvata). At the same time, Dr Loweannounced that an initial public offering (IPO)will be launched next year "to give Jamaicansand diaspora members a chance to invest inthis lucrative and exciting venture". “Thepotential earnings from this industry can beanywhere from US$500 billion, growing to atrillion dollars in the next five years," Dr Lowetold guests attending the launch in Kingston.

"The question is: are we ready to make theinvestments required to grow our share of thislucrative industry?" he asked.

Lowe said that in addition to the AlphaProstate Formula 1 – which is basically ahalfway house to the development of theanticancer drugs he identified in the ballmoss – the other products launched lastnight include Jamaican guinea hen weed(Petiveria alliacea) supplement, traditionallyused for the management of cancers,arthritis, rheumatism and diabetes; and thealoe complex formula supplement, a mildlaxative, which reduces inflammation andenhances colon health. (Source: JamaicaObserver, 24 February 2012.)

KOSOVO

Medical ethnobotany of the Albanian Alps inKosovo Ethnobotanical studies are crucial insoutheastern Europe for fostering localdevelopment and also for investigating thedynamics of traditional environmentalknowledge (TEK) related to plants in one ofthe most crucial European hotspots forbiocultural diversity. A recent medico-ethnobotanical survey was conducted in ruralalpine communities in Kosovo. The aims ofthe study were twofold: (i) to document thestate of TEK of medicinal plants in thesecommunities; and (ii) to compare thesefindings with those of similar field studiespreviously conducted among local populationsinhabiting the Montenegrin and Albanian sideof the same alpine range.

The uses of 98 plant species belonging to42 families were recorded; the most quotedbotanical families were Rosaceae, Asteraceaeand Lamiaceae. Mainly decoctions andinfusions were quoted as folk medicinalpreparations and the most common usesreferred to gastrointestinal and respiratorydisorders, as well as illnesses of the

urogenital system. Among the mostuncommon medicinal taxa quoted by theinformants, Carduus nutans L., Echinopsbannaticus Rochel ex Schrad. and Orlayagrandiflora Hoffm. may merit phytochemicaland phytopharmacological investigations.

Comparison of the data with otherethnobotanical field studies recentlyconducted on the Albanian and Montenegrinsides of the same Alps has shown aremarkable link between the medicalethnobotany of the Montenegrin and Kosovarside of the Albanian Alps. Moreover, folk usesof the most quoted wild medicinal taxarecorded in Kosovo often include thoserecorded both in Albania and in Montenegro,thus suggesting a hybrid character of theKosovar local plant knowledge. This mayalso be explained by the fact thatMontenegro and Kosovo, despite theirdifferences in ethnic composition, haveshared a common history during the lastcentury. (Source: B. Mustafa, A. Hajdari, F. Krasniqi, E. Hoxha, H. Ademi, C.L. Quaveand A. Pieroni. 2012. Medical ethnobotanyof the Albanian Alps in Kosovo. Journal ofEthnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 8: 6.)

LAO PEOPLE’SDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

Bamboo management project takes rootin Huaphan The European Union has granted €1million and the Netherlands DevelopmentOrganization (SNV) and Gret an additional€600 000 for a bamboo developmentproject in Huaphan province. The aim of theproject, which began in Viengxay, Xopbaoand Xamneua districts this year and willrun until 2014, is to promote thesustainable management of bambooforests. This would in turn lead to theproduction and sale of handicrafts andfurniture, increasing the income of localfarmers.

The project is targeting those peoplewho are most likely to ensure the growth ofthe project in the long term.

Prior to implementing the project, in2009 SNV and Gret approached bamboogrowers and gave them training courses onplantation management, forest allocation,production and reforestation. There arecurrently 478 families of bamboo growersspread across 21 villages and 22 groups ofproducers within the three districts. Thesecommunities have already grown about 120 ha of bamboo and are making 26 types


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of products, including suitcases, baskets,small presentation boxes, trays, decorativeitems and pieces of furniture.

On site last week, project official Mr Souvanpheng Phommasane told themedia the project will continue to runtraining courses and that by next year agreater variety of items will be made tomeet market demand. By 2012, it isenvisaged that the range of items producedwill increase to 30 different types and to275 in 2015. Mr Souvanpheng said: “InHuaphan province, bamboo forests coverabout 80 percent of the land area. If wedon't protect and carefully manage thisarea, it will continue to decrease”.

In the past, people living in provinceswhere bamboo is grown have benefitedfrom this resource by harvesting andcollecting its shoots, which they sell atlocal markets. Mr Souvanpheng saidfarmers who had been cutting down andburning bamboo to clear land foragriculture or to make a wall or roof fortheir houses, for instance, were actingirresponsibly.

The bamboo sustainability project wouldhelp to increase awareness andresponsibility, he said. It is hoped peoplewill realize how important it is to protectand manage the plantations, which infuture will provide income and businessgrowth.

Provincial Agriculture and ForestryDepartment Deputy Director Mr PhouvongSysomhack said that last year sales in thetargeted districts represented 312 millionkip (1 million kip equals approximately€94.5) for bamboo shoots and 348 millionkip for handicraft and furniture products,the most productive district being Viengxay.As experience and development grow, hehopes that this year's figures will double.Mr Phouvong sees Huaphan province asthe leader in the development of bambooforest sustainability and management, notonly bringing “green gold” but alsoalleviating poverty for many families.(Source: Khamphone Syvongxay, VientianeTimes, 19 December 2011.)

MADAGASCAR

Innovative conservation: wild silk,endangered species and poverty For anyone who works in conservation inMadagascar, confronting the complexdifficulties of widespread poverty is a part ofthe job. But with the wealth of Madagascar'swildlife – such as lemurs, miniaturechameleons and hedgehog-like tenrecs foundnowhere else in the world – rapidlydiminishing, the island nation has become atesting ground for innovative conservationprogrammes that focus on tacklingentrenched poverty to save dwindling speciesand degraded places.

The local NGO, the MadagascarOrganization of Silk Workers or SEPALI,together with its United States partnerConservation through Poverty Alleviation(CPALI), promotes one such innovativeprogramme. In order to alleviate localpressure on the newly established MakiraProtected Area, SEPALI is aiding local farmersin artisanal silk production from endemicmoths. The programme uses Madagascar'sfamed wildlife to help create moreeconomically stable communities. "We wantedto try a new approach to conservation thatcould replace the needs of local populations toharvest forest resources in areas of greatbiological importance," Catherine Craig,founder of CPALI, told mongabay.com in arecent interview with the SEPALI/CPALI team.

The Makira Protected Area, the largest onthe island, was established in 2002 by the thenpresident, Marc Ravalomanana. The park ishome to 22 species of lemur including severalthreatened species. It is also home to theMadagascar serpent eagle (Eutriorchis astur)and the island's top predator, the fossa(Cryptoprocta ferox). Despite being seeninitially as a conservation success (althoughthe park is now imperilled by illegal logging),the protected area has impacted surroundingcommunities.

"Communities that once had access to thepark’s resources now must abide byrestrictions. Despite the fact they are notphysically displaced, they are unable to gatherthe natural resources on which they previouslydepended and are hence economicallydisplaced," explains Craig and her team,noting that a recent study found anaemia ratesamong children have increased since thepark's demarcation, because of a decline inprotein from bushmeat hunting.

Enter into the picture SEPALI and silkproduction. "We sought to identify asustainable, ecologically sound, income-

generating programme that allowed farmersto make between US$60 to US$200 of addedannual income to ensure the security of theMakira Protected Area.”

Using three native moth species, eachfound in the region, SEPALI has begun to workwith local farmers to raise wild silkworms onnative trees and to sell unique silk products toan international market. “Silk cocoons providea new, sustainable, source of income," saysCraig and her team. “Chrysalides provide anew, alternative source of protein; silk mothhost trees build up a protective green zonearound the Makira Protected Area. Only 100 chrysalides to produce the eggs that yield10 000 cocoons in the next season and 9 900 chrysalides, or approximately 10 kg ofprotein rich food, are available for humanconsumption, poultry feed or fertilizer."

If successful, the programme hopes to havean ecological impact (creating a buffer aroundthe park with silkworm trees); an economicimpact (additional source of income); a healthimpact (more protein); and a mitigating impact(less pressure on the park's ecosystem andwildlife). "By relying on a 'proto-commodity' (agood that is large enough to make a differenceat the scale of a landscape but small enough toavoid industrial attention and competition), wehope to guard against the fluctuations inmarket prices that often affect the prices ofcommodities. We are proceeding bydeveloping diverse markets for the silk thatinclude architectural products, fashionaccessories, home design products andlighting," Craig and her team say.

Currently, SEPALI is working in 11communities with 126 farmers, over a third ofwhom have planted at least 250 trees forsilkworms. If conservation is to succeed in anation facing massive development problems,entrenched poverty and a booming population,it is likely it will only be with the input of suchmultipurpose programmes as SEPALI's.

(Source: Mongabay.com, 20 February 2012.)

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VIDEO – WALKING THE VANILLA TRAIL

Take a stroll along the vanilla trail withRainforest Alliance auditor Noah Jackson.Meet communities working to harvest thefragrant spice sustainably, and see howRainforest Alliance certification is helpingthem to live and work in harmony withtheir environment. (Source/view:Rainforest Alliance Web site,www.rainforest-alliance.org/)



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MALAYSIA

500 000 agarwood trees for a greenerMalaysia Half a million agarwood trees will beplanted throughout the country underTesco Stores (M) Sdn Bhd's Greener EarthTree Planting programme. Tesco Storesand the Malaysian Timber Industry Board(MTIB) recently inked a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) to plant the trees inthe next three years. Partly funded by thesale of plastic bags on Saturdays, theprogramme is part of Tesco's GreenerEarth initiative. The MoU was signed byTesco Malaysia chief executive officerSungHwan Do and MITB director-generalDr Jalaluddin Harun and was witnessed byMITB chairman Datuk Madius Tangau.

Do said Greener Earth was Tesco's latestinitiative to protect the environment whileengaging customers. "Through thisprogramme, Tesco and MTIB will plant160 000 trees this year and 170 000 in 2013and 2014, respectively," said Do, who addedthat Tesco would spend RM4 million on theproject. "This is our way of helping thecountry to achieve its target of planting 26 million trees by 2014," he said.

Datuk Madius said Tesco's initiativewould contribute towards reafforestationefforts and keeping at least half of thecountry under forest cover. "It is hoped thatthere will be many more similarcollaborations between the corporate sectorand the government," he said. (Source: NewStraits Times, 20 January 2012.)

More gaharu (agarwood) trees beingfelled in Penang forest George Town. The illegal felling of gaharu(agarwood) trees appears to be continuingunabated despite extensive media coverageand the state government’s declaration of acrackdown against the thieves. The latestincident involves several gaharu trees inGambier Hill near Island Park. Gurdial Singh,a runner, came across around 20 felled trees,several of which were gaharu trees, onTuesday while setting the trail for a run for hisgroup. “The trees were all from one area, notscattered in the jungle. I think they werefelled about a week ago, looking at thecondition and colour of the wood,” he saidyesterday, adding that he believed the treeswere felled with a chainsaw. Gurdial said thearea had been green and shady when hepassed it last December.

The Sunday Star had reported on 12February that local syndicates with foreign

connections were allegedly felling thehighly valued gaharu trees in the rain forestnear the Penang Botanic Gardens and inseveral other places.

The oil extracted from the agarwood isused for medicine and perfume, and fetchesa handsome price in the Middle East.

Penang Health, Welfare, Caring Societyand Environment Commi ttee chairmanPhee Boon Poh said yesterday that therewould be joint operations with the police totackle the situation, as it was a seriousmatter. State Forestry Department assistantdirector Azahar Ahmad said he would alsoget his team of officials to investigate.(Source: Malaysia Star, 23 February 2012.)

MEXICO

Potential management of Chamaedoreaseifrizii (Palmae), a non-timber forestproduct from the tropical forest ofCalakmul, southeast Mexico Leaves and seeds of Chamaedorea (xaté)palms are important NTFPs. In theCalakmul region (Yucatan peninsula) ofMexico, several communities havesporadically collected and sold seeds of C. seifrizii since 1980. However, harvestinghas intensified recently, raising concernsabout overexploitation.

To evaluate the economic potential ofleaf and seed exploitation in the area, wecollected information on abundance,population patterns, and leaf and seedstocks in Ejido Conhuas, a communitywithin the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.Then we combined these data with currentmarket values and hypotheticalmanagement regimes obtained from theliterature for leaves and seeds. Conductinga quantitative analysis of 43 0.1ha plots withdifferences in forest and soil type, weassessed the abundance of C. seifrizii inthe area. We also conducted interviews toestimate the importance of xaté in the localeconomy.

We found C. seifrizii density to be highlyvariable, with a mean (+or-SE) of 295 (+or-35), with forest type being the mostinfluential factor. Population structuresdiffer between forest types, with healthypopulations in medium and lower forest.We found a mean density of leaves ofharvestable size of 3 750 (+or-380) leavesha-1, while seed production was 1.5 (+or-0.3) kg/ha1 of fresh seeds.

Assuming sustainable harvest rates of30–50 percent for leaves and 80 percent forseeds, 1 ha of forest could generateUS$7.0–15.9/ha1. Considering the numberof households (102) and 10 percent of thetotal area managed each year (5 700 ha),this harvest could generate a householdincome of US$391–838 annually.

At the moment, the xaté traderepresents a minor component in theeconomy of the community, but given thearea's extensive forest (>57 000 ha), theresource abundance and the low humanpopulation, we believe the NTFPs derivedfrom C. seifrizii have a potentially greateconomic impact in the area. (Source: L. López-Toledo, C. Horn, A. López-Cen, R. Collí-Díaz and A. Padilla. 2011. Potentialmanagement of Chamaedorea seifrizii(Palmae): a non-timber forest product fromthe tropical forest of Calakmul, southeastMexico. Economic Botany. 65(4): 371–380.29 refs. [abstract])

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Leonel López-Toledo, Centro de Investigacionesen Ecosistemas, Universidad NacionalAutonóma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 27-3,Xangari 58089, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]/

NAMIBIA

Namibia's bushmen profit from nature The nomadic San, or bushmen, areNamibia's oldest indigenous inhabitants aswell as the country's most marginalizedand poorest. For thousands of years, theyhave lived as nomads, as hunters andgatherers in harmony with nature, but theymust now find their place in the modernworld.

These days, the San obtain most of theirsupplies from the shop in Tsumkwe, in thecentre of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy innortheast Namibia, near the border withBotswana. The reserve is home to around2 500 San. With roughly 500 inhabitants,Tsumkwe is the largest village in the area.


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Earning the money to pay for goods at theshop can be difficult in the remote region.

Many San, usually the women, spend theirdays making handicrafts for the small touristtrade. Ney, a young woman, chisels ostricheggshells into small pieces which will laterbe made into necklaces and bracelets. "Abracelet can be finished in the course of aday," Ney said. "The jewellery is what bringsus the most money. You craft it, sell it – andafterwards you can buy food in the shop."

Ney sells her work at the small craft shopin Tsumkwe, run by Hoan. "I am happy thatthis shop exists, because it has changed thelives of the people," she said. "Before, theyjust sat around doing nothing; they didn'thave opportunities." Life has also changedfor Hoan. For her new job, she learned manynew skills, from bookkeeping to salesstrategies. She had help from MarthaMulokoshi, a consultant for the Nyae NyaeFoundation, which offers support to the Sanin their transition to commercial trading. "It'san ongoing [learning] process, stocktaking,writing out receipts – every little thing thatgoes on," she said. "The other thing ismarketing. Our biggest current challenge isthat we don't really have a market to sell ourproducts."

By contrast, devil's claw, a root that hasbeen used as a natural medicine forcenturies, sells very well on the internationalmarket. Much of the world's supply comesfrom Namibia. For a few months every year,business is all about devil's claw. The Sanpainstakingly gather bags of the root, cut itinto small slices and dry it. Among its manyuses, it is said to be good for relieving painfrom arthritis, muscles and joints, and forheartburn, fever, headaches and difficultiesin childbirth.

To maintain the demand for their product,the San must produce the devil's clawaccording to international standards. In thisrespect, help also comes from outside thecommunity. Recently, two experts fromGermany and South Africa visited the area toadvise in the process.

Klaus Fleissner, of the South Africanconsultancy CRIAA, a membership-basedNGO that supports rural communities andadvocates better pay for the devil's clawproducers, said considerable additionaltraining is necessary, especially when itcomes to administrative work. "The firstthing we do is check all the paperwork," hesaid. "Then we drive out to the villages wherethe people are harvesting devil's claw andlook to see if they've filled in the holes again[after digging out the roots]. This guarantees

NEW ZEALAND

Wild ginseng and Maori traditionalecological knowledge feature at ForestryFinance Conference Wild natural ginseng growing under a pinetree canopy that can increase the revenueearned from forestry land is an initiativethat the Maraeroa C Incorporation wants toshare at the upcoming Forestry Financeevent. It wants to promote the growing ofwild natural ginseng, which is now beingtermed “the new kiwifruit”, with Maoriforest owners and relevant industry andsays the conference is an ideal platform toshare their success.

Other prominent speakers at the eventinclude Dr Kepa Morgan from theEngineering School at Auckland University,who will talk about integrating Maorivalues and the potential role for traditionalecological knowledge in forestrymanagement.

All speakers bring to their roles a strongbelief in the potential for Maori people inrural communities around New Zealand tomake good the potential for increasingtheir opportunities and capitalizing onindustry associations. (Source:TangataWhenua.com: Maori News &Indigenous Views, 14 February 2012.)

NIGERIA

Utilization of NTFPs for economicdevelopment in Nigeria NTFPs contribute immensely to foodsecurity, poverty alleviation, economicdevelopment, and household and nationalincome generation, among many otherbenefits. A recent paper gives a synopsis ofNTFPs in Nigeria, their diversity anddiverse uses, with specific examples of theeconomic potential of Moringa oleifera,Acacia senegal, Lonchocarpuscyanescens, Vitellaria paradoxa andDacryodes edulis (see Table on page 58).The paper highlights the challenges facingthe economic utilization of NTFPs inNigeria and proposes possible solutions.

Nigeria is blessed with vast biodiversity,mostly in forest ecosystems, many ofwhich are used as NTFPs. One researcherin 1980 found 150 edible NTFP indigenousplant species in the rain forest and 51 species of food and fodder trees andshrubs in the savannah, while anotherresearcher in 1995 identified over 200plant and animal species used as NTFPs

sustainability, and the most important pointfor organic certification is sustainableharvesting." But Fleissner said the San, whohave been harvesting the root for centuries,need little help in this last area.

Aside from medicine and handicrafts, theSan also occasionally bring in some extramoney by organizing trophy hunting foradventure tourists. Soon, however, the NyaeNyae Conservancy, a region covering morethan 9 000 km2, will be awarded communityforest status, which will be a distinctadvantage for the San. "The community willhave the opportunity to use [the land]commercially," said Eckhard Auch of theGerman Development Service (DED), whoadvises the Namibian authorities andpartners when it comes to communityforests. Local forestry employees are alsokeen on the project. "It's encouraging peopleto conserve their natural resources. They willmake an income from them. When theyconserve them, they can use them for futuregenerations," said Rachel Andima of theforestry office in Tsumkwe.

Kunta Boo, a village elder with a face linedwith deep wrinkles, often takes tourists onwalks, showing them how he lives off theland. The tourists pay €5 (US$6.50) to stay atthe small campsite near his settlement. Afew hundred metres away, the San performtraditional dances at a village rebuiltspecifically for visitors.

Making long-term plans for the future isnot part of the San culture. But with steadysources of income from a sustainable mix ofdevil's claw, ostrich egg jewellery and toursthrough the bushland and the futurecommunity forest, they will be able to moveforward with a mix of tradition andmodernity. (Source: Annjochen Berends andSuse Henn, Africa News Service, 3 February2012.)

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inside the Omo Biosphere Reserve,southwest Nigeria. (Source: Utilization ofnon-timber forest products [NTFPs] foreconomic development in Nigeria. InNature & Faune, 25(2.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Borokini Temitope Israel, Scientific Officer,National Centre for Genetic Resources andBiotechnology (NACGRAB), Moor Plantation,Ibadan, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]/

PERU

Camu camu promoted as Peru’s flagshipproduct The regional government of Loreto, innortheastern Peru, has submitted a proposalto the country's Ministry of Foreign Trade andTourism, asking for the inclusion of thisvitamin C-rich fruit in the growing list ofPeru's flagship products. Norma Cordova,head of the regional office for foreign trade,tourism and handicrafts, said they expect a"positive" response from the ministry withinthe next months.

With the aim of promoting theproduction, sale and consumption of thisfruit, Loreto's capital city Iquitos will hostthe Camu Camu Expoamazónica 2012festival on 27–28 January.

Camu camu is a low-growing shrubfound throughout the Amazon rain forest,mainly in swampy or flooded areas. It growsto a height of 2–3 m and has large, featheryleaves. It produces round, light orange-coloured fruits about the size of lemons,which contain a significant amount ofvitamin C. Its high vitamin C content hascreated a demand for camu camu fruit inthe natural products market. (Source: Peruthis Week, 24 January 2012.)

Exclusive Amazon “uncontacted“ tribes atrisk from new highway plan Tension is mounting in one of the remotestregions in the Peruvian Amazon over plans tobuild a highway through the country's biggestnational park. The Alto Purus Park isinhabited by at least two “uncontacted” tribes,one of which was photographed on a beach inthe park five years ago.

Carlos Tubino Arias Schreiber, acongressman from the Fuerza 2011 party, hasbeen promoting the need for the highway inPeru's Congress, in what has become anincreasingly aggressive publicity campaign.“In Purus the monkeys and plants have morerights than human beings,” he stated on 18November last year after a visit to the region.“The national parks have cut it off.”

But plans for the highway have drawn firefrom environmental and human rights groupsconcerned about its potential impact on therain forest and the “uncontacted” tribes livingthere. The World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF), which helped set up the park in 2004and now supports its ongoing protection, callsit “an area of incredible biodiversity” covering“some of the most pristine forests in thesouthwestern Amazon” and home to jaguars,monkeys and pink dolphins.

“There are only a handful of places left inthe world as biologically and culturallyimportant as Peru’s Alto Purus,” said ChrisFagan from the Upper Amazon Conservancy(UAC), an NGO working in the region that


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Plant name Economic uses and potential

Economic uses and potential of selected Nigerian NTFPs

Moringa oleifera

Acacia senegal

Lonchocarpus cyanescens

Vitellaria paradoxa

Dacryodes edulis

Parts sold for medicinal uses; seeds for water purification, biogas production;seed oil used in cosmetic industries. In the case of water purification alone, theuse of moringa seed is reported to have a 99 percent success in removingbacteria. It is also used for tanning leather. This could save Nigeria up toUS$2.25 million a year used to import alum.

Nigeria is the third largest gum arabic producer in the world, producing 17 000tonnes as of 2003, reaping about US$12.75 million in exports. However, gumArabic farmers claim only 40 percent of capacity is tapped. A tree has thecapacity to produce up to 500 g of gum Arabic, and up to 200 kg/ha. Gum arabicis used as a preservative in soft drinks. Most of the production comes from thewild. Acacia plantations should be encouraged to increase production andhence economic potential.

The plant yields an indigo dye for making the popular adire cloth. The textilewas very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, but is less so now in Nigeria becauseof popular acceptance of other textiles. A huge investment in this area couldyield hundreds of thousands of dollars, especially in sales to internationaltourists, who like the cloth.

Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of shea butter – producing about414 000 tonnes in 2005 – but most of it is rejected on the international market.There is no record of revenue from shea butter for Nigeria since 1995 but, as of1995, revenue generated from the shea sector was N3.58 billion (over US$23million based on the current exchange rate). The potential of this tree has yet tobe fully exploited. Shea butter is in high demand on international markets foruse in cosmetics.

Widely eaten as food, with seeds rich in protein. It is a source of income fromexports to Europe. Mature trees yield between 1 500 to 10 000 fruits/year,generating US$75–150 in cash income; 1 kg of fresh fruit costs US$14–15. Exportof D. edulis from Central Africa and Nigeria to France, Belgium and the UnitedKingdom was estimated to be over 326 tonnes in 1999, worth over US$2 million.

VIDEO – STRENGTHENING ASUSTAINABLE HARVEST IN THEPERUVIAN RAIN FOREST

Thousands of people in Peru’s Madre deDios region earn their living by gatheringand selling Brazil nuts, which grow wild inthe Amazon rain forest. With supportfrom the United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID) andFondation Ensemble, the RainforestAlliance has helped hundreds of them toimprove their forest stewardship, workingconditions and incomes. By working withthe Brazil-nut gatherers’ associations ineastern Peru, the Rainforest Alliance hasstrengthened the conservation of theirforest concessions while raising theirmembers’ standard of living. (Source/view:video, Rainforest Alliance Web site,www.rainforest-alliance.org/)

Camu camu




released a damning statement about thehighway on 7 January. “To cut it with a roadwould compromise the integrity of the entirebasin and trigger the swift demise of some ofthe last isolated hunting and gathering tribeson Earth.”

Currently, the Purus region, in southeastPeru, is only accessible by plane. A highwaywould connect it to the rest of the country and,so say those in favour of it, develop the localeconomy. (Source: The Ecologist, 19 January2012.)

New Forest Peoples Programme Report A recent report – entitled The reality of REDD+in Peru: between theory and practice.Indigenous Amazonian peoples’ analyses andalternatives and compiled by national andregional indigenous organizations in Peru(AIDESEP, FENAMAD, CARE) and the ForestPeoples Programme (FPP) – collatesindigenous peoples’ experiences with REDDpolicies and projects in the Peruvian Amazon.It analyses the policies and strategies of thePeruvian Government, examines the roles ofinternational agencies and scrutinizes pilotREDD initiatives already under way inindigenous territories. Among otherconclusions, the report finds that existingREDD policies and programmes areundermining the rights of indigenous peoplesand are likely to lead to conflicts over land andresources.

The report calls for alternative rights-based approaches to forest and climateprotection based on the recognition of landand territorial rights of indigenous peoplesand support for community-based climateinitiatives. (Source: Forest PeoplesProgramme, December 2011.)

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Production de plants de Gnetum spp. parbouturage – expériences pratiques enRépublique du Congo Les feuilles de Gnetum spp., une lianeforestière sempervirente, figurent parmi lesaliments préférés dans le bassin du Congo.Face à l’amenuisement du potentiel de cetteespèce dans certaines régions de laRépublique du Congo et de la Républiquecentrafricaine, la FAO est intervenue. Àtravers le Centre for Nursery Developmentand Eru Propagation (CENDEP – voirwww.cendep.org) de Limbe, Cameroun, descommunautés de base œuvrant à ladomestication de Gnetum spp. ont étéformées en mai-juin 2011.

Au Congo, le suivi des pépinières est assurépar le Service national de reboisement (SNR).Les expériences montrent la nécessitéd’adapter localement le manuel de productionconçu au Cameroun et présenté lors de laformation.

Le suivi des boutures placées en juin 2011dans le propagateur d’enracinement se faitquotidiennement. Le taux de réussite desbouturages est estimé à 86 pour cent pourAbala et à plus de 59 pour cent pour Madingo-Kayes, un quart des boutures étant toujours enobservation dans le propagateur. Des sevragesont été effectués 10 à 12 semaines après lerepiquage, soit avec un décalage de deux àquatre semaines en comparaison du manuelcamerounais. Ce retard peut être justifié par lefait que la saison sèche s'accompagne detempératures relativement basses au Congo.

L’expérience a montré qu’il faut aspergerd’eau les boutures tous les jours pendant lapremière semaine et deux fois par jour aucours de la deuxième semaine. En revanche, ilsuffit de mettre une fois par semaine 150 mldans la jauge, au lieu des deux à trois fois parsemaine préconisées par le manuelcamerounais.

Pour le premier sevrage, du compost misen place lors de la formation a été utilisé àAbala, avec un taux de réussite de 58 pourcent. Pour le deuxième sevrage, un mélangecomprenant deux tiers de terre forestière et untiers de sable fin a été utilisé. Ce changementde substrat a augmenté le taux de réussite, quia atteint 70 pour cent à Abala, car le solforestier contient non seulement la matièreorganique décomposée mais aussi dumycorhize naturel, favorable à la croissancedes plants. La même observation a été faite àMadingo-Kayes.

Le bambou de Chine utilisé pour clôturerles hangars s'est révélé inapproprié car il a étéattaqué par les insectes et a créé unepoussière nuisible pour les boutures. Enfonction de leurs coûts, d’autres matériaux– tels que des planches en bois – pourraientêtre adaptés.

Il a été constaté qu'une pénétrationexcessive des rayons solaires dans lepropagateur cause un flétrissement desboutures. La clôture des hangars a ainsi étérenforcée par des feuilles de palmier et destissus (rideaux), en vue de maintenir unmicroclimat favorable au bouturage.L'intégralité du sevrage devrait ainsi pouvoirse faire sous les hangars.

POUR EN SAVOIR PLUS, CONTACTER: Félix Koubouana, Coordonnateur Projet PFNL auCongo, FAO, B.P. 972, Brazzaville, République du

Congo. Courriel: [email protected];www.fao.org/forestry/nwfp/55079/fr/(Please see pages 49–50 for more information.)

RWANDA

Rain forest in Rwanda's main natural forestin danger of extinction Kigali. Nyungwe rain forest in thesouthwestern region of Rwanda isprogressively disappearing, findings releasedin Kigali by a team of researchers from theNational University of Rwanda revealed.

According to the findings made available toXinhua in Kigali, the main threat to the forestis the abundance of a harmful plant,scientifically known as Serochochys scadens."In the past, this plant was eaten by elephantsand buffaloes," the report said on Monday.Today, only five elephants are believed toremain in the Kamiranzovu swamp located inthe neighbouring area, while the buffaloeshave literally disappeared. Another menace tothe Nyungwe rain forest is the lack ofabundant rainfall compounded byencroachment on the forest by the population.

If no immediate measures are taken topreserve the high-altitude forest (3 000 mabove sea level), Nyungwe faces the same fateas Gishwati forest in the northwest region,which has been destroyed by farmers. In a bidto save Nyungwe forest from extinction, thegovernment has decided to declare it anational reserve where tourism would bedirected to supporting conservation effortsand research. In July 2011, the Government ofRwanda had fully entrusted the managementof the Nyungwe natural reserve to a Britishforestry company, New Forests Company.(Source: Xinhua News Service, 20 January2012.)

Price of gorilla permit increases toUS$750/day Rwanda has raised the price of a permit tosee mountain gorillas to US$750/day startingfrom 1 June 2012, up from US$500/day.While the price is steep, the programme eachyear raises millions of dollars in revenue forgorilla conservation, including US$8 millionin Rwanda alone in 2008, according to a 2011study published in PLoS ONE. The number ofpermits available each day is limited toreduce the impact of gorilla tourism on theendangered apes. Around 20 000 peoplevisited Rwanda's gorillas in 2008.

The programme seems to be working:mountain gorilla populations have steadilyincreased in recent years, with the combined

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Paumgarten said. "It undermines overalllivelihood security, especially asalternatives are limited, a situation that isunlikely to change in the immediate futureas ongoing service delivery failures andhigh rates of unemployment persist."(Source: allAfrica, 18 January 2012.)

UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

Spice town that lets you smell and tasteZanzibar Zanzibar boasts white sandy beaches andthe history-rich alleyways of Stone Town,but a visit to the archipelago is not justabout seeing the islands – it is aboutsmelling and tasting them, too. Spicetraders crowd downtown market stalls, thepungent scent of their wares hanging in theair. Hawkers offer visitors a whiff ofcinnamon or a taste of spiced coffee, butthese dried and powdered products are afar cry from the spices in their raw form.

Private landowners have createdminiature spice plantations where touristscan sample a variety of spices in theirnatural form – blades of lemon grassfreshly picked from their bushes or gingerroots still covered in damp soil.

Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) aretypically the first tastes of the tour, as thespice most important to Zanzibar’seconomy. The archipelago earned itsnickname of the “Spice Islands” in the1800s, after Omani settlers introduced theclove tree to the region. Other spices wereintroduced over time, but cloves remainedthe main cash crop for exporters: duringthe nineteenth century, the archipelagowas the source of 90 percent of the world’ssupply of cloves. Zanzibar’s economy todayremains dependent on clove exports, eventhough only 7 percent of world supplycomes from the islands. Cloves are pickedas unopened flower buds from theevergreen clove tree. After being dried, theyare ground or used whole in cooking,



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number in Uganda, Rwanda and theDemocratic Republic of the Congo reaching790 in 2010. The opposite trend has beenobserved with the more numerous lowlandgorillas, which are in decline in the CongoBasin through poaching, habitat loss fromdeforestation and logging, and diseaseoutbreaks. (Source: Rhett Butler,mongabay.com, 7 February, in ENN DailyNewsletter.)

SIERRA LEONE

From war to peace, Sierra Leone eyesecotourism Sierra Leone is trying to change its imageas a war-torn country by promotingecotourism, writes journalist PaigeMcClanahan at the launch of the new GolaRainforest National Park.

If you are thinking of planning a bird-watching holiday, Sierra Leone might notbe the first destination that jumps to mind.But that could change soon, if thegovernment of this small West Africannation gets its way. Earlier this month,Sierra Leone opened the Gola RainforestNational Park, a 71 000 ha protected areathat is home to more bird species than canbe found breeding in the whole of theUnited Kingdom.

The government hopes that the newpark might help nature-loving tourists seebeyond the battered image that defines thecountry overseas. The reason for thisimage is a brutal 11-year civil war thatclaimed the lives of tens of thousands ofpeople. But Sierra Leone has been at peacesince the conflict ended in 2002.

"The great news is that despite the areabeing one of the worst hit during the war,the biodiversity survived relatively intact,"said Jonathan Barnard, the head of thetropical forest unit at the Royal Society forthe Protection of Birds, which has beendoing conservation work in the Gola regionsince 1989.

The park is Sierra Leone's largestremaining piece of the Upper Guinea ForestEcosystem, a region that the environmentalgroup Conservation International hasidentified as one of the world's criticalbiodiversity hotspots. The new nationalpark is home to over 500 butterfly species,300 bird species and 45 species ofmammals. More than two dozen of theseanimals are under threat globally,including the pygmy hippopotamus, theDiana monkey, the chimpanzee and the

white-necked picathartes – a charismaticbird that the government has picked as thepark's official symbol.

The government hopes that such specieswill lure wildlife enthusiasts from overseas.

The national park "is already receiving a modest number of adventurous tourists", Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma said at the officialopening of the park. "With furtherdevelopment, ecotourism will continueto grow and generate economic benefitsfor the country." (Source: BBC News, 14 December 2011.)

SOUTH AFRICA

Poor prefer NTFPs during a crisis According to the Center for InternationalForestry Research (CIFOR), a recent studyfinds that the sale and use of NTFPs aresome of the most common copingmechanisms in times of crisis forvulnerable households in two of SouthAfrica's poorest provinces.

The study found that while all thehouseholds sampled relied, to some extent,on NTFPs as part of their livelihoodportfolio, as many as 70 percent alsoreported using the safety-net function ofNTFPs in response to a range of crises.Kinship was found to be the top copingstrategy chosen by both wealthy and poorhouseholds, and poorer households citedthe use or sale of NTFPs as the secondmost commonly adopted coping strategy.

"This highlights that in addition to themore regular use of NTFPs, they play animportant role in helping householdsweather specific crises," said FionaPaumgarten, CIFOR scientist and co-author of the CIFOR study conducted incollaboration with South Africa's RhodesUniversity. "The safety-net function ofthese NTFPs doesn't manifest specificallyin the increased use of resources theyalready use but might manifest throughusing resources which are not normallyused, or selling NTFPs which are notnormally sold," she said.

Surveying both poor and wealthyhouseholds over a two-year period,researchers looked at a range of dynamicsand drivers of use and sale of NTFPs. Inboth areas studied, overutilization ofNTFPs and increasing population densitiesmeant that these resources are becomingscarcer. This has implications on thepossible safety-net option of NTFPs,

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especially as a key ingredient in chaimasala (mixed-spice tea). Aside from theculinary uses of cloves, they are alsocommonly used as painkillers in dentalemergencies.

Cloves may be the centrepiece ofZanzibar’s economy, but they are not ascommon in kitchens as another spice onthe tour: peppercorns (Schinus spp.).Peppercorns are the world’s most-tradedspice and grow on a vine, like tiny grapesalong a stem. The fresh green kernels packan eye-watering punch, even when eatenraw. Depending on how they are picked anddried, they either become black, white, orgreen pepper.

While peppercorn is the most commonspice, a third plant wins the award forversatility: cinnamon (Cinnamomumverum). The roots, bark, branches andleaves of the cinnamon tree can each beused for different degrees of flavour, thebark being the most pungent in odour andtaste. Dried and pulverized, cinnamon treebark is used to make cinnamon powder, ordried whole to become cinnamon sticks.

Cinnamon is often paired with nutmegand mace, two more spices found on thetour. Both impart a stronger, hotter flavourand grow intertwined inside the pithynutmeg fruit: red ribbons of mace encirclethe hard shell of the nutmeg seed, which isabout the size of a Brazil nut. Nutmeg(from the Myristica fragrans tree), thesweeter of the two, is made when the fleshof the seed is dried, then ground or grated.Mace has a more delicate and pepperyflavour, and is made from the driedmembrane that surrounds the nutmegseed. Nutmeg trees take at least sevenyears to begin producing fruit and do notreach their full production until after20 years, which makes them a valuabletrading commodity.

Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) is perhaps oneof the most intoxicating and valuable spiceson the tour. It starts out not as a nut or abark, but as an orchid. Vanilla pods growdangling from a vine wrapped around ahost tree, looking like french beans that gotlost in the rain forest. The vanilla beanshave to be carefully harvested, dried andaged before they can be used as flavouring,a process that takes at least six months.Once the beans are processed, the podscan be used whole, ground into a powder orturned into a liquid extract.

Cacao (from the Theobroma cacao tree)also lurks on the spice tour, lookingnothing like its final product. This

fundamental ingredient in chocolate isfound within the green rind of the cacaopod, which holds about 30 seeds. Theseeds, about the size of an almond, areembedded in a slightly sweet, slimy whitefruit. When they are dried and ground, thepaste – called chocolate liquor – can beseparated into two different products:cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

Eventually all these spices and otherssuch as cardamom, cumin and annatto,end up in the market stalls of spicehawkers in Stone Town. And while thebooming spice exports of Zanzibar arelargely a thing of the past, tourists canstock their suitcases with fragrances andflavours for friends back home, keepingthat trade going just a little bit longer.(Source: The East African, 4 December2011.)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Our native trees include shagbark hickory Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) is native tomost of the eastern United States ofAmerica and much of Ontario and Quebec,Canada. It is found in a variety of sites,most often on upland sites in the north inassociation with oaks and otherhardwoods. Young seedlings and saplingscan survive in the shady understorey formany years until the older trees die,exposing them to sunlight; then they growmore rapidly. Hickories do not generallydominate a site; they are usually found inmixtures.

The common name of shagbark hickorycomes from the distinctive peeling bark onmature trees that gives it a shaggyappearance. Other common names includeshellbark, scalybark and upland hickory.The bark of young trees is smooth and grey.

Hickory comes from the AlgonquianIndian word pawcohiccora, for the tree'snut meat. The nuts are edible and sweet-flavoured. They can be used in place ofpecans in baking. Many wildlife species eat

the nuts of shagbark hickory, includingsquirrels, chipmunks and, to a lesserdegree, black bears, foxes, rabbits andmice, and birds such as mallards, woodducks, bobwhites and wild turkeys.

Nuts are round to ovate with a thickhusk. The husk is green at first, browningas it matures. When the husk dries, it splitsopen along four grooves exposing the nut.The shell of the nut is fairly thin and lightbrownish white.

The wood of the shagbark hickory is verystrong and resilient. It was, and is, used foraxles, axes, ploughs and other tool handles.Native Americans used it for bows. Otheruses include furniture, cabinetry, flooringand speciality products such as ladderrungs, dowels and athletic equipment. It is adesirable fuelwood because of its high heatvalue and because it burns evenly. Charcoalmade from hickories can be used to givefood, particularly meat, a hickory-smokedflavour.

The bark of the shagbark hickory can beused to make a syrup much like maplesyrup but with a unique flavour. Unlikemaple syrup, the extract used comes fromthe bark, not the sap. Hickory syrup is onlyavailable from a few places and one ofthem is in Connecticut.

Shagbark hickory is a tall tree, growingto a mature height of about 120 ft(approximately 36 m) with a width of about40 ft (12 m) and is adapted to a variety ofsites and soil types. (Source: The MysticPress [Connecticut, United States ofAmerica], 1 January 2012.)

ZIMBABWE

NTFPs as a coping strategy for HIV/AIDS-afflicted rural households A recent article examines the role of theextraction of NTFPs as a coping strategy inresponse to HIV/AIDS-related economicshocks among rural households in thesemi-arid Sengwe communal lands insoutheastern Zimbabwe. Using panel datafor 200 households in 2008 and 2009, aneconometric analysis revealed NTFPextraction as an important ex post copingmechanism for HIV/AIDS-afflictedhouseholds. Many of the householdsresponded to HIV-related economic crisesby increasing NTFP extraction to smoothboth consumption and income. On average,the additional income from NTFPs offsetabout 48 percent of a household's incomeshortfalls arising from the impact of HIV or

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commercialization, ease of domestication/cultivation, suitability for marginal drylandareas, building on existing, abundance ofgeographic spread, existing markets andmultiple marketing opportunities, includingavailability of skills.

Among the 250 useful plants alreadyidentified are: baobab (mauyu), pigweed(mowa), prickly cucumber (magaka), fingermillet (zviyo), makoni tea (musvisvinwa),mobola plum, (hacha/chakata), marula(mapfura), groundnuts (nyimo) and pepperbark (muranga).

But Le Breton says the potential of thesespecies will not be realized unaided and thereis a need to identify the unique selling pointsof each and facilitate concentrated investmentin product development, trial marketing,consumer awareness and production andyield trials.

Many foreign countries have capitalized onindigenous plant species such as kiwi fruit(New Zealand), macadamia nut (Australia),açaí (Brazil), argan oil (Morocco), shea butter(Burkina Faso) and rooibos (South Africa).(Source: The Zimbabwean, 11 January 2012.)

Importance of woodland resources insoutheastern Zimbabwe Like many forest and woodland resources inother areas across Africa, ecosystems in thesoutheastern low veldt of Zimbabwe generatea wide range of timber and non-timberproducts and services. These includeconsumptive resources such as bark for rope,building materials, fodder, fruits, fuelwood,fungi, bushmeat, gum, honey, insects,termites, leaf litter, medicines, mushrooms,roots, thatching grass, tubers and wood forsmall artisanal crafts; social services such ascultural and spiritual benefits; aestheticvalue; wilderness experience and recreation;employment; and ecological services such ascarbon sequestration, grazing, shade, soilstabilization, water catchment, wildlife habitatand windbreaks. Some of the most valued

AIDS. The importance of NTFPs as aneconomic safety net for householdsdepends more on the timing of extractionthan on the magnitude (i.e. as a share oftotal household contribution). Hence,sustainable forest management is of greatvalue for semi-arid tropical areas, such asthe Sengwe communal lands, which arehard hit by the HIV epidemic.

Consequently, government and otherstakeholders would be well advised toimplement programmes that reducepressure on forest resources, byintroducing, for example, other income-generating enterprises such as raisingsmall livestock, while improvements inaccess to education and health care willfurther help the rural poor cope withHIV/AIDS-induced economic crises.(Source: M.J. Mutenje, G.F. Ortmann andS.R.D. Ferrer. 2011. Extraction of non-timber forest products as a coping strategyfor HIV/AIDS-afflicted rural households insoutheastern Zimbabwe. African Journal ofAIDS Research, 10(3): 195–206.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Dr Munyaradzi J. Mutenje, School of Economicsand Finance, University of KwaZulu-Natal,Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg,3209, South Africa.

FAO commissions study on indigenousplants FAO is to produce an inventory of the top tenunderutilized plants with commercialpotential for smallholder production. Bio-Innovation Zimbabwe (BIZ), an innovation hubacting to develop new business opportunitiesusing indigenous plants, was recentlycommissioned to produce the report.

Gus Le Breton, BIZ Chief Executive Officer,says the study will focus on plants that can beused for medicines, food, biofuel, cosmetics,herbal teas, dyes, construction, gums, resinsand essential oils. “As we begin rebuildingZimbabwe’s agricultural sector, we have theopportunity to position ourselves strategicallyin the global market as the first choicesuppliers of an array of unusual Africannatural ingredients and products,” said LeBreton.

In terms of domestic consumers andpolicy-makers (both of whom are now activelyconsidering the implications of the “ProudlyZimbabwean” commercial drive) and in termsof the international market (with its focus onnatural, on Africa and on ethical trade), thetime has never been better, he added. Keypoints include short lead time for

fruits include those collected from Adansoniadigitata and Sclerocarya birrea.

Especially in periods of extreme weatherevents such as droughts and floods,woodlands become very important for thelivelihoods of local communities in the studyarea and they form the only easily accessiblesafety net for food and income, since externalsupport, for example in the form of food aidfrom government and non-governmentalorganizations, may not fully meet localcommunities’ requirements.

Mopane woodland products are keyresources for rural communities and wildlifeconservation in southeastern Zimbabwe.Where mopane is dominant, it assumeseconomic importance especially as a sourceof browse for both domestic and wild animals.The “mopane worm”, which is actually thecaterpillar of the emperor moth, Imbrasiabelina, used as food, is one of the best-knownand most economically important woodlandresource products of mopane woodland. Forrural households in southern Zimbabwe, theannual harvest of mopane worms maycontribute up to quarter of a household’s cashincome, depending on the quantity of theworms harvested, the proportion sold and thehousehold’s other sources of income. Mopaneworms can, therefore, contribute to improvingrural people’s livelihoods in various ways,including: (i) supplementing seasonalshortages in cash or food; (ii) bufferingfamilies against unexpected shortages in foodor income, for example, caused by droughts;(iii) supplementing expenditure on importantfactors such as education, food, health,clothing and agricultural tools; and (iv)providing cash for investment in variousproductive enterprises, such as purchasingagricultural inputs. (Source: Importance ofsavanna woodlands in rural livelihoods andwildlife conservation in southeasternZimbabwe. In Nature & Faune, 26(1).)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Edson Gandiwa, Wildlife Ecologist, ScientificServices, Gonarezhou National Park, Parks andWildlife Management Authority, Private Bag7003, Chiredzi, Zimbabwe. E-mail:[email protected]/ ♣


Time is the one thing we possess. Oursuccess depends upon the use of our time,and its by-product, the odd moment.

Arthur Brisbane

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