36 COUNTRY COMPASS · 2007-02-16 · BANGLADESH Prospects for ... particularly the Unani and...

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

NON-WOOD NEWS No. 14 January 2007

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AUSTRALIA

Indigenous ingredientsAccording to Vic Cherikoff, an indigenousplant researcher and television presenter:“We have the world’s highest fruit source ofvitamin C, the kakadu plum. We also have aspice with a compound which is known tobe anti-arthritic, another which isantidiabetic and a herb with a componentwhich looks like it will become aprophylactic against senile dementia,Alzheimer’s disease and possibly AttentionDeficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).”

Indigenous ingredients have also foundtheir way into food. “For some creativechefs, developing an authentic Australian

cuisine is the goal,” says Cherikoff. But thebenefits of indigenous ingredients extendbeyond flavour. Cherikoff says that many ofthem are more nutritious than theirconventional counterparts.

Dale Chapman, indigenous chef andfounder of the Dilly Bag range of nativeproducts, says: “Some of our native bushtucker has special healing and nutritionalvalue and the rest of the world wants toknow about it.” Chapman is working on anew section of her Web site, which willfocus on bush food for health and medicine.“I am seeking the information from myelders.”

Chapman believes that people arelooking for ways to live a healthier life.“Why not look in our own backyard?” shesays. “It’s where the first people ofAustralia have nurtured, sustained andlived a healthy life for thousands of years.” (Source: J. Hall, The Sunday Telegraph, 27August 2006.)

Tasmanian beekeepers aim to protectleatherwood honey industry Tasmanian beekeepers are moving tosecure the state’s unique leatherwoodhoney industry with international legalprotection for the leatherwood name. Theplans for an appellation scheme have beendiscussed today at the TasmanianBeekeepers’ Association annualconference in Launceston.

Chairman Julian Wolfhagen says thatthe leatherwood honey is recognizedworldwide as a unique wild product and thenew scheme will protect it fromexploitation. “It’s feasible it might bemisused. Someone could buy bulk honey,buy a drum of leatherwood and then mix itwith something else and market it asleatherwood and price it,” he said. “So it’s away of protecting unique intellectualproperty that belongs to Tasmania.”(Source: ABC Regional Online [Australia], 7July 2006.)

BANGLADESH

Prospects for medicinal plantsIt is significant that in a country of over 140million people, only about 20 percent of thepopulation of Bangladesh are in the habit oftaking synthetic medicines or visitingallopathic doctors for treatment. A majorsection of the rest of the population opts forherbal treatment, particularly the Unaniand Ayurvedic systems.

Cost is a factor as to why so many peoplein the country are used to these alternativesystems of medicine. But their popularityalso stems from the effectiveness of thetreatment in most cases and their relativesafety. Herbal medicines are known to createthe least or even no side-effects on patients.

The growing of medicinal plants andherbs could also be a lucrative business.Bangladesh at present spends about Tk500million on the import of herbs or herbalextracts to make medicines. Yet almost allthese medicinal plants are grown in thecountry. Systematic planting and rearing ofsuch plants are the only things lacking.This is regrettable since the entire financialoutlay could be saved were the planting ofmedicinal trees and herbs to bepopularized in the country.

Moreover, there are encouragingprospects for exporting medicinal plants,herbs and herbal extracts, provided thatplanting of medicinal trees and herbs andprocessing, standardizing and preservingthem for export, are developed on a largescale.

One study has found out that it would bea good opportunity to plant medicinalplants and herbs on the fallow lands of thetea estates on the hillsides at Chittagongand Sylhet. Farmers themselves couldprofitably establish plantations on smallstrips of land in their homesteads in therural areas almost all over the country. Thecultivation of medicinal herbs and treescould be a source of employment andincome at the grassroots level, while alsohelping to earn a substantial amount offoreign currency for the country.

At present, the annual average size ofthe export market for herbal products asraw materials is some US$62 billion. Themarket size is projected to expand toaround $5 trillion by 2050. Thus, thereshould be every incentive for businesses inBangladesh to take up the growing ofmedicinal plants and herbs withenthusiasm. (Source: The New Nation[Bangladesh], 18 July 2006.)

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KNOW YOUR INGREDIENTS

Kakadu plum contains the world’shighest amount of natural vitamin C. It is used as a garnish in cooking. Wild rosella flower is high in naturalphenols that protect the skin from freeradicals. In cooking, it can be used insauces, pastries, ice cream or as a garnish. Pidjawana wattle resin is used to treatsore muscles, joint pain and arthritis.The wattle resin aids pain relief and isa natural anti-inflammatory product. Alpine pepper increases circulation andwarms muscles. It can be used toseason meats or vegetables. Blue cypress oil is used as anantibacterial wash for sores and cuts. It relieves itching. Grass lily is used to heal burns, cutsand abrasions and also relieves itching,skin irritations and insect bites. Lemon myrtle has a high content ofcitrol, which has antibacterialproperties. The oil is used for cooking. Quandong can be used in sauces or asa garnish and the kernel oil, which ishigh in santalbic acid, is a natural anti-inflammatory product. Bush tomato is used in chutneys andsauces. Lemon aspen fruit and juice: the fruit isused as a garnish, the juice to flavourdesserts, dressings and sauces. Munthari is a fruit used in muffins, piesand puddings. Forest peppermint is used in desserts,especially ice cream.

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BHUTAN

Bamboo and cane: a case study fromBjoka, Zhemgang, central BhutanA recent report (Bamboo and cane:potential of poor man’s timber for povertyalleviation and forest conservation. A casestudy from Bjoka, Zhemgang, centralBhutan) presents the findings of a study onbamboo and cane from Bjoka in centralBhutan. The study assessed the accessiblepotential growing stocks ofNeomicrocalamus andropogonifolius andCalamus acanthospathus; their roles in thehousehold subsistence economy andimpacts on commercial enterprise;traditional uses, indigenous knowledge andlocal resource management systems;constraints and opportunities of post-harvest practices; and vulnerability statusto commercialization of these two NWFPs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Dr Lungten Norbu, Programme Director,Renewable Natural Resources ResearchCentre, Yusipang, PO Box 212, Thimphu,Bhutan. Fax: +975-2-321601; e-mail:[email protected] or [email protected]

Bhutan’s NWFP sector Under the FAO/Netherlands PartnershipProgramme, FAO consultant DrChandrasekharan visited Bhutan in June2006 to assess the general conditions –biophysical, legislative/institutional andsocio-economic – surrounding the NWFPsector and its potential, including the threeproducts that have high market value butare also facing issues related to resourcesustainability, production techniques andmarket development, i.e. Cordyceps,matsutake mushrooms and agarwood.

Based on his report, a nationalworkshop took place in December 2006 tomap the future course of action.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Hikojiro Katsuhisa, Chief, Forest ProductsService, Forest Products and Industry Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,00153 Rome, Italy. E-mail:[email protected]

Ancient formula in capsules An ancient combination of the medicinalplant Cordyceps sinensis and five exoticherbs, which traditional medicine has usedfor thousands of years to promote goodhealth and well-being, is now available incapsule form.

A product of Menjong SorigPharmaceuticals of the National Instituteof Traditional Medicine in Thimphu,Bhutan, the capsule – sold under the brandname CordyPlus – was conceived toincrease the plant’s efficacy and add value,according to the manufacturers.

The other herbal ingredients of thecapsule are Polygonatum verticillatum,Asparagus racemosus, Rhododendronanthopogon, Withania somnifera andDactylorhiza hatagirea.

According to the head of thepharmaceutical company, even though thecapsule was not targeted towards anyspecific group of people, most of theconsumers were middle-aged and olderpeople. He added that the ancientcombination is believed to improve theoverall health of those who experiencegeneral weakness, fatigue and joint pains.CordyPlus is also recommended forstimulating and revitalizing kidney and liverfunctions, curing piles and increasing theradiance of skin and hair.

Prices vary according to the availabilityof raw material and market demand.(Source: Kuensel [Bhutan], 10 June 2006.)

Using science to strengthen So-ba Rig-pa Historical records suggest that Bhutan’straditional medicine system or So-ba Rig-pa took root in the eighth century. In June1967 the first indigenous dispensary in thecountry opened and training of Menpas andDrungtshos (traditional medicalpractitioners) started in the 1970s. Todaythe traditional medicinal system is fullyintegrated with the modern health caresystem throughout the kingdom.

Approximately 6 tonnes of traditionalmedicines are produced annually in theform of tablets, capsules, powder, syrupand ointment to meet domestic demand,using the country’s rich diversity ofmedicinal plants. Now the Institute ofTraditional Medicine Services, under theMinistry of Health, is looking atstrengthening the traditional medicinesystem through research, by utilizingscience and technology to improve thequality of services rendered and ensure thesustainable use of medicinal herbs.

A group of lecturers, researchers andproduct developers in traditional medicinefrom Japan, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutanmet in Thimphu in early September 2006for a three-day symposium, whichdiscussed the conservation of Himalayanmedicinal resources and the possibility of

establishing research partnerships. Paperspresented at the symposium looked at theexisting policy and legislation governing theuse of medicinal plants in the country;traditional medicinal services in Bhutan;scope and outcome of collaborativeresearch; development of food, cosmeticand pharmaceutical products; and whatSo-ba Rig-pa can contribute to the future.

An ITMS spokesman said that there wasimmense potential in the field of research,which was in its infancy in Bhutan, but thiswould require a lot of resources. (Source:Phuntsho Wangdi, Kuensel [Bhutan], 4September 2006.)

BOLIVIA

Employment in the NWFP sectorFor the forest-dwelling people of Bolivia,the most important commercial NWFPs areBrazil nuts (of Bertholletia excelsa) andpalm heart. In 2002, 21 626 people wereemployed in the Brazil nut supply chain.

Caiman Caiman yacare is also animportant NWFP species. The preliminaryresults of an evaluation conducted by thenational caiman management programmein 2005 indicated that approximately 1 750people are employed in thecommercialization of caiman leather.(Source: TRAFFIC Bulletin, 21(1), 2006.)

Los ingresos que los indígenas obtienendel bosque son casi iguales a los de laagriculturaSegún un estudio realizado por el proyectoBolfor II, más de la cuarta parte de losingresos promedio de familias indígenas(25,72 por ciento) provienen directamentedel bosque, de los productos forestalesmadereros, no madereros, de la caza y lapesca, lo cual significa que dichos ingresosson casi como los que perciben por laagricultura (26,24 por ciento). Pero elporcentaje sube a más de la mitad (56,59por ciento) si se añaden las actividades que

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dependen indirectamente del bosque,como la agricultura y la ganadería (30,87por ciento).

Según el autor, Juan de Dios Mattos,especialista en desarrollo rural “estomuestra que el uso racional del bosque nosolamente genera un flujo constante deingresos, sino que es una variableimportante de seguridad alimentaria”.

El resto de los ingresos indígenasproviene del trabajo remunerado (21,41 porciento), transferencias (10,42 por ciento),negocios comerciales (7,54 por ciento),ganadería (4,63 por ciento) y subproductos(4,04 por ciento).

Sin embargo, cuando se desagrega lainformación se encuentra que en 10localidades de las 17 estudiadas seobtienen mayores ingresos del bosque quelos que provienen de las actividadesagropecuarias. Aunque las diferencias sonmuy variadas, el promedio es de 6,33 porciento a favor del bosque. Hay casos en quees ligeramente superior y otros en que seobtienen del bosque hasta casi un 40 porciento más que de la agricultura.

“Mientras exista bosque, las familiaspodrán obtener que por lo menos unacuarta parte de sus ingresos provengan deactividades forestales,independientemente de las condicionesclimáticas que tanto afectan a la actividadagropecuaria”, agregó.

Para el autor “es importante determinarel valor total de las actividades forestales ycomo éstas pueden reducir la inseguridadalimentaria a largo plazo”, porque “elbosque ofrece a las comunidades ruralesmás que madera y en muchos casos es ellugar natural de sus actividadesproductivas”. (Fuente: RedBoliva.com, 22de abril 2006.)

BRAZIL

Private Natural Heritage Reserves(RPPNs)Aracruz has signed a cooperation contractwith the BioAtlântica Institute (IBio) for thecreation of five new Private Natural HeritageReserves (RPPNs) in the central corridor ofthe Atlantic Forest – which runs fromEspírito Santo to the south of Bahia –totalling more than 5 000 ha of conservationunits. Currently there are 37 RPPNs in theAtlantic Forest’s central corridor thatprotect 11 000 ha.

The selected areas shelter speciesthreatened with extinction and are located instrategic zones for the formation ofecological corridors.

According to an IBio spokesperson theRPPNs represent one of the mostsuccessful strategies for forming ecologicalcorridors since they do not requireexpropriation and ensure direct participationof society in their efforts to conservebiodiversity. (Source: Aracruz News, 33.)

Iracambi Medicinal Plants projectLocated at the boundary of the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil, one of the world’s mostthreatened ecosystems, the IracambiMedicinal Plants (IMP) project, or Medicinada Mata, has identified 12 indigenous plantspecies of traditional, medicinal andcommercial value (see Table).

The project aims to provide an alternativesource of income for local farmers throughthe sustainable harvesting of these plants.At a later stage, the International Standardfor the Sustainable Wild Collection ofMedicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP)will be applied as a framework for thecollection area management plan,

formalizing the economic incentive toconserve the forest.

These plant species grow within an initialproject area of 35 km2, located insoutheastern Minas Gerais in Brazil, andprovide traditional medicines, identified andcommonly used by members of the localcommunity. The initial study and collectionarea is anticipated to expand toapproximately 250 km2 in the next ten years,contingent upon the results of the firstefforts.

The IMP project is founded on a holisticapproach that recognizes the interactionbetween people and plants. Seeking to treatthe cause rather than the effects ofdeforestation, the project aims to strengthenboth the economic and cultural value of theforest. In so doing, IMP is determined torevitalize the links between local people andthe forest, as well as fostering support forthe preservation and application oftraditional medicinal knowledge within thelocal community.

The 12 plant species selected for theproject were chosen using three maincriteria: i) traditional ethnobotanicalknowledge; ii) existing species-specificeconomic information, includingpharmacological analysis and existingmarket success; and iii) the role of thespecies in local forest ecosystems. (Source:extracted from: “The Iracambi MedicinalPlants Project in Minas Gerais (Brazil) andthe ISSC-MAP” by E. Gallia and K. Franz [inMedicinal Plant Conservation, 11].)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Eleanor Gallia, Nether Cerne Farm,Godmanstone, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 7AJ,United Kingdom. E-mail:[email protected]

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Scientific name Common name*

Baccharis dracunculifolia Alecrim do campoBaccharis genistelloides CarquejaBauhinia forficata Pata de vacaCarpotroche brasiliensis SapucainhaCasearia silvestris GuacatongaCroton urucurana AdragoCecropia glaziovii/hololeuca Emba ubaEchinodorus macrophyllus Chapeu de couroHymenaea courbaril JatobaPassiflora alata MaracujaPothomorphe umbellate CapebaTabebuia heptaphylla Ipê roxo

Indigenous plant species of traditional, medicinal and commercial value identified forthe Iracambi Medicinal Plants project

* In Brazilian Portuguese.



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BULGARIA

Bulgaria looks at strategic development ofmedicinal plantsThe Bulgarian Government unveiled detailsof its strategy to maintain Bulgaria’s placein the lucrative medicinal plants sector.Governmental strategy for the developmentof the medicinal plants subsector inBulgarian agriculture aims to consolidatethe country’s market position in the field ofmedicinal plants and thus to encourageeconomy and employment.

The strategy was drawn up byrepresentatives of state institutions incooperation with the Bulgarian Associationof Herb and Mushroom Gatherers andresearch institutes and with the financial andtechnical assistance of the German Agencyfor Technical Cooperation (GTZ). It was beingdrafted because of the constant increase inthe consumption of plant raw materials forthe purposes of cosmetics, the foodprocessing industry and the pharmaceuticalindustry in Bulgaria, as well as throughoutthe world.

From 2002 to 2005, the annual trade inmedicinal plants on the European marketincreased from US$7 billion to $9 billion.Similar growth is expected in Asia, Japanand North America. The subsector has goodprospects on the international market.

According to the Government, Bulgaria isthe biggest exporter of herbs in Europe andis ranked fifth or sixth in the world.Production totals 17 000 tonnes, with exportsaccounting for between 10 000 and 15 000tonnes in recent years. The export of herbsincludes 150 different plants. According tothe governmental statement theshortcomings in the subsector of medicinalplants in Bulgaria are related to cultivation,lack of cooperation within the subsector,lack of an accessible system for marketinformation, funding problems andinsufficient training.

The strategy addresses theseshortcomings through measures to improvesectoral policy, related to the access ofstakeholders to national and Europeanfunding schemes, amendment to theprocedure for the registration of agriculturalproducers and encouragement for researchin the medicinal plants sector.

The cultivation of medicinal plants will beassisted by the Agriculture State Fund andthe Ministry of Environment and Water. Theauthorities will introduce European Unionrequirements for plant protection products.“Good practices are about to be introduced in

the whole production process, as well as theestablishment of a system for marketinformation, and an increase in the share oftraining in medicinal plants in thecurriculum of agricultural universities,” theGovernment’s statement said. (Source: SofiaEcho [Bulgaria], 18 September 2006.)

BURKINA FASO

Les fruits sauvages au Burkina FasoConscient de l’ampleur de la pauvreté et del’insécurité alimentaire, le Gouvernementdu Burkina Faso, à travers sa politique delutte contre ces fléaux, s’est donné, entreautres objectifs, celui de moderniser et dediversifier la production agricole. Lapromotion de la filière des fruits etlégumes et celle des petites et moyennesentreprises, notamment de transformationdes produits agricoles, est une desstratégies prônées. Cependant, un secteurcomme celui des fruits sauvages n’est peutêtre promu que sur la base d’informationsqualitatives et quantitatives sur les usagestraditionnels et le potentiel productif,nutritionnel et économique de ces fruits.

C’est pour soutenir cette politique que leCentre de recherches pour ledéveloppement international (CRDI)d’Ottawa (Canada) a financièrement aidé leCentre national de la recherchescientifique et technologique (CNRST) pourune étude sur les fruitiers sauvages de2002 à 2006. L’objectif global du projet étaitde contribuer à la lutte contre la pauvretéet à l’amélioration de la sécuritéalimentaire des populations par laconservation et la valorisation des fruitierssauvages.

De façon spécifique, il s’est agi de: 1) recueillir le savoir des populations

locales concernant les ressourcesfruitières sauvages et leursdifférentes formes d’utilisation;

2) évaluer la contribution des fruitierssauvages à l’équilibre alimentaire despopulations;

3) évaluer le potentiel productif desfruitiers sauvages;

4) explorer les possibilités de conférerune valeur ajoutée aux fruits sauvageset appuyer les acteurs de la filièrepour l’apprentissage des techniquesde développement d’une activitéentrepreneuriale; et

5) développer une stratégie deconservation de la biodiversité desfruitiers sauvages.

Usant de la méthode active de rechercheparticipative, une équipe pluridisciplinairea pu établir la liste des espèces fruitièresd’usage courant dans les terroirsvillageois, identifier les procédéstraditionnels de transformation, ainsi queles règles et modes d’accès aux fruits.Cette équipe a ainsi pu constater quecertains procédés de transformationscomme ceux des fruits de Sabasenegalensis A.DC. Piton, Zizyphusmauritanien Lam., Vitellus paradoxe C.F.Gaertn, Sclerocarya birrea A.Rich Hochst,etc., peuvent être facilement moderniséspour conquérir de nouveaux espaces deconsommation.

Par un suivi de quantification de laconsommation, l’équipe a pu évaluer lesfréquences et les quantités moyennes defruits consommés dans les ménagescomme ingrédients de repas et commerepas sommaires. Par des analyses delaboratoire, la composition physico-chimique des fruits de 15 essences localesa été déterminée en vue de mettre enévidence leur valeur nutritive etthérapeutique. Il est apparu que laconsommation de fruits comme ceux deDetarium microcarpum G. et Perr., Sabasenegalensis A.DC. Pichon, Tamarindusindica L., Parkia biglobosa Jacq. Benth.,etc., peut aider à corriger certainescarences alimentaires.

La qualité hygiénique des produits defruits vendus sur le marché a égalementété mesurée. La présence de salmonelleset d’Aspergillus spp. a été observée surdes aliments prêts à la consommation telsles fruits de Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. etDetarium microcapum.

Le potentiel productif a été évalué sousl’angle de la densité des principalesespèces fruitières, de leurs rendements enfruit, des proportions des partiescomestibles, et du niveau des attaquesparasitaires des fruits.

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La démarche de l’Analyse etdéveloppement des marchés de la FAO aété conduite dans les terroirsd’intervention et a donné lieu àl’élaboration d’une cinquantaine de plansde développement de microentreprisesd’exploitation des fruits sauvages qui ontun besoin pressant de financements. Dansla stratégie de conservation des fruitierssauvages, l’équipe a réussi le greffage dequatre espèces (Lannea microcarpa Engl.et K.Krause, Saba senegalensis A.DC.Pichon, Sclerocarya birrea A.Rich Hochst.et Tamarindus indica L.). Cela ouvre la voieau raccourcissement de l’âge d’entrée enfructification et à l’amélioration de laperformance de production fruitière de cesespèces. (Contribution de: Dr NiéyidoubaLamien, Chargé du projet, INERA, 01 B.P.910 Bobo-Dioulasso 01, Burkina Faso.Courriel: [email protected])

La production de karitéLe Burkina Faso est le deuxièmeproducteur mondial de karité (appeléégalement arbre à beurre). Selon lapluviométrie, entre autres facteurs, ce petitpays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest produit de 40 000 à 80 000 tonnes d’amandes de karitépar an. Celles-ci, réputées pour leur hauteteneur en matières grasses, sont utiliséeslocalement pour la cuisine, lapharmacopée et la cosmétologie. Ellesintéressent de plus en plus les paysoccidentaux pour les soins de la peau.

Traditionnellement, ces amandes sontpressées par les femmes. Jusqu’à toutrécemment, ce travail harassants’effectuait à la main ou à l’aide de presseshydrauliques (faites de crics de camionsimportés), mal adaptées à la tâche etsouvent défectueuses. Grâce aufinancement du Centre de recherches pourle développement international (CRDI), deschercheurs burkinabé et canadiens ont misau point des presses à karité qui allègent letravail des femmes et permettentd’augmenter la productivité.

Le Gouvernement du Burkina Faso veutnotamment inciter les burkinabé à utiliserle karité comme substitut alimentaire àl’huile de palme et d’autres huilesactuellement importées du Ghana, de laCôte d’Ivoire et de la Malaisie.

Le projet karité, qui crée des emplois etprocure un revenu supplémentaire auxfemmes, contribue à la croissanceéconomique du Burkina Faso. Il devraitaussi favoriser la création d’emplois dansle secteur de l’artisanat puisque les

productrices de karité veulent modifier leconditionnement du produit en se servantdes feuilles des palmiers éventails locaux.Qui plus est, le projet a une incidencefavorable sur l’environnement car, enincitant les Burkinabé à protéger les arbresà beurre, il favorise la lutte contre ladésertification. (Source: Hélène Peronny,Le CRDI Explore, 10 mars 2006.)

POUR PLUS D’INFORMATIONS CONTACTER: Rigobert Yaméogo, directeur, Centre nationalde la recherche scientifique et technologique(CNRST), Institut de recherche en sciencesappliquées et technologiques (IRSAT); B.P. 7047Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Télécopie: +226-35-70-29; courriel: [email protected] [email protected]

CAMEROON

Meme River Forest ReserveStarting in 2006, we are working towardsthe preservation of the Meme River ForestReserve in Cameroon and seek assistancefor sponsorship of the initiative, to protectbiodiversity, halt the disappearance offorests and threatened species, andimprove the living and working conditionsof farmers within the forest reserve area.

We have recently been empowered bythe Government of Cameroon, the Ministryof Environment and Nature Protection andthe Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife as anorganization to oversee the level ofbiodiversity exploitation and destructionwithin the forest reserve in Meme division,an area of 20 000 km2. Our objectives are toconserve biodiversity, protect threatenedspecies of plants and animals, continueresearch on medicinal plants and tropicaldiseases, protect the Meme Riverwatershed, develop ecotourism potentialand arrest climate change. (Contributed by:Tcharbuahbokengo Nfinn, Director-

General, The Federation of Environmentand Ecological Diversity for AgriculturalRevampment and Human Rights (Feedar &Hr), PO Box 321, Kumba Meme Swp,Cameroon. Fax: 00237 335 41 16; e-mail:[email protected])

CANADA

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) –opportunity in Canada’s boreal forestThe Canadian northern boreal forest, likemany of the world’s great forests, offers thepromise of untapped resources andeconomic opportunity for smallmarginalized forest communities with thedevelopment of the NTFP industry. NTFPsare all the botanical and mycological speciesof the forest, excluding conventional timber.The definition in Manitoba also includesanimal products such as antlers, bones andtrap lines. The general categories of NTFPsinclude wild crafts and floral supplies, wildfoods and medicinal products.

The suggestion that NTFPs may replacetimber harvesting as an alternative source ofemployment/income for communities israther like trying to compare apples andoranges. From a Manitoba perspective, thepeople who are interested in and benefitingfrom the NTFP industry are certainly notthose currently in the timber harvestingbusiness. They tend to be those standing onthe sidelines of society as a result of manydifferent circumstances: usually lack ofeducation or lack of opportunities withintheir communities. They have been raised ina culture of traditional seasonal work and donot wish to leave their communities. Manyare trapped in the false economy of socialassistance, with no hope for the future andlittle opportunity.

In northern Manitoba there arecommunities that have watched their forestsbeing clear-cut, but have felt none of theeconomic benefits. In contrast, there is agrowing body of evidence to suggest that theNTFP industry will become an importantpart of the solution to the decades ofunemployment and poverty that haveplagued northern Canada. The NTFPindustry provides an opportunity to engage intrue sustainable forest management,benefiting both forest ecosystems and thecommunities that rely on them. NTFPs canbe managed and harvested compatibly withtimber, although more research and bettercommunication between the various industrymembers are still necessary.

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The development of the Northern ForestDiversification Centre (NFDC) began aboutsix years ago as a community developmentinitiative of the University College of theNorth (formally Keewatin CommunityCollege) based in The Pas in northernManitoba. The mission of the NFDC is towork with communities and individualsseeking to develop economic opportunitiesthat are aligned with local values and basedon local resources, for the benefit of localpeople. The Centre has identified NTFPs asa realistic and practical income-generatingopportunity that can be developed bybuilding on local skills and knowledge.Based on a system of sustainableharvesting and use, the NFDC acts as aresearch, training, marketing, sales andservice organization for the provincialNTFP industry.

The NFDC vision is an NTFP industrycomposed of a network of community-based and diverse microenterprisessupported by a twenty-first centurypackaging and marketing infrastructure.

The NFDC offers a ten-day community-based training course focusing on localresources, plant identification and basicecology, sustainable harvesting andhandling practices, aboriginal issues, low-technology value-added processing andmarketing. The training includes a flexiblecombination of classroom, field and value-added processing exercises. Additionalspeciality workshops have been developedto increase local opportunities in value-added products, such as the making ofsoap and salves, wreath making, antlerjewellery and birch bark weaving. Animportant feature of this training is thatthere is no age or education restriction andthe value-added processing opportunitiesare low technology and easily adapted byentrepreneurs residing in smallcommunities.

In 2005 the NFDC purchased andmarketed products from over 400harvesters in 25 communities. Included inthe catalogue of over 100 products are wildtea blends, skin salves, senega root,Labrador tea leaf, blue hyssop, sweetgrass, sweet gale leaf, sweet flag root,bearberry leaf, black poplar buds and highbush cranberry bark, twig and balsamwreaths, diamond willow products andantler jewellery. In addition to providingmarketing services, the NFDC assistsinterested producers in developing newproducts and helps with packaging,labelling and pricing.

The development of a sustainable NTFPindustry, however small, brings somemeasure of economy and hope for thefuture. The industry gives a renewed senseof ownership and empowerment, whichtranslates into a community-based urgencyto protect and manage the forest resourcesthat surround the communities. Forestmanagement and conservation are nowseen at the community level, with growingawareness of the many alternative andcompatible values in the boreal forest.

The NFDC will soon be pursuing acomanagement agreement with theProvince of Manitoba and the ManitobaWild Harvesters’ Cooperative (incorporatedin 2005). The NFDC is also working with theOrganic Producers Association of Manitoba(OPAM) and the Canadian Herb, Spice andNatural Health Products Coalition todevelop an organic certification and aproduct traceability process for wildharvested products. This will includeharvester certification by species,permanent identification numbers forharvesters, development and monitoring ofpermanent sample plots for each localharvester association and the enforcementby local associations of a cohesiveharvester code of ethics.

Under its current three-year fundingcontract (the Canada/Manitoba EconomicPartnership Agreement), which expires inDecember 2006, the NFDC plans to turnover the business side of the programme tothe Manitoba Wild Harvesters’ Cooperative.The Cooperative is currently pursuing ajoint venture with the new owners of thelocal wild rice processing plant, which willsee the seasonal wild rice processingoperations diversified to include a numberof other NTFP value-added processingactivities.

This emerging Manitoba NTFP industryis based on a sustainable and ethical wildharvest and is perhaps the most importantaspect of the marketing strategy. A trulysustainable NTFP industry requires notonly community-based education andtraining, but also the empowerment offorest communities to protect and managethis resource for themselves and theirchildren.

The NFDC is currently working with theCentre for Non-Timber Resources at RoyalRoads University in Victoria, BritishColumbia, to develop a Canadian NTFPnetwork. The goal of the network is toaccelerate and enhance the potential forthese resources to make a significant

contribution to the economic and socialwell-being of many rural and remotecommunities across Canada. Many of thelessons learned in Manitoba and BritishColumbia will become an important part ofthe network.

During the 1998 Minneapolis Conference“Farming the Forest for SpecialtyProducts” hosted by the University ofMinnesota, an urgent need was identified tochange the forestry curriculum inuniversities and colleges across NorthAmerica to reflect the growing importanceof NTFP values and their significance foreconomic development in marginalizedforest communities. It was also recognizedthat most current land and forestmanagers undergo a training andawareness-building process to begin tounderstand the many diversified values inthe forest.

Perhaps the time has come for theprofessional forester associations inCanada to demonstrate leadership in thisarea and implement a process to ensureforest resource managers are not missingthe forest for the trees. (Contributed by: D.Buck, Manager, Non-Timber ForestProducts, Northern Forest DiversificationCentre, Box 509, The Pas, Manitoba,Canada, R9A 1K6. Fax: +1-204-627-8686; e-mail: [email protected]; www.nfdc.ca

Christmas treesCanada’s main Christmas tree species arebalsam fir, spruce, Scots pine, lodgepolepine and Douglas fir. Some trees areharvested from natural forests whileothers, such as Scots pine, are grown onplantations.

In 2004, Christmas tree productionvolumes dropped by 3.3 percent and exportvolumes fell by 5.8 percent (see Table on p.42). The decrease in exports was probablybecause of the strong Canadian dollar,which appreciated by 7.5 percent in 2004over 2003.



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Most of Canada’s Christmas tree exportsin 2004 were from Quebec (1.2 milliontrees), Nova Scotia (0.9 million) and NewBrunswick (0.4 million). (Source: The Stateof Canada’s Forests 2005–2006.)

Centre d’expertise sur les produitsagroforestiers (CEPAF) – Centre ofExpertise for Agroforestry ProductsCEPAF’s purpose is to contribute to thesolid development of agroforestry andNWFPs within Quebec rural communitiesby offering an array of services focused onthe needs of the emerging industry foragroforestry products.

CEPAF’s list of projects in 2003–2007includes the following.

• NWFPs, an opportunity for thedevelopment of rural communities.

• Introduction of NWFPs in riparianbuffers and windbreaker hedges.

• Impact evaluation regarding theapplication of chitosan on groundhemlock plantations.

• Extensive planting of ground hemlockbanks in the yellow birch forest of thelower Saint Lawrence region.

• Productivity evaluation by hectare ofground hemlock commercialsettlements characterizing varioussites found in the lower Saint Lawrenceregion.

• Growing wild ginger for essential oil.• Introduction of ground hemlock under

forest canopy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Ms Julie Daigle, Directrice, Centre d’expertisesur les produits agroforestiers (CEPAF), 235route 230 ouest, B.P. 6, La Pocatière (Québec),G0R 1Z0 Canada. Fax: +1-(418) 856.1871; e-mail: [email protected]; www.cepaf.ca

COLOMBIA

Queen ants called the caviar of ColombiaThe people of northern Colombia have beeneating ants for centuries. They believe theaccurately named hormiga culona – big-bottom queen ant – is everything from anatural form of Viagra to a protein-richdefence against cancer.

Now the invertebrates are going global:a businessman in Santander Provinceexported more than 880 lbs (399 kg) of theinch-long (2.5 cm) queen ants last year,many of them to be hand-dipped in Belgianchocolate and sold in fancy packaging atUS$8 for a half dozen at upmarket Londondepartment stores.

But even as the delicacy begins toexpand beyond Colombia, the ants appearto be dwindling in Santander, whichworries the region’s ant-eating bipeds. Thisyear’s harvest, which usually begins aroundEaster and lasts as late as June, was one ofthe worst on record, with peasants inBarichara reporting half their normalyear’s haul.

Entomologists say the winter wasunusually harsh and spring rains were late,which may have disturbed the virgin queenants’ nuptial flights – the one time a yearwhen they emerge from their dune-like anthills to seek a mate and form a new colony.Almost as often, the queens are snatchedby lizards, birds or humans.

Expanding fields of beans, tomatoes andtobacco have also replaced the region’s lastremaining wilderness and farmersconsider the leaf-cutting ants – the speciesAtta laevigata – to be serious pests.

Andres Santamaria has been given a $40 000 grant from Santander’sgovernment to develop an environmentallysustainable, export-oriented programmefor breeding the ants. Whatever the localconditions, overseas demand by itself willnot endanger the ant supply, say thoseinvolved in the trade.

In Colombia, people generally toast theants in salt at community gatherings andeat them as a snack. But there isinnovation. Restaurants in Barichara offeran ant-based spread for bread and an ant-flavoured lamb sauce.

Stuffed tortilla “atta wraps” headed themenu at a recent tasting at the MontrealInsectarium, an insect museum in Canada.“In France, they’re so highly regarded thatpeople started calling them the caviar ofSantander,” said the curator at themuseum.

Edible, a United Kingdom novelty foodbrand sold about 220 lbs (99.8 kg) of the

ants last year, most of them dipped inchocolate, along with other specialitiessuch as lollipops with scorpions inside.

During harvest time in Santander, antsare sold by the bagful at almost everyroadside stop. But although relativelyabundant, they are not cheap – costing asmuch as $11 per pound (0.45 kg).

The culona is a source of regional pride,its image gracing everything from the logoof a long-distance bus company to theprovincial La Culona lottery. (Source:Associated Press [in Houston Chronicle(United States)], 12 August 2006.)

COSTA RICA

New postage stamps feature indigenousforest fruitsNon-wood forest products are the subjectof three colourful new postage stampsissued by Costa Rica in October 2006. Thethree indigenous forest fruits featured arethe guapinol (Hymenaea courbaril), jorco(Garcinia intermedia) and achiote (Bixaorelana). (Source: www.elmundoforestal.com/filatelia/)

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICOF THE CONGO

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has100 million ha of rain forest of which 20million are subject to industrial timberlicences and 9 million allocated to parksand nature reserves. Of the remaining 71million, the uninhabited parts may beattributed to timber companies and theinhabited parts returned to localcommunities for livelihood purposes. Inaddition, the Democratic Republic has 45million ha of miombo and deciduousforests that are also subject to logging,much of it illegal, as well as to preservationmeasures and use for rural livelihoods.

Ecotourism earned tens of millions ofdollars for the Treasury during the 1980s

Christmas trees Million dollars Million trees Annual change (%)2004 One year Ten years

Production 62.2 3.9 -3.3 -0.3Exports 36.2 2.5 -5.8 1.6Domestic consumption 29.4 1.7 -0.5 -2.7

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but yearly park revenues are now down to atrickle of several hundred thousand. Theindustrial production potential of the lowaltitude rain forests is estimated at 6million m3 per year but the volume officiallydeclared has never exceeded 0.5 million m3

and even fell to 0.1 million m3 during therecent war. At present, the volumeproduced by the informal sector amountsto 1.5–2.4 million m3, achieved by 8 000small operators known as craft sawyers.The majority of rural and urban householdsuse wood for cooking. It is estimated thatwood provides 80 percent of domesticenergy, representing 6 million m3.

The forest is also the habitat thatprovides 1.1–1.7 million tonnes ofbushmeat and unknown volumes ofmushrooms, caterpillars, roots, tubers andmedicinal plants. Rain forest, miombo anddeciduous systems all suffer fromoverexploitation and destruction.

The 1949 forestry law primarilyregulated timber exploitation. In 1999, FAOprovided technical assistance for thedrafting of a modern code that waspromulgated in August 2002. It has threeobjectives: ecological preservation,sustainable timber production andsustainable rural livelihoods. To reachthese objectives it defines two types ofstatus: gazetted forests and “protected”ones. The gazetted status concerns forestsof overriding ecological and environmentalvalue, while the “protected” status isreserved for forests that may be allocatedfor purposes of rural livelihood or timberproduction.

EEccoollooggiiccaall pprreesseerrvvaattiioonn.. Article 14 of the2002 law states that 15 percent of thenational territory must be covered bygazetted forests. There are four maincategories of protected areas in theDemocratic Republic: national parks (ninesites), game reserves (one site), forestreserves (seven sites) and farming reserves(two sites). Other designations includeareas set aside for scientific research or ashunting zones and nature reserves. Theexisting protected area network covers anestimated 195 426 km2 (8 percent of theland area). National parks, faunal reservesand game reserves are managed by theCongo Institute for Nature Conservation(ICCN), which also manages scientificresearch. The EU is assisting a reform thatwill allow private-public partnerships formanagement purposes.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo isopening up to new ways of giving economic

value to its environmental services, such asbioprospecting and the prototype carbonfund.

CCoommmmuunniittyy ffoorreessttrry. Article 22 statesthat local communities may ask to obtainall or part of the forests that werecontrolled under customary law. The articlereinstates historic rights that, from thepoint of view of the local communities, wentunrecognized by the Congolese state.Implementation of this article is much indemand by the inhabitants, yet so far noforest has been returned to the control ofany local community. The only proximateexceptions are two “community” reservesthat were instituted in 2006, which have asmain objectives the preservation of gorillasand other wildlife. Implementation ofarticle 22 would bring the decentralizationof forest governance and management thatis necessary, in the context of theDemocratic Republic, to safeguard theforest cover. It could also improve theeconomic welfare of its inhabitants.(Source: extracted from a debriefingpresentation by Ad Spijkers, departing FAORepresentative, Democratic Republic of theCongo, October 2006.)

EL SALVADOR

Bioproducts of El Salvador es una empresaque se especializa en un producto noconvencional. Esta compañía críamariposas de distintos tipos para exportarsus larvas a Estados Unidos y Canadá. Esun nuevo nicho de mercado para lasdinámicas exportaciones salvadoreñas.(Fuente: La Prensa, 19 de junio 2006.)

ETHIOPIA

Delivery contract for dry raw bambooLand and Sea Development-Ethiopia Plc(LSDE) has announced a five-year US$136million contract agreement providing forthe sale and delivery of dry raw bambooand eucalyptus forest material andproducts to its clients – pulp and papermills in India.

During the contract time, LSDE will selland deliver approximately 30 000 tonnes ofthe agroforestry products, whosedevelopment sites are in the Benshangul-Gumuz and Amhara states.

The company’s president said that thecompany would be harvesting and replantingbamboo and hybrid eucalyptus and other

non-wood crops that could be used in pulpand paper manufacturing. The project wouldbe the first of its kind in Africa. (Source: TheEthiopian Herald, 23 May 2006.)

FRANCE

Trouble flares as mushroom rustlers stalkcountrysideGuards are being employed in the Frenchcountryside to protect wild mushroomsamid pitched battles between pickerssalivating over the best harvest in livingmemory.

Many mayors have introduced licencesthat authorize local people to search formushrooms but ban outsiders. The systemis gaining ground after sun and rainproduced ideal conditions for ceps,chanterelles, Craterellus cornucopioidesand other wild mushrooms.

With France gripped by what onecommentator described as “la folie deschampignons”, guards are being paid topatrol woods in search of unauthorizedpickers. Several dozen people are beinginvestigated by the state prosecutionservice on suspicion of mushroom theftand breaking the French Forestry Code.They face fines of up to €300, although thepenalty can rise to €1 500 for professionaltraffickers.

Pierre Dulong, the Mayor of Ligardesvillage in the Gers Département insouthwest France, said he pioneered themushroom licensing system after thecommune’s forests were invaded by “lesurbains”.

Eric Cusson, who heads a team ofguards in southwest France, said that manyrural councils had followed M. Dulong’slead. “More and more mayors, as well asprivate landowners, are using our services

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because they are fed up with people pickingmushrooms on their land,” he said. “Youfind refrigerated lorries bottling themushrooms by the side of the woods readyto sell them to restaurants – and that reallyirks the landowners.”

About 120 companies trade in wildmushrooms in France, paying pickers tofind between 5 000 and 10 000 tonnes ayear. (Source: The Times Online [UnitedKingdom], 10 October 2006.)

GHANA

Developing alternative sources of incomefor forest-dependent communitiesForest fringe communities in Ghana, whichare constrained by poverty, rely heavily onforest resources to satisfy presentlivelihood needs. In satisfying these needs,however, they apparently give littleconsideration to the future. This threatensthe goal of sustainable forest management.TBI-Ghana (Tropenbos International-Ghana) believes the solution lies incombining awareness raising with thedevelopment of sustainable (forest-based)livelihood opportunities for thesecommunities.

TBI-Ghana has developed variousactivities with local communities to reducepoverty and sustainable dependence onforests. An alternative livelihood project,carried out in collaboration with the localNGO Rural Development Youth Association,supported rural communities in developinggrasscutter farms as an alternative todependence on bushmeat. Grasscuttersare rodents that can be easily raised andsold, as they are a preferred source ofprotein locally. (Source: Tropenbos AnnualReport 2005.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: TBI-Ghana, PO Box UP 982, KNUST, Kumasi,Ghana. Fax: +233-5161376; e-mail:[email protected](Please see p. 27 for more information ongrasscutter farming in Ghana.)

Don’t promote other economic trees atshea’s expenseA senior lecturer at the University ofDevelopment Studies has expressedconcern over the rate at which shea treesare being destroyed to make land availablefor the cultivation of other economic treessuch as cashew and mango. Dr JoshuaAdam Yidana warned that if measures were

not taken to check the practice, a timewould come when the country would not beable to meet international demand for sheabutter. Dr Yidana was speaking at aninterregional conference on thedevelopment of the shea industry inTamale, northern Ghana.

Dr Yidana said the country had a totalpopulation of 94 million shea trees, whichproduced about 150 tonnes of shea butter.Sixty percent of the shea butter produced isused internally while 25 percent isexported. He also said that more than 2.5million tonnes of shea nuts producedworldwide were used for the production ofcosmetics, pharmaceuticals, confectioneryand edible fats. He added that, unlike cocoaand other products, which had syntheticsubstitutes, the shea nut tree had nosubstitute; moreover, consumers nowpreferred organic or natural products.

The northern regional ministeracknowledged the economic importance ofthe shea tree in the lives of rural womenand emphasized the determination of thegovernment to provide support for thegrowth of the shea industry in northernGhana. (Source: Gye Nyame Concord[Ghana], 29 March 2006.)

Voacanga africana – the plant with thepotential to boost Ghana’s foreignexchange earningsGhana is to supply over US$6 million worthof Voacanga africana, the country’s leadingmedicinal plant export product, to majorimporters from Europe and China in 2006.

Mr Samuel Kwame Agyei, President ofthe Botanical Products Association ofGhana (BOTPAG) said that the plant, whichgrows in six regions – eastern, Volta,central, western, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti– had an active principal ingredient usedfor memory enhancement in majorWestern countries.

Although the medicinal plant providedemployment and income for more than 8 000 collectors, the practice ofuncoordinated harvesting posed a threat tothe benefits that could accrue toindividuals, companies and the nation as awhole. Mr Agyei said that farmers in the sixregions had begun harvesting the seedsprematurely, ahead of the upcomingharvesting season, which commences inJuly. He said low-quality control protocolsand assurance systems and lack ofregulation could result in the supply ofsubstandard products to the world market.BOTPAG has scheduled a series of

sensitization programmes to educatefarmers about harvesting practices andother quality control measures.

Export earnings from natural plantshave increased from $300 000 in the 1990sto the current $4 million.

Plant medicine remains a priority sinceabout 65 percent of developing countries(according to a World Health Organizationreport) rely on it for treatment; hence theneed for the government to support theindustry. (Source: Accra Daily Mail, 15 June2006.)

INDIA

Exotic mushroom yield dips and prices rise The prices of a rare and wild Himalayanmushroom that is a much exporteddelicacy have gone up sharply to as muchas Rs5 000/kg as a result of low yield thisyear.

Locally called guchhi, this wildmushroom is found in the damp and darkforests of Himachal Pradesh at heights of 1 800–3 000 m above sea level. The muchsought-after wild mushroom (it cannot becultivated) begins to sprout in spring andcontinues to do so until early summer inthe highlands of Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur,Sirmaur, Chamba and Mandi districts.Some determined guchhi hunters go awayfor weeks to scour the mountains andvalleys for guchhi before returning withtheir collection. They sell the greymushroom at high prices in Shimla,Chandigarh and Delhi markets. One guchhimerchant in Shimla said that hunters oftensend it to Delhi from where much of it isexported to Europe and the United Stateswhile the rest is used by luxury hotels.

According to government officials, theproduction of guchhi mushroom in thestate varies between 2 000 and 5 000 kg.But this year, the yield is expected to beone of the lowest. (Source: NewKerala.com[India], 21 May 2006.)

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Sunderban – repository of NWFPsSunderban is a land mass criss-crossedwith numerous rivers, creeks and channelsand includes the single largest chunk ofmangrove forest in India. Because of theuniqueness and richness of its biodiversity,it enjoys the status of a World Heritage site.It is also home to the royal Bengal tiger.

It is a source of livelihood for the poorvillagers who live on the northern outskirtsof this biosphere reserve. Among thevariety of NWFPs available, honey and fishare the most important. Minor forestproducts (MFPs) specifically include grass,fruit, leaves, bark, exudates, animalproducts, soil and minerals; in short, MFPscover all animal, vegetable and mineralproducts other than wood found andcollected mainly in forest regions.

HHoonneeyy aanndd wwaaxx.. Nectar is composedchiefly of sucrose with some fructose andglucose. It is used as food by bees andsome of it is stored as honey after partialdigestion. Honey contains 70–75 percent

invert sugar (a mixture of dextrose andlevulose), together with proteins, mineralsalts and water. Besides its consumptionas food, honey is used in Indian medicine.Honey is provided by the wild bee Apisdorsata (rock bee) and the domesticatedApis indica (Indian bee). A wild single combcan yield up to 35 kg honey and 1 kg wax.

HHoonneeyy ccoolllleeccttiioonn iinn SSuunnddeerrbbaann.. Honeycollection is allowed only within the bufferzone leaving the area of the SajnekhaliWildlife Sanctuary and permits are issuedto the traditional Moulis with registeredboats. The collection of honey is regulatedas per requirement allowing a fixed tariffper unit weight to the honey collector forthe collection of honey and wax.

At present the honey is being purchasedin bulk by the West Bengal ForestDevelopment Corporation Ltd (WBFDC), onwhose behalf the local range officers issuecollection permits to the honey collectors.The WBFDC takes the honey to its filtrationunit in Calcutta and subsequently marketsthe filtered honey.

Honey collection is a dangerous practicesince collectors quite frequently fall prey totigers. The high casualty figures of honeycollectors (56 dead and 11 injured from1985 to 2003) are cause for reflection. Themanagement strategy should be to reducehoney collection gradually and the use ofmusk, tiger guard and other protectivemeasures should be enforced so that thecasualty figure is minimized.

The quantity of honey and beeswax,together with the total revenue obtained inthe Sundarban Tiger Reserve are given inthe Table below.

The author is grateful to Shri A.K. Raha,Director of the Sunderban BiosphereReserve for providing this crucialinformation. (Contributed by: S.K. Singh,Forest Survey of India, Kaulagarh Road,PO-IPE, Dehra Dun 248195, Uttaranchal,India. E-mail: [email protected])

Fibre houses to provide relief in KargilA wonder product made of bamboo and jutenatural fibre will now help schoolchildrenin Kargil to attend classes comfortably,even when it is freezing outside.

The innovative combination has beendeveloped by A B Composites Ltd in asmall-scale industrial unit on the outskirtsof Kolkata. The product not only controlstemperature but is also resistant totermites, fire and acid and even blocksharmful ultraviolet rays. Furthermore, it isearthquake-proof. Its light weight and itsstrength have made it an obvious choice forrelief shelters in the tsunami-hitAndamans. And the company is alreadyworking on 10 000 of these shelters. Thisinnovation has won the National Award forResearch and Development. (Source:NDTV.com [India], 4 June 2006.)

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

Export of aromatic and medicinal plantsdown 9.7 percentSome 6 997 tonnes of aromatic andmedicinal plants, valued at US$36.37million, were exported from the IslamicRepublic of Iran in the first four months ofthe current Iranian year (21March –22July).

This showed a 9.7 percent decrease interms of weight compared with thecorresponding period the previous year. Italy,Taiwan Province of China, the United ArabEmirates, Pakistan and Germany were themain importers of these plants during thisperiod. Saffron ($27.5 million), caraway($2.52 million), tobacco ($1.95 million),liquorice and coriander accounted for themajor part of the exported volume. (Source:MehrNews.com [Islamic Republic of Iran], 3September 2006.)

Year Total honey Total revenue Total beeswax Total revenue collected (kg) received (Rs) collected (kg) received (Rs)

1984–85 61 560 696 040.3 4 045.5 264 780.61985–86 77 575.5 543 114.63 5 087.575 226 366.41986–87 47 016.5 178 334.02 2 962.75 141 231.721987–88 43 489.4 264 901.7 2 550.45 6 516.41988–89 55 295 275 805.41 3 135.05 –1989–90 3 585 19 703.58 231.8 35 567.21990–91 13 877 55 550.8 858.25 320 380.981991–92 29 669 107 034 1 776.6 114 979.051992–93 49 442 193 226.1 2 991.27 7 4491993–94 57 304.4 354 353 3 299.6 416 213.41994–95 28 825 526 957 1 580.85 –1995–96 26 850 532 578.5 1 258.6 108 5571996–97 32 400 380 603.4 1 858.6 290 224.51997–98 44 700 134 100 2 682.4 –1998–99 39 400 118 200 1 994 178 7501999–2000 39 600 118 800 1 700.1 149 730

Honey and beeswax in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve, 1984–2000

Source: WBFDC.

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ITALY

Import and export figures for mushroomsand trufflesA recent dossier prepared by Alberi eTerritorio focused on mushrooms andtruffles, both of which have an importantcultural and economic role in Italian society.

Import and export figures for 2002 to 2004showed that, although Italy produces“hundreds of thousands” of mushrooms andtruffles, they are not sufficient to meetnational demand. In fact, Italy importsoverall more of these products than itexports, with 2004 figures showing importsof fresh or refrigerated fungi of 13 127 382kg (with a commercial value of €77 646 616)compared with exports of 3 057 429 kg (€29 421 497). Dried fungi also follow this trend with 2 171 646 kg imported (€33 552 572) and 747 959 kg (€10 319 850)exported, with most of these importsincreasingly coming from China.

Fresh or refrigerated truffles are theexception, however, with 4 778 kg beingimported in 2004 compared with 41 764 kgexported (€883 172 and €10 784 128,respectively). (Source: Alberi e Territorio,12, 2005.)

Essential oil – mugolioMugolio is an essential oil derived fromPinus mugo and can be considered a goodexample of integrated development at theterritorial level. The local action group

(financed by EU “Leader +” project funds) forthe development of the Sarentino valley inthe Alto Adige region of northeastern Italy,has promoted mugolio, which has resultedin the project’s economic advantage in thecosmetic and tourist sectors.

The product is also certified by theProgramme for the Endorsement of ForestCertification schemes (PEFC) because theoil is extracted from certified mugo pineforests, which is a guarantee of thesustainability and traceability of the source.(Source: Alberi e Territorio, 4–5, 2006.)

JAPAN

JICA official upbeat about AfricaThe baobab tree is a symbol of the vastprairies of Africa. The jam made from itsfruit is unique in its soft, sweet and sourtaste. Tsuneo Kurokawa believes that peoplewill buy it. As the founding director of theJapan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) department in charge of the Africanregion, Kurokawa is responsible for the“one-product-for-each-village campaign” inAfrica. The campaign is the flagship of JICA’sAfrica assistance programme, designed tohelp communities beat poverty.

Last month, Kurokawa asked all JICAoffices in Africa to suggest products thatcould be promoted in the campaign. Forty-five products from seven countries wererecommended, mostly based on suggestionsfrom members of Japan OverseasCooperation Volunteers, sent by JICA andworking in rural provinces.

Honey from mangrove forests in Senegal,pink pepper from Madagascar and furnitureand leatherwork from Ethiopia are just a fewof the suggested products.

Kurokawa is now in the process ofpromoting these products with help from theJapan External Trade Organization, agovernment-sponsored trade promoter.

Thirty-four of the 48 sub-Saharancountries are classified as the “leastdeveloped among developing countries”.Forty percent of the people in thesecountries live on less than US$1/day.Government-to-government aid alone hasnot been able to bring about change topoverty there, as armed conflict and coupattempts continued in many of these nationsfollowing their independence. “We want todevelop products that would sell not only inJapan or Western nations but also in theircountries of origin and neighbouringcountries,” Kurokawa said.

Moisturizing cream made in Ghana fromshea butter is already on sale and proving tobe popular in Japan. Kurokawa dreams ofprosperity for the vast African continent andis determined to help make it come true withthis campaign. (Source: The Daily Yomiuri[Japan], 9 September 2006.)

Designation of locust trees as dangerousspecies threatens the honey industryBeekeepers are worried that locust trees,famous for their flowers producing high-quality honey, may be designated as aharmful alien species that threatens thehabitat of local trees under a newly enactedlaw, industry sources said. “If designated, itcould force more than half of the beekeepersin the country to give up their livelihoods,”said Japan Beekeeping Association SeniorManaging Director Katsutoshi Tanioku.

The locust tree is a broadleaf tree thatcomes from North America and wasintroduced to Japan during the early Meijiera. About half of the 2 311 tonnes of honeyproduced in Japan in 2004 were taken fromlocust tree flowers. In particular, beekeepersin eastern Japan rely heavily on locust treesfor their production of honey.

However, the Ministry of the Environmentput the locust tree on a list of dangerousspecies in August 2005 on the grounds that itis highly prolific and could endanger thehabitats of Japanese trees. The law prohibitsanyone to grow the designated alien speciesand urges that it be removed. “It hasn’t beendecided whether it will be designated as aharmful alien species. Even if it isdesignated, it’s legally non-binding,” aMinistry of the Environment official said.

However, the environment division of theNiigata prefectural government said that itwill cut down locust trees if they aredesignated by law as harmful alien species.(Source: Mainichi Daily News [Japan], 18July 2006.)

LAO PEOPLE’SDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

Forest-based ecotourism“The current and potential contribution offorest-based ecotourism to povertyalleviation in Laos” will shortly bepublished as a working paper by FAO’sForest Economics and Policy Division.

This report presents the results of asmall survey of visitors to the Lao People’sDemocratic Republic. The aim of the surveywas to estimate the total and potential

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ALBERI E TERRITORIO

Alberi e Territorio (Trees and territory)is a magazine that covers the scientific,technical and cultural aspects ofsustainable management of theenvironment. Although published inItalian, there are short Englishabstracts. There are eight issues peryear and in 2004 the magazinesubstituted Monti e Boschi (Mountainsand woods), which had been publishedsince 1930.

For more information and to receive in pdf

the articles referred to in this section, please

contact: Antonio Brunori, Editor, Alberi e

Territorio, Il Sole 24 Ore Editoria Specializzata

Srl, Via Goito 13, 40126 Bologna, Italy.

E-mail: [email protected]

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number of visitors to rural ecotourism sitesin the country, their interests and activitiesduring visits, their expenditure during visitsand the contribution that this expendituremight make to rural incomes and povertyalleviation.

The results suggest that a total of 81 000people may visit rural ecotourism sites inthe country each year. They make around154 000 visits (or 226 000 visitor days) andspend a total of US$14.2 million duringtheir visits. The contribution of thisexpenditure to rural income is difficult toassess, but it is suggested that about half($7.1 million) might benefit people living inrural areas. This would be equal to 0.4percent of total rural income at the nationallevel. However, the number of ecotourismsites is currently quite small, suggestingthat this expenditure accounts for aconsiderably greater proportion of ruralincome in these areas.

Because of the very small sample size inthis survey, the estimates presented aboveare not very precise. The report makes anumber of suggestions as to how thisinformation could be improved in thefuture. Another source of imprecision is thedefinition of ecotourism. The figurespresented here are much lower thansimilar figures in national tourismstatistics, but it is believed that theyrepresent a more restrictive definition ofecotourism (i.e. rural or forest-basedecotourism) that is more useful for thepurpose of this study.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Adrian Whiteman, Senior Forestry Officer(Economic Analysis), Forest Economics andPolicy Division, Forestry Department, FAO, Vialedelle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy. E-mail: [email protected]

NTFP use and household food security inthe Lao People’s Democratic RepublicRecent field surveys have revealed the highproportion and variety of gathered forestproducts in the daily diet of rural Laofamilies. Over 450 of these edible NTFPshave been recorded so far: edible shootsand other vegetables, fruits, tubers,mushrooms, small water animals, wildlife,etc. The diversity of NTFPs consumedreflects the rich agricultural biodiversity ofthe rural landscape in the Lao People’sDemocratic Republic.

The direct contribution of NTFPs to foodsecurity in valuation studies isapproximately 50 percent compared with

that of rice, the staple food; together thesefoods make up around 80 percent of thetotal value of family subsistenceexpenditure. NTFPs also contributeindirectly to food security, as they can besold to buy rice in times of shortage. NTFPsare estimated to contribute 40–50 percentof the cash income of Lao rural households.A similar amount of 50 percent of averagehousehold cash income is used to buy rice(more for the poorer families). NTFPs aretherefore the most important safety net orcoping strategy for the rural poor in the LaoPeople’s Democratic Republic.

The availability of this safety net isdeclining alarmingly with rapiddeforestation for timber logging andconversion of forests to agriculture. Thechallenge is to adopt land use systems thatwill keep enough forests in the landscapeand allow access to forest resources for thepoor. Another option is to domesticate wildspecies in agroforestry systems andgardens. Many examples can be found oflocal farmers experimenting with ways togrow wild plants. Lao forest foods also havea potential in niche markets for the exportof gourmet foods.

Awareness-raising strategies could beapplied to maintain popular pride in thisrich cultural tradition of such a diverserange of natural food products. (Source:abstract of a paper prepared by JoostFoppes and Sounthone Ketphanh, ForestResearch Centre and SNV, the NetherlandsDevelopment Organization, for the NationalAgriculture and Forestry Research Institute(NAFRI)/FAO EM-1093 Symposium onBiodiversity for Food Security, Vientiane, 14October 2004.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACTTHE AUTHORS AT: SNV, the NetherlandsDevelopment Organization, PO Box 9781,Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Experiences with market development ofNTFPs in the Lao People’s DemocraticRepublicSome 70 percent of Lao people live inupland communities. Marketing of NTFPsis their main source of cash income, mostof which is used to buy rice, since riceshortages are a key issue in uplandlivelihoods. Consequently, the marketing ofNTFPs is directly linked to food security.

The key trend in NTFP marketing is anincreased demand from cross-border

markets (China, Viet Nam, Thailand). Thisleads to rapid depletion of some productsfrom the forests (e.g. rattan, orchids andbark products). It also leads to more conflictsamong communities on the use of commonforest resources. Many local initiatives existto increase production of NTFPs in gardens.

Yet income from NTFP marketing does notincrease. There is a lack of governmentregulations on NTFP trade to support privatesector development. Prices remain lowbecause products are mainly sold raw, sincethere are few initiatives to add value throughquality improvement or processing.Information on quality criteria or processingmethods is not available. There are nosystems for capturing and disseminatingmarket information.

The Lao Government and various foreigndonor-supported projects are helping localinitiatives to link farmers to markets,manage common forest resources in acontext of participatory land use planningand promote domestication of NTFPs. Somegood examples exist of organizing clusters ofupland communities to cooperate with theprivate sector in setting up more efficientand profitable marketing systems.

Following are typical NTFPs exportedfrom the Lao People’s DemocraticRepublic, with an estimate of the exportvolume per product per year.• Broom grass (Thysanolaema maxima),

exported to Thailand to make brooms,200 tonnes/year

• Sweet palm (Arenga westerhouttii)fruits, exported to Thailand to makesweets, 600 tonnes/year

• Paper mulberry (Broussonetiapapyrifera), exported to Thailand tomake paper, 500 tonnes/year

• Benzoin (Styrax tonkinensis), exportedto France for the perfume industry, 50tonnes/year

• Peuak meuak (Boehmeria malabarica),exported to China to make glue andjoss sticks, 700 tonnes/year

• Eaglewood (Aquilaria sp.), exported tothe Middle East as incense, 20tonnes/year

• Bitter bamboo (Indosasa chinensis),exported to China as fresh edibleshoots, 200 tonnes/year

• Cardamom (Amomum sp.). exported toChina as medicine, 500 tonnes/year



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Recently, the various stakeholders in theNTFP subsector have started to draw upagreements on how to develop NTFP marketinformation systems (MIS) at the provinciallevel. A national taskforce has just started todevelop an MIS at the national level.

At all these levels there is an urgent needto establish partnerships with organizationsin China, Viet Nam and Thailand, to collectand disseminate NTFP market information.(Source: abstract of a paper prepared byJoost Foppes and SouvanphengPhommasane, NTFP advisers, andpresented at the International Workshop onMarket Development for Improving theUpland Poor’s Livelihood Security, Kunming,China, 30 August to 2 September 2005,organized by the Centre for CommunityDevelopment Studies.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACTTHE AUTHORS AT: SNV, the NetherlandsDevelopment Organization, PO Box 9781,Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic.E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

MALAYSIA

Production of gaharuResearchers are looking at variousinducement techniques to produce aromaticgaharu on a commercial scale. The ForestResearch Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) beganresearch in the late 1990s following a surgein market demand for the resin and it is stillrefining its inoculation technique.

Based on anecdotes from Orang Aslicollectors, researchers deliberately woundthe tree trunk and, indeed, gaharu has beenproduced in varying degrees of formation,suggesting that it can be induced in standingAquilaria trees by artificial means. However,the grade obtained was inconsistent.

Over 100 Aquilaria malaccensis saplingswere planted on a 1-ha trial plot at theInstitute’s research station at Bukit Haribetween 1998 and 2000. Artificialinducement was carried out after threeyears but the trees did not respond.

FRIM research coordinator Dr Chang YuShyun suspects that the trees were notmature enough to produce the resin. “Innature, when a branch or twig is broken, thewound attracts bacteria, fungi andpathogens. In gaharu-producing speciessuch as Aquilaria, the tree will produce theresin to contain the infection fromspreading, covering the wound andblackening the whitish heartwood. That’show gaharu is produced.”

The senior research officer in thebiotechnology division says the researchinitially focused on inoculation trials butlater expanded to cover the biologicalaspect, economic value, trade and chemicalanalysis of the fragrant resin.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Institute ofNuclear Technology (MINT) has appliednuclear irradiation technology to mass-produce plantlets via tissue culture. Seedswere screened for fast-growth and single-bole characteristics at the cellular level andlead researcher Dr Rusli Ibrahim claims hehas found the secret formula after one yearof experimentation. Five hundred plantletsare growing in a trial plot near Dengkil. Ruslisays two other research groups will look forsuitable antagonists to induce the tree andthe best extraction technique to yield oil ofthe desired chemical composition.

MINT has submitted four fundingproposals under the Ninth Malaysian Plan tosupport the research work which will alsoinclude developing a standard gradingsystem for woodchips and oil extracts.(Source: Malaysia Star, 15 August 2006.)

Malaysian herbal market worth over US$2billion by 2010The local herbal market in Malaysia isexpected to reach US$2.16 billion by 2010,the Deputy Natural Resources andEnvironment Minister said. The herbalmarket, which is currently worth $1.03billion, is anticipated to grow at an annualgrowth rate of between 15 and 20 percent.

The government has identified medicinalplants as huge potential assets that willgenerate economic growth for the country.The Deputy Minister urged researchers,academicians and industry operators toseize the opportunity by stepping up theirresearch and development activities to

produce new medicines and market themworldwide.

According to a World Bank report, theinternational herbal medicine market isexpected to reach $5 trillion in 2050 with anannual growth rate of between 10 and 20percent. (Source: People’s Daily Online[China], 13 September 2006.)

MÉXICO

Cada año México pierde una inmensariqueza ecológica Según el grupo ecologista Greenpeace, ladestrucción ecológica de los ecosistemasde México representa pérdidasequivalentes a unos 750 000 millones depesos (unos 67 000 millones de dólares),que equivale al 10 por ciento del PIB.

Greenpeace recordó que México es el paíscon mayor número de especies de pinos,encinos, cactáceas y reptiles del mundo, elsegundo en mamíferos y el cuarto enanfibios. Cada año se pierden 600 000hectáreas de bosques, Los manglares, delos que se destruyen 22 000 hectáreasanuales, amortiguan los impactos dehuracanes, evitan la erosión y es el área dedesove del 70 por ciento de especies depesca. (Fuente: La Prensa, 5 de junio 2006.)

NEPAL

Increasing rural incomes through ademand-driven programme approach Business Development Services-Marketing,Production and Services (BDS-MaPS),Nepal, was developed by InternationalDevelopment Enterprises and acomplementary set of strong partners(Winrock International, Lotus Opportunities,the Asia Network for Sustainable Agricultureand Bioresources [ANSAB] and WWF) withextensive experience in businessdevelopment services in the non-timberforest product (NTFP), spice and high-valuecrop sectors.

The prime programme objectives of BDS-MaPS are to raise income in rural Nepalthrough interventions aimed at increasingthe production, processing and sale ofNTFPs, spices and high-value agriculturalproducts. The project target is to increasethe income of 9 000 direct and 13 000 indirectbeneficiary households impacting over 115000 people in Maoist-affected districts. Theprogramme is focused on helpingparticipating landless community forest

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users, smallholders and micro- and smallenterprises to increase their incomes fromthe collection, cultivation and sale of NTFPs,spices and high-value agriculturecommodities in local, national, regional andinternational markets. The project aims toincrease incomes by at least US$125 peryear per family.

In its first 15 months, BDS-MaPS workedto enable 2 632 direct beneficiaryhouseholds (15 790 people) and 5 575indirect beneficiary ones (33 450 people).

WWhhyy wwee aarree tthheerree.. NTFPs, spices andhigh-value agriculture commodities areamong the most important resources ofNepal and directly connected with the dailylivelihood of the rural poor. They couldrepresent Nepal’s high potential products tobe equitably used for rural incomegeneration. Other resource-poor people, e.g.the landless and deprived, could alsobecome involved in NTFP business throughthe community forestry activities withincommunity forest user groups. Furthermore,BDS-MaPS has been able to involve, despitethe ongoing political conflicts in the country,the seven districts of the far western, mid-western and western development regionsof Nepal, where poverty is rampant. NTFPresources are yet to be fully commercializedto maximize benefits for the poor; povertythat has given rise to the conditions thathave allowed insurgency to develop.

PPrroojjeecctt aaccttiivviittiieess• Action by BDS-MaPS to take supply

chain development to build up thecapacity of service providers, smallfarmers, collectors, traders and agro-input suppliers, in order to provide thenecessary inputs of embeddedknowledge and services.

• Market development focused oncoordinating local communities to carryout an organized trade of NTFPs, spicesand high-value crops.

• Development of local enterprises. • Social mobilization for sustainable

harvesting and equitable trade ofnaturally occurring NTFPs andagricultural extension for the cultivationof NTFPs, spices and high-value crops insuitable community forest user groupand private land.

• Focusing an awareness on creating newopportunities and market linkages forproducts.

• Training programmes for gender anddisadvantaged groups focused onenterprise development and economicempowerment.

• Awareness raising at local, regionaland national levels for the policyadvocacy related to NTFP development.

• Assistance to government programmesin building capacity to enhance BDSapproach with public goods, includingmarketing infrastructure,dissemination of NTFP priceinformation, adaptive research andpublic policy.

BDS-MaPS has successfully completedits second year. The supply chaindevelopment to build up the capacity ofservice providers, small farmers,community forest user groups, collectors,traders and agro-input suppliers forbusiness development has beenestablished in 12 pockets across sevendistricts. BDS-MaPS has set up trainingworkshops, field tours and meetings for13 129 beneficiaries. Over 5 272 (40.15percent) participants were women and 1 881(14.32 percent) participants weredisadvantaged groups.

BDS-MaPS has also helped 8 207households to increase their incomethrough cultivation, production and marketlinkages, despite the insurgency. It hasincreased the average income of thesefamilies by about 83 percent in 15 months.BDS-MaPS has established 303 serviceproviders working with beneficiaries. Sixtrade networks – one for each district –have been established. BDS-MaPS hasworked closely with governmental andnon-governmental agencies in production,cultivation and marketing and in makingnecessary policy reforms. (Contributed by:P. Maharjan, BDS-MaPS, Nepal.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Pradip Maharjan, Marketing Team Leader, BDS-MaPS, NTPFs: Herbs and SpicesDevelopment Project, Bakhundole, Lalitpur, PO Box 2674, Kathmandu, Nepal. E-mail:[email protected]; BobNanes, e-mail: [email protected] or Luke A.Colavito, e-mail: [email protected]

NEW ZEALAND

Seeds sown for new Maori garden(recognition of Maori traditionalknowledge)The rain came down in buckets at HamiltonGardens as a carved gateway, the firststage in the city’s $2 million pre-EuropeanMaori garden, was opened on 20 July 2006.And that was a good sign that the Maori had

got it right with the design, Nga ManaToopu spokesman Wiremu Puke told thecrowd that turned up for the officialopening.

The Te Parapara Garden, whencompleted in three years, will be the first torecreate traditional Maori gardeningpractices. The project aims to reconstructMaori garden features and carvedstructures that were present along theWaikato River between 1840 and 1850.

The challenge now is to raise the moneyneeded to build the garden. The TeParapara Garden Trust has the job ofworking with key sponsor Wel Energy Trustto advance the project. (Source: WaikatoTimes [New Zealand], 21 July 2006.)

NICARAGUA

Nace cooperativa de artesanía de pinoMas de 54 mujeres de diversascomunidades indígenas del municipio deSan José de Cusmapa en el departamentode Madriz, crearon recientemente unacooperativa de servicios múltiples paracompetir en el mercado nacional einternacional con la venta de sus productosartesanales. Las piezas (canastas, floreros,maceteras etc.) son elaboradas a mano conmateria prima (hojas y ramas) provenientede los bosques de pino, existentes en lazona. Las mujeres campesinas de lugarespobres han encontrado en este tarea unamanera de subsistir, ya que percibeningresos de hasta mil Córdobas (57dólares) mensuales con la venta deproductos artesanales que llevan la marca«Pinos Fabretinos». (Fuente: La Prensa, 17de mayo 2006.)

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Se controlarán animales en riesgo decomercializaciónEl Ministerio de Ambiente y RecursosNaturales (MARENA) anuncio que instalaránretenes en diferentes puntos del país pararegular el tráfico de especies silvestres enperíodos de veda. Se controlará eltransporte colectivo que viaje desde loscomunidades donde se da la captura y lacomercialización de garrobo, iguana,gaspares y otros animalitos que estándesapareciendo. Se sabe que en el verano seacostumbra la ingestión de comidas exóticascomo iguanas en pinol, tortugas, garrobos,cusuco (armadillo) en vaho y otros especiesque están en vía de extinción por lo que seprohíbe su captura y comercialización. Delcuajipal, una de las especies nacionales delagartos, se aprovecha su cuero. (Fuente: ElNuevo Diario, 5 de abril 2006.)

Nicaragua pedirá al mundo salvar la lapaverdeLa lapa verde ha sido declarado aveemblemático en la localidad de El Castillo,en el departamento de río San Juan, enNicaragua, donde se ha iniciado unacampaña para preservar esta especieamenazada de extinción. La lapa verde (Araambigua) es un ave silvestre que vivegeneralmente en bosques de trópicohúmedo en las partes bajas de Honduras,Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia yEcuador. Tiene un pico fuerte y ganchudoque le sirve para abrir las duras semillas dealmendro de montaña, su principal fuentede alimentación. La perdida de estosárboles, debido a la tala ilegal en las selvasdonde vive la lapa verde, constituye el mayorriesgo a su existencia. El segundo riesgo esel comercio ilegal de esta ave para mascotasen países industrializados como EstadosUnidos y Europa. (Fuente: La Prensa, 11 deenero 2006.)

La cooperativa COPESIUNALa cooperativa COPESIUNA situada en laRegión Autónoma Atlántico Norte, cuentacon 200 productores originarios de 12comunidades cerca de la reserva de biosferaBOSAWAS, donde producen pimiento, zacatede limón y jengibre. Con apoyo del BancoMundial instalaron un planta para extraeraceites de esencias para comercializarlo enla costa oeste de Estados Unidos. (Fuente:La Prensa, 12 de julio 2006.)

La empresa COMPROVISSAEn Río San Juan, Nicaragua, se encuentra laEmpresa Comercializadora de Productos de

Vida Silvestre de Río San Juan(COMPROVISSA). Es una empresacomunitaria formada por pobladores decomunidades en el refugio de vida silvestreLos Guatuzos, El Monumento Histórico ElCastillo, San Carlos y el archipiélago deSolentiname, y se dedica a la producción encautiverio y exportación legal de mariposas,tortugas ñoca (Trachemys scripta) e iguanas(Iguana iguana) y subproductos comoartesanía a base de fauna silvestre.

Se están logrando ingresos anualesadicionales entre 200 y 800 dólares EE.UU.para cada uno de los socios deCOMPROVISSA. (Contribución de: MarcG.A.C. Smits, Nicaragua.)

PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN, DIRIGIRSE A: [email protected]

NIGERIA

Nigeria loses N210 billion annuallythrough a decline in roots and cereals A survey conducted by the African Institutefor Applied Economics (AIAE), has revealedthat Nigeria loses N210 billion (aboutUS$1.57 billion) annually through a declinein roots and tubers, cereals and pulses.

According to the report, although thereare no concrete data available to assess theexact magnitude, the cost of deforestationand losses of NTFPs in the last five decadesare at least N120 billion ($0.8 billion) peryear, or 1.7 percent of gross domesticproduct (GDP) in 2003, if losses of NTFPsare in proportion to forest and woodlandlosses. This is approximately the size of thefederal budget for health and education in2004 (N153 billion or $1.1 billion).

Findings revealed that deforestation isalso impacting fuelwood supply. Realfuelwood prices in various parts of thecountry have doubled in the last twodecades because of increased collection

and transportation costs. This is estimatedto have an economic cost of at least N45billion or $0.3 billion per year, which can beviewed as being included in the NTFPlosses of $0.8 billion per year.

If Nigeria loses its remaining forestresources, the economic cost will besubstantially higher than the currentlosses. Not only would the current NWFPand timber revenues be lost, but also aconsiderable part of the fuelwood supply. Ifthe population currently dependent onfuelwood for cooking were to switch tokerosene, the annual cost would be in theregion of N650–980 billion ($4.8–7.3 billion)per year.

This amount, in addition to the NWFPand timber values foregone, is equivalent to9–14 percent of current GDP prices. Thepresent value of annual cost of yield lossesfrom 1985 to 2003 is at least N135 billionper year, or 1.9 percent of the GDP in 2003.

Overall, poor management anddegradation of croplands and rangelandstogether with forest losses and degradationare costing at least N465 billion per year,6.4 percent of the GDP in 2003. This is justthe direct cost and does not include theeconomic multiplier effects and dynamicgains of increased rural incomes thatwould have prevailed in the absence of poormanagement and degradation. (Source:Vanguard [Nigeria], 14 July 2006.)

Niger Delta human development reportA major sociopolitical issue in the NigerDelta region today is access to land. Localpeople complain bitterly about having lostso much land to oil operations.

Traditionally, local people havedepended heavily on the non-timberresources of the forests to make a living.They rely on a wide variety of forestproducts for domestic use and for sale intraditional markets. These includefuelwood, fibres, leaves, dyes, fruits andnuts, medicinal plants, barks and roots,spices, palm wine, snails and wild game.The much-reduced forest cover hasincreased pressure on the remainingforests, which are now suffering fromoveruse that is further exacerbated by highdemand from the expanding towns andcities. It has been well established thatwealthier people in urban areas utilize farmore forest resource derivatives than thepoor who directly depend on them.

People at the grassroots levelunfortunately are not benefiting from theincreased exploitation of non-timber forest

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resources. Intermediaries package most ofthe harvest for urban markets, where theymake huge gains. There are very fewreturns to the rural economy; in general,there is a net transfer of resources fromrural to urban areas.

One of the greatest challenges to humandevelopment in the Niger Delta region ishow to win people back to the traditionallivelihoods that sustained them in the past.As in other parts of the country, youngerpeople have left rural areas.

The fundamental issue is how traditionaloccupational pursuits can coexist with oilproduction activities in an atmosphere ofmutual suspicion and recrimination.Interest in traditional economic pursuitssuch as agriculture and fishing cannot bepromoted so long as easy money flowsfrom the oil companies, albeit on anunsustainable basis. (Source: Vanguard[Nigeria], 15 August 2006.)

PAKISTAN

Ethnomedicinal studies in Attock, thePunjabA recent study was carried out by TariqMahmood, Mir Ajab Khan and Jamil Ahmadto assess record and report theethnomedicinal potential of the Kala ChittaHills (Potohar Plateau Salt Range) of Attockin the Punjab.

Results of the present investigation werebased on 125 species belonging to 40families of Angiosperms. Based upon theirutility, 80 species (40 families) were usedas medicinally important plants, 24 species(13 families) were found to be useful fortimber and fuelwood purposes and 17grass species were used as fodder. Theseplant species also have other benefits,together with their major uses such asapiculture, sericulture, food and fruits, etc.Most of the species are multipurpose.

The Kala Chitta Hills of the Salt Rangeare unique. The hilly tract is not onlyresponsible for providing benefits such asmedicines, timber, fuelwood and fodder,but also plays a role in the biodiversityconservation of the area. For many yearsthere has been a good sustainablerelationship between the needs of thepeople and the benefits extracted from thehills, e.g. medicinal, timber and fuelwoodplants. Thus the natural biodiversity of KalaChitta has been preserved. However,increased population and demand arecausing great pressure on the products of

the area. This continuous pressure over thelast few decades has damaged disastrouslythe natural characteristic ecosystem of thearea. To understand the indigenousknowledge of the local people throughethnobotany is very important for creatingawareness among them with regard tosustainable natural resource management.

About 100 informants including localpeople, hakims and medicinal businesspeople were interviewed andethnomedicinal data were collectedthrough a questionnaire. Results werecompiled, issues discussed, conclusionsreached and recommendations made forthe future. Further investigationphytochemically as well aspharmacologically should be undertaken insuch potentially important areas to providean extensive basis for the medicinalindustries in Pakistan to earn foreignexchange. (Contributed by: Tariq Mahmood,c/o Ghulam Khan Bangash, House No. 538,Saddar Bazaar Attock Cantt. Attock,Punjab, Pakistan. E-mail:[email protected])

Tapping the resources of Baluchistanplateau healing plants: concerns, issuesand challenges aheadThe Baluchistan plateau encompasses 43.6percent of the land mass of Pakistan. Itsarid to semi-arid climate, extremetemperatures and less than 10 percenthumidity even in the rainy season havemade it a native home for wild flora,collected and sold by resourceless anduneducated locals.

Unlike the approximately 8 millionwidely scattered population, the preciousflora is evenly and fairly distributed in theform of various pastures and comprisesabout 100 healing plants and relatedspecies. By nature, more than 50 percentare herbs, followed by 30 percent shrubsand about 15 percent of all others. Most of

them have two to five of about 170 reportedactive ingredients belonging to differentfunctional groups of phytochemicals.

Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmaceuticalknowledge about most of the concernedflora is available in the form of variousdocuments. Some of the species have beenbriefly researched; for instance the role ofAsparagus racemosus in the femalehormonal system is significant as is that ofWithania somnifera in men. Overall, theflora has, among others, proven antioxidant,anticancer, anti-inflammatory,antibacterial, antifungal and antisepticproperties and can be applied externally,internally or both. The NWFPs are not onlyused in health care, but also in make-up,cosmetics and stylish life products, as wellas in the veterinary and agrochemicalfields.

Above all, these NWFPs provide a broadrange of subsistence and commerciallivelihood opportunities. Furthermore,some of these species and products aresignificant in international trade andgenerate income for resource harvestersand collectors, as well as for many otheractors in the commodity chain.

However, the main constraints faced bythe primary stakeholders (harvesters orcollectors and direct sellers) are lack ofidentification of plant specimens or theirparts; unawareness of agricultural traits;marketing swindlers; and resourcepoorness.

Although the ecological condition of theplateau is fully compatible for cultivation,investment is needed in better seed andsubsidies and for purchase guarantee, etc.Therefore, critically reviewed and identifiedspecies should be set aside ascommercial/industrial crops forpharmaceutical, cosmetic, veterinary,agrochemical, phytotrade, phytopharm andother health area enterprises. Obviously,the government, NGOs and multinationalcompanies should put forward theirinitiatives to consolidate and coordinate theparticipatory role of primary stakeholdersthat will lead not only to improvement inthe status quo of economically deprivedpeople, but will also ensure conservation,organization and mechanization of theunattended biodiversity of natural habitats.

In this regard, the main areas to becovered are the following.

• Training of the locals in harvestingnatural habitats through optimizedagriculture and environmentallyfriendly ways.

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• The government needs to encourage orcompel the related actors to set up inthe product areas and should alsoprovide producer contract farminginitiatives. Collaboration with thenational gene bank at the NationalAgricultural Research Centre (NARC)should be enhanced.

• Facilitation of primary stakeholders inprocessing as well as marketing of rawmaterial and value-added productsinvolved in phytotrade.

• Although most trade is at the domesticlevel, international phytotrade should beencouraged.

• The think-tank in Pakistan shouldconvince donor agencies to advise ortrain the local community on qualitystandards; export procedure; marketpenetration strategies; businessplanning; certification criteria; healthand safety issues; cosmetic formalities;oil processing; supply chainmanagement; and regulatorymonitoring.

• Commercialize untended indigenousflora for domestic and internationalphytotrade, relevant manufacturers andthe ultimate beneficiaries. The primarystakeholders must be assisted instandard cultivation, optimal harvesting,post-harvest storage and processingmethods and techniques involved in thedomestication of high-value plants.

(Contributed by: Dr Rauf Ahmad, SeniorScientific Officer, Institute of Plants andEnvironmental Protection, NationalAgricultural Research Centre (NARC),Islamabad. E-mail: [email protected])

PARAGUAY

Esencia de Palo Santo (Bulnesiasarmientoi Lorente ex Griseb) El Palo Santo (Bulnesia sarmientoi Lorenteex Griseb), de la familia zygophyllaceae, esuna especie nativa del Gran ChacoSudamericano, conformado por Argentina,Bolivia y Paraguay. En el Paraguay esendémica, se encuentra en losDepartamentos de Alto Paraguay,Boquerón y Presidente Hayes. Se extiendeen una amplia zona de aproximadamente el75 por ciento del territorio chaqueño. Elpalo santo es catalogado especie en peligrode extinción en el Paraguay.

El palo santo se integra en formacionesparticulares dentro del bosque xerofíticodenso del Chaco paraguayo como

consecuencia de la alta concentración desal en los suelos, prefiriendo suelos biendrenados.

Es un árbol mediano de 18 metros dealtura, de hojas pequeñas bifoliadas, grancantidad de ramas y frutos en forma decápsula color verde oscuro. Su madera, decolor verdoso con vetado castaño y texturahomogénea, es dura, pesada y resistente.El palo santo se regenera fácilmente,aunque tiene crecimiento lento.

La madera del palo santo es utilizada enconstrucciones, carpintería, parquet,ebanistería, mueblería, artesanía yfabricación de instrumentos musicales.Adicionalmente, los subproductos de lamadera son utilizados como leña, ya quedesprende un humo muy perfumado. Delaserrín obtenido de la madera se extrae laesencia de palo santo, compuestaprincipalmente por guayacol, bulnesol ysesquiterpenos aromáticos, utilizada enperfumería, cosmética, jabonería y comoaditivo en cera para suelos y materia primapara la producción de azulenos y bujespara hélices de barcos, los cuales sonexportados principalmente con destino aEuropa. Su resina es empleada en lafabricación de lacas, pinturas y barnices.

En la medicina popular esta esencia esmezclada con vaselina líquida y otroselementos obteniendo una crema, usadapara afecciones dérmicas, también esusada en la elaboración de infusionescontra enfermedades respiratorias ygástricas.

Debido a su alto valor ecológico, debenimpulsarse planes de manejo forestalsostenibles que regulen la producción y laexportación, tanto de la madera como de laesencia de palo santo, y velar por su fielcumplimiento amparados por las

legislaciones locales vigentes y por laConvención Sobre el ComercioInternacional de Especies Amenazadas deFauna y Flora Silvestres. (Contribución de:Maura Isabel Díaz Lezcano, Becariaparaguaya MAEC-AECI, Escuela TécnicaSuperior de Ingenieros de Montes,Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, CiudadUniversitaria, 28040, Madrid, España.Correo electrónico: [email protected])

PERU

Camu camu: new Peruvian export hitPeru doubled its export revenues in 2005with respect to 2001, selling its productsinternationally for US$14 billion. Althoughthis figure was mainly a result of starPeruvian products such as asparagus,citrus fruits and minerals, there are some“new kids on the block”: fish, Andeananchovies, biscuits, flowers and camucamu.

Camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) is a bushthat grows in black water rivers, especiallyin those abandoned courses called cochas,ecosystems of great social and economicimportance for the Amazonian jungle ofPeru. The fruit contains powerfulphytochemicals with health benefits.

The fruit of the camu camu isapproximately 2 cm in diameter and has apurplish-red skin with a yellow pulp. Camucamu fruit contains 30 to 60 times morevitamin C than an orange.

The fruit also has a surprising range ofmedicinal effects. In joint studies it wasdemonstrated that camu camu flesh has agreat antioxidant power and containschemical compounds with antidepressantproperties. In order of potency, camu camuis listed second in effectiveness. Somepeople have gradually been able to weanthemselves off their antidepressionprescription medication (such as Zoloft andProzac) under medical supervision andsubstitute camu camu powder, with norelapse into depression. (Source: Living inPeru [Peru], 12 July 2006.)

Promoción de la cadena forestal enLoreto, Amazonía Peruana: el caso decamu camuUna publicación titulada “Promoción de lacadena forestal en Loreto, AmazoníaPeruana: el caso de camu camu” fuepresentada en la conferencia internacional“Small and medium forest enterprisedevelopment for poverty reduction:

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opportunities and challenges in globalizingmarkets” y CATIE en Turrialba, Costa Rica,que tuvo lugar desde el 23 al 25 de mayo2006 (este evento fue también patrocinadopor la FAO).

PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN DIRIGIRSE A: Rafael Meza Castro, Portafolio Amazonía, SNVPerú, correo electrónico: [email protected];Marly Cristina López Rengifo de Sarmiento,Ministerio de Agricultura, Lima, Perú, correoelectrónico: [email protected] y JohnBelt, Portafolio Amazonía, SNV Perú, Iquitos,correo electrónico: [email protected]

Project on medicinal plant conservationand useA project is currently under way in Perusponsored by the Darwin Initiative incollaboration with the University of Oxford(United Kingdom), a Peruvian NGO, CentroEORI and five indigenous communities inthe Madre de Dios region. The project aimsto develop, with the communities, aparticipatory management plan for theconservation and use of medicinal plantspecies in the Manu Biosphere Reserve,Peru. Methodological lessons from theproject will be summarized as a model, tobe subsequently promoted regionally andnationally.

This project is due for completion bySeptember 2007 and progress to date hasbeen good. Inventories of medicinal plantspecies found in each community have beencompleted and lists made of plants used bylocal people. A participatory manual hasbeen designed and the first phase ofmonitoring the impact of medicinal plantharvesting has been carried out.Participants are also noting the quantities ofmedicinal plants harvested within eachcommunity.

Propagation and cultivation techniqueshave been taught to the participants andplant nurseries and herbal gardensestablished; some enrichment planting hasalso been carried out in areas of secondaryforest.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Charles Veitch, 12 rue Georges Clemenceau, Le Langon, 85370 France. E-mail:[email protected] or Anna Lawrence [email protected]; or visitwww.eci.ox.ac.uk

Exportación de mariposasPerú exportará centenares de mariposasúnicas en su especie, a centrosconservacionistas de Estados Unidos,Canadá, Inglaterra, España y Japón,informó la ONG peruana ProNaturaleza. Lasventas incluyen ejemplares vivos ydisecados de estos insectos que son criadosen el centro de conservación de Japipi, en laregión amazónica de Madre de Dios(sureste) en la frontera con Brasil.

Perú posee el primado a nivel mundial endiversidad de mariposas, con unas 3 700especies. La entidad no precisó el volumeny monto de las exportaciones, pero detallóque, independiente del tamaño, color yespecie, cada una cuesta entre 2,5 y 4,5dólares; las más cotizadas son las

mariposas Morpho menelao y Morphoaquilles. (Fuente: La Prensa, enero 2006.)

SOUTH AFRICA

Conservation and livelihood issues of thedevil’s claw plantSouth Africa is the third largest producer ofwild-harvested devil’s claw(Harpagophytum sp.) after Namibia andBotswana. Devil’s claw is a medicinal plantwith analgesic and anti-inflammatoryproperties used for the treatment ofrheumatism and arthritis. It occurs widelyin the deep Kalahari sands, predominantlyin Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.The harvested plant parts are non-vegetative secondary storage tubers.

To determine the sustainability of thedevil’s claw trade in South Africa andprovide policy recommendations, thebiological status (distribution andabundance), socio-economics and tradeimpacts were researched. The speciesreceives patchy protection under provinciallegislation, which generally requirespermits for harvesting and processing. Theresource occurs in five provinces but ismost abundant in the northwest andnorthern Cape.

Harvesting takes place almost entirely oncommunal lands of the Northwest Provinceand is conducted by about 2 000 registeredharvesters, although illegal harvesting alsooccurs. Harvesters are predominantlyTswana-speaking rural women with fewother livelihood options. The dried slicedtuber product is sold to intermediaries whosupply the international trade. Pricesfluctuate between US$0.49 and $2.33/kgdepending on international demand andexchange rates. At current production levelsthe species is not threatened and trade atpresent national levels is consideredsustainable.

Overexploitation at the village level,however, has been observed, and long-termmonitoring of areas harvested and improvedtraining, especially of currentlyunregistered harvesters, are recommended.(Source: “Devil’s claw (Harpagophytumspp.) in South Africa: conservation andlivelihoods issues” by D. Raimondo et al. [inTRAFFIC Bulletin, 20(3)].)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Domitilla Raimondo, South African NationalBiodiversity Institute, Private Bag X7, Claremont7735, South Africa. E-mail: [email protected]

El camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) es unafruta nativa de la Amazonía. Estearbusto crece en los orillas de los ríos ylagos en la cuenca de la Amazonía,formando rodales naturales de camucamu. Perú es el primer productormundial de camu camu, le siguenBrasil, Colombia, Venezuela y Bolivia.

Su oferta proviene mayormente (87 porciento) de recolección (extracción) delas rodales naturales, y una pequeñaparte proviene de plantaciones(producción).

El camu camu es un recurso forestal nomaderero, es una fruta silvestre cuyovalor reside en que contiene la mayorconcentración de vitamina C naturaldel mundo; tiene un alto contenido deácido ascórbico: 877 a 3,133 mg en 100gramos de pulpa. El camu camu tieneel fenómeno de la alternancia en suproducción (ciclo de alta y bajaproductividad).

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SRI LANKA

Tsunami-hit famed cinnamon plantationsrevivingSri Lanka’s famed cinnamon crop, batteredwhen the Asian tsunami wiped out thousandsof plants, is reviving with efforts to improvequality to fend off competition from cheapersubstitute spices, mainly from China.

Cinnamon is Sri Lanka’s fourth-largestearner of hard currency after garments andtextiles, tea and rubber, and accounts for 60percent of the country’s total spice exports.The spice is used in food, pharmaceuticals,flavoured tea and Mexican cigars.

The industry boost could help Sri Lankaconsolidate its place as the world’s topexporter of cinnamon and farmers areseizing the opportunity to revive andmodernize their centuries-old trade.

Even before the tsunami that killed about35 000 people in this tropical island of 19million people, cinnamon exports were underthreat from a cheaper substitute known ascassia, or Chinese cinnamon, which sells fora quarter of the price. Cassia comes from aChinese tree with an aromatic bark that issimilar to natural cinnamon, but of a lesserquality. Cassia is often sold under the“cinnamon” label.

In October, the Spanish Red Cross and SriLanka’s Department of Export Agriculturestarted a joint project to regeneratecinnamon plantations in the southern districtof Galle, which accounted for over 60 percentof the island’s cinnamon output before the2004 tsunami. With replanting already underway, farmers say they expect to harvest abetter crop in about two and a half years.

The selling price of cinnamon depends onits quality, which is determined by thepeeling and processing technique. While asingle tree yields bark for about 50 years anda 1-acre (0.4-ha) plot can produce from 400to 500 kg of cinnamon, production is labour-intensive as the bark has to be cleaned,peeled and rolled into tight, slim quills.

One tonne of Sri Lankan cinnamon ispriced at about US$8/kg. Cassia, which isalso produced in India and Indonesia as wellas China, sells at around $2/kg. India andIndonesia also export genuine cinnamon.(Source: Mainichi Daily News [Japan], 2June 2006.)

Sweet science: Sri Lanka’s rural treacleindustryThe kithul tree (Caryota urens) is a palmthat grows up to 20 m high and produceslarge hanging clusters of flowers near thetop. “It is our sole livelihood and my mainsource of income,” said Sisira Kumara.Tappers like Kumara are heirs to a 2000-year-old tradition, braving the ascent twicedaily to extract the sap.

They do this by first gashing the base ofthe flower-cluster stalk, called a mala, andthen applying a herbal mixture to the“wound” to stimulate it to excrete sap. Thisprevents the flower from maturing tooquickly, since mature flowers cannot beused for harvesting. After about two days,the mala is ready. The tapper ties togetherthe hanging flowers and cuts off their ends,positioning a clay pot beneath to collect thedripping sap. The pot is replaced twice a day.

Kithul sap is used to make treacle and ahardened solid version known as jaggery.Both are then sold at local markets. The sapis also used to make a local alcoholic drink.

Sap from the region near Rogesen Gamais of a particularly high quality. And nowpeople in Rogesen Gama say they haveanother blessing, this time from modernscience. In 1994, the Sri LankanGovernment, which had paid little attentionto this traditional craft before, stepped inthrough its Ministry of Rural Developmentand Self Employment Generation to fundresearch aiming to make sap extractionmore productive. “They introduced a newreagent to treat the mala,” explains onetapper. “We began to use this instead of ourtraditional herbal mixture. I can get sapfrom unproductive mala. Now I extract twoto three bottles more from each one.”

After analysing the traditional herbalmixture, the research team from theColombo-based Industrial TechnologyInstitute came up with a new mixture. Thismore than doubles the sap production ofeach flower cluster. It can raise theproportion of productive trees from 20 to 30percent, using the traditional herbalmixture, to nearly 100 percent using thenew product.

The invention won the country’s nationalscience and technology award in November2005, under the category “Production of RawMaterials for Industry”. That same month italso received the Best Innovative TechnologyAward at the Industrial and TechnologyInstitute’s 50th anniversary ceremony.

The reagent is made of plant regulatorsand food additives, including common

additives such as salt. The team called thenon-toxic mixture KASPER, which standsfor Kithul Activation and Sap ProductionEnhancing Reagent, and has nowsubmitted it for patenting.

The villagers happily accepted the newtreatment, but the awards also focusedattention on the traditional craft of tapping.In 2006, the Sri Lankan ExportDevelopment Board planned to developkithul treacle into a major exportcommodity. The number of sap tappers isincreasing and new treacle processingcentres are being built in villages in theRogesen Gama area.

Kithul trees are present throughout SriLanka, so sap extraction can easily beexpanded to fulfil the demands of exportmarkets. The Industrial TechnologyInstitute has already taken the technologyto 14 other villages. And the Ministry ofRural Development and Self EmploymentGeneration is currently selecting kithulvillages for 2006/2007 under its ThousandIndustrial Village Programme. This willinvolve building infrastructure, includingtreacle processing centres.

Institutions such as the AsianDevelopment Bank have now recognizedsap harvesting. The bank has agreed toback kithul tree-planting projects inselected areas to safeguard the future ofsap extraction.

Once the treacle becomes a large-scale,certified export commodity, the villagerswill depend on the authorities to ensurethat they, rather than any intermediaries,get the maximum benefit from sapproduction. Another key issue is the priceof the treatment mixture. Currently theIndustrial Technology Institute is sellingthe improved treatment mixture to thevillages for a reasonable charge.

But what do the villagers think of thegovernment’s plans to export their treacle?

When I visited Rogesen Gama in early May2006, I saw new hope in people’s eyes, alongwith a new sense of determination. Theyhave learned from past disappointments andhave established cooperatives to safeguardtheir brand and help them to market it.

But who else should benefit from thisknowledge, which science is set to makehighly profitable? Ultimately, it is not theproperty of the researchers or businesspeople who visit the area: like allindigenous knowledge, it belongs to thevillage heirs of this ancient tradition. (Source: Anuradha Alahakoon [inSciDev.Net], 7 June 2006.)

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SUDAN

Current and future situation of Sudanesemedicinal plantsThe Sudan, the second largest state inAfrica, has a rich potential and diverse floracover as a result of the varying climaticconditions existing from north to south andeast to west. It also has vast arable lands(of which only about 15 percent arecultivated).

Within the framework of the activities ofits scientific programme, in September2006 the International Centre for FaithResearch organized its fifth internationalsymposium: “The Medical Miracles inQuran and Sunna”.

A paper presented at the symposium byEiman Hassan from the University ofKhartoum tackled the issue of Sudanesemedicinal plants, focusing on the Sudan’srich medicinal plant resources andencouraging local and foreign investmentto enter these valuable and profitablefields. “In the Sudan there are fivemedicinal plant zones according toclassification which represent all themedical plants in West, East and NorthAfrica. In the Sudan the percentage ofpeople who depend on medicinal plants forhealth care is estimated to be 30–90percent in all the states.”

Most medicinal plant products comefrom the informal trading sector andbazaars known in all towns of the Sudan asattaren shops (traditional medicine stores).

In addition, the Sudan has been anexporter of several important plant drugsand other plant-based materials withindustrial usages, such as gum arabic, gumkaraya, gum olibanum and arkadeh. Thesymposium paper also explained that 52 ofthe most important medicinal plants areused in exports and imports, while 32 of theinternational pharmacopoeia of medicinalplants are present in the Sudan, and all needto be studied more because of theirpresence in different locations in the country.

The paper also highlighted someimpediments facing the utilization andmanufacturing of medicinal and aromaticplants in the Sudan, e.g. the very weak linkbetween research and industrialinstitutions; the majority of farmers withsmall landholdings; prices too low to makecultivation attractive; and the persistentproblems of packing, storage,transportation and quality control. Theseare in addition to major problems, includinglack of local infrastructures, financing,

technical and marketing resources anddifficulties in entering into competition withthe international suppliers of consumerproducts.

The paper pointed to some opportunitiesthat open more fields for investments inthe manufacturing of medical plants in thelocal and Middle Eastern markets. There isa strong international demand for manyherbal products and essential oils fromaromatic plants of the Sudan. (Source:Belgees Fagir, SudaneseOnline, 14September 2006.)

Sudan to reform gum arabic tradeA recent symposium on gum arabic hasrecommended the establishment of aspecific council for mapping out policies tostreamline production and trade. Thesymposium called for promoting gumarabic research centres and starting amonetary fund to ensure finance for theproduction of gum arabic.

The Gum Arabic Company Ltd, holder ofthe monopoly position for the export ofcrude gum arabic from the Sudan, offered amuch-reduced price for the previous crop,because it possessed a very large bufferstock (about 30 000 tonnes) and faced thelowest prices in more than ten years.

Sudanese gum is produced in theregions of Kordofan (49.3 percent), Kassala(24.4 percent), Darfur (23.4 percent) andWhite and Blue Nile (2.9 percent).

Gum arabic is a resin that is used as anemulsifier in soft drinks, a thickener insweets and jellies, a binder in special-purpose inks and drugs and even as a foamstabilizer in beer. Its name derives from thefact that the gum was shipped to Europefrom Arabic ports. (Source: Sudan Tribune,9 August 2006.)

TOGO

Couple in the United States use their sheabutter business to build a brighter futurefor Togo The nuts of the wild shea tree of West Africaproduce a rich butter prized for cooking,cosmetics and healing. As a boy in Togo,Olowo-n’djo Tchala spent hours gatheringthem to pay for clothing and school supplies.Now when Tchala scoops shea nuts into hishand, he sees an opportunity to help freeTogo – perhaps all of Africa – fromentrenched poverty.

At Steamboat Island, a rural communitynear Olympia (United States), Tchala and hiswife, Rose Hyde, oversee the production offair trade shea butter lotions, creams andsoaps, bound for retailers. Their smallbottling and distribution plant belies thephenomenal growth of what has rapidlybecome an international operation. In itsfirst three years, Alaffia Sustainable SkinCare – named after a greeting in centralTogo – has pumped an estimated US$400 000 into Togo’s economy.

Tchala and Hyde earmark 10 percent ofsales to development projects in the tinyWest African nation: furnishing schools,planting trees in deforested areas and tryingto reduce a maternal death rate that claimsone in 16 women.

Shea butter was an apt choice for theirventure. For centuries Togo’s women haveoverseen the demanding, 12-step processthat turns the rough, brown nuts into a silkybutter used for everything from skin salve toumbilical-cord cleanser. “A woman in thecentral part of Togo sometimes can’t getmarried unless she knows how to makeshea butter,” Tchala said.

Degrees in hand, the couple set aboutproducing handmade, all-natural sheabutter – both in bulk and in finished lotionsand creams – for the growing world market.Alaffia products are sold throughout theUnited States and in Hong Kong, SouthAfrica, Taiwan Province of China, Japan,Trinidad and elsewhere.

Alaffia’s shea butter cooperative inSokodé, central Togo, provides well-paidjobs and monthly medical checkups for 80workers.

Handcrafting shea butter is not easy.Cooperative workers shell, dry and crushthe nuts into a thick paste, then add cleanwater and hand whip the concoction for upto three hours to separate the oils. Anotherround of stirring causes the oils tocrystallize into shea butter, which cools into

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waxy, pale-gold chunks that are shipped toSteamboat Island. There, Tchala and Hydeoversee six workers. The small crewliquefies the butter in heated barrels, stirs inother natural ingredients such as baobaband lemon grass, and then hand-bottles theproducts, which retail for $10–14.

The cooperative’s shea butter keepsflowing, softening the world’s complexionand smoothing the way for the people ofTogo. (Source: Seattle PI.com [UnitedStates], 7 September 2006.)

TONGA

Tongan bark may hold key to diabetes Melbourne biotechnology company Dia-BTech believes that it has found a naturalalternative to the antidiabetes drug insulinin the bark of a plant found in Tongan rainforests. Chief executive Ken Smith is tight-lipped on details, preferring not to disclosethe name of the vine until the company has aprovisional patent over its use. “But what Ican tell you is that the plant has been usedby traditional healers in Tonga to heal type-two diabetes and obesity over hundreds ofyears,” Mr Smith said. “They mix it with apotion of various plants and tree barkswhich are ground, mixed with water andtaken orally with great results.”

The company has been testing the barksince February 2005, today announcing tothe Australian Stock Exchange thatpreliminary results were looking good.

Dr Ken Walder, a scientist with Intramed,another biotechnoogy company involved inthe research, said it was already clear thatthe natural derivative had a component with“very strong” insulin-like qualities.

If developed commercially, thecomponent would be used by people withtype-two diabetes, a metabolic disorder thatoccurs when the pancreas is not producingenough insulin. The medical andcommercial potential would be significant iffurther research confirmed that thecomponent effectively acts as a natural“proxy” for insulin, Mr Smith said. (Source: Melbourne Herald Sun [Australia],8 June 2006.)

UGANDA

European Union buyers interested inUganda’s shea nut butter Interest in Uganda’s shea nut butter ispicking up in the European market,

particularly with the cosmetics industry, anexport trade official has said.

Susan Bingi, who is in charge of thebiotrade programme at the UgandaExports Promotion Board, said thatEuropean buyers were showing moreinterest in the shea nut butter calledUganda nilotica type. “Our shea nut butteris now preferred over the West Africanbutter, which was popular before. It hasbetter quality oils and it is exported whenit’s already in butter form unlike the WestAfrican butter which is exported as nuts,”Bingi said. She said there are only twocompanies under the biotrade programmeexporting the butter. (Source: New Vision[Kampala], 8 May 2006.)

UKRAINE

Mushroom and berry pickers violatingborder with Belarus More than 700 Ukrainians have beencaught at the Belarusian border in the pasttwo weeks. They are primarily peopleresiding nearby who cross the heavilyforested border in search of berries andmushrooms.

Border guards complain that thevillagers return to their favouritemushroom and berry-picking spots evenafter being warned not to do so. On Mondayalone, 150 adults and 70 children werecaught illegally traversing the borderbetween Ukraine and Belarus. (Source:5tv.com [Ukraine], 11 July 2006.)

UNITED KINGDOM

Wild harvests from Scottish woodlandsFrom a member of the House of Lords inhis castle to an unemployed gentleman in afisherman’s cottage, from a biology teacheron the outskirts of Dumfries to a youngfarmer on the Black Isle, collecting non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is a sourceof joy and satisfaction for many incontemporary Scotland. In the autumn of2004, as part of the Wild Harvests fromScottish Woodlands project, more than 30people were interviewed about the wildedibles, medicinals and craft materialsthey collect and the part that collectingplays in their lives.

As a group, research participantsmentioned 208 NTFPs derived from 97vascular plants and 76 fungi and other non-vascular species. Edible uses were the

most popular, followed by beverage, craft,garden and medical uses. Most gatheringof NTFPs is for personal and family use,followed in importance by gifts, informaleconomy and barter. Gatherer profiles areused to illustrate that with commercialcollection, often “the sums don’t add up”,but the importance of NTFP collection forpersonal and cultural identity, socialcohesion, public health and happiness isvast.

The results suggest that there ispotential for active management of NTFPsin public and private woodlands. They alsosuggest caution where necessary. Severalrecommendations for policy, practice andfuture research are made. (Source:extracted from: Wild harvests fromScottish woodlands. Social, cultural andeconomic values of contemporary non-timber forest products, by Dr M. Emery, S.Martin and A. Dyke and published by the GBForestry Commission in 2006. Full reportavailable online at:www.forestresearch.gov.uk/website/forestresearch.nsf/ByUnique/INFD-5WBLHH)

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Scotland is famous for malt whisky. Butits wild fruit wine production is alsoremarkable. More than two commercialenterprises bottle wine made from wildharvests and homemade wines are astandard entry at country fairs. Anastounding variety of plant materialsfinds its way into Scottish demijohns.Brambles and elderberries are obviouschoices and birch sap wine has a longtradition. Gorse blossoms produce a drywhite wine while rowan berries tonedown the sweetness of raspberry in abeautiful rosé.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Dr Suzanne Martin, Project Leader, SocialResearch Group, Environmental and HumanSciences Division, Forest Research, NorthernResearch Station, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9SY,Scotland, United Kingdom. Fax: 0131 445 5124;e-mail: [email protected];www.forestresearch.gov.uk

NTFPs in Scotland: Non-timber forest products historicallyplayed a significant role in local economy,as food, medicine, dyes and otheressentials for rural dwellers, until well intothe twentieth century. Today, almost aquarter of Scottish people are believed toengage in some form of NTFP collection.(Source: Reforesting Scotland, 2005.)

UNITED STATES

United States reverses five-year exportrule on wild ginsengThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service(FWS) has performed a U-turn over the banimposed in 2005 on the export of five-year-old wild American ginseng roots – adecision met with relief from an industrythat feared years of decline while plantsmatured to catch up with the regulation.

Wild American ginseng (Panaxquinquefolius), the root of which has avariety of uses in traditional medicineincluding stress, cognitive function andimmune system boosting, takes betweenfour and five years to reach maturity andstart producing seeds. The life span of aplant is around 30 years and it producesmore fruit with age.

Since 1975 the plant has been listedunder the Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna

and Flora (CITES) as species that, while notbeing in immediate danger of extinction,may become extinct if trade is not strictlycontrolled. In the 2005 CITES findingpublished last August, FWS determinedthat wild roots must be at least ten yearsold (double the previous minimum age offive years) and have four “prongs” or leavesbefore they can be legally exported fromthe United States.

This decision was met with dismay fromthe botanical industry, not least because itwas made behind closed doors. But theagency subsequently held four well-attended public meetings, which elicitedcomments from the spectrum of thoseinvolved with the wild ginseng trade.

The newly announced decision toreinstate the five-year minimum exportrule for those states that have a ginsengprogramme for at least the next threeharvest seasons came after FWSconcluded from the information gatheredat the public meetings that the practice“will not be detrimental to the survival ofthe species”.

It said that it had heard opinions thatincreasing the exportable age of wildginseng would result in greater harvestpressure on older plants, and underminethe transition to woodland planting andmanagement to replace harvesting of wildroots. If new evidence to the contrarycomes to light in the meantime, it reservesthe right to alter the regulation again, butpledges to do so in sufficient time beforethe 2007 or 2008 harvest so thatstakeholders can be consulted andnotified.

Around 19 million wild plants wereexported from the United States each yearuntil 2004, making up 7.3 percent of overallginseng exports. The 2005 ruling meantthat significantly less wild ginseng wouldbe available for export in the next fiveyears, to allow for plants that wouldpreviously have been cleared for harvestingto grow older and bridge the gap.

Ginseng exports from cultivated sourceswere excluded from the 2005 ruling, whichalso held that the position of wood-grownor wild-simulated ginseng would have tobe determined on a case-by-case basis. Inthe update, however, FWS says it hasdetermined that wood-grown roots qualifyas artificially propagated and are notcovered by the same regulation as wildAmerican ginseng. (Source:NutraIngredients-usa.com [France], 12June 2006.)

VIET NAM

Rare fragrant wood should be protected The uncontrolled purchase of some of themost expensive fragrant wood in the world– agarwood (Aquilaria crassna) – in centralViet Nam demonstrates the need toconserve the valuable commodity.

The Ba To mountain town in the centralQuang Ngai Province has seen hundreds ofpeople arrive in recent days to buyagarwood, called ky nam in Vietnamese,and discovered by local lumberjacks.However, as ky nam is banned for sale inViet Nam, most deals take place secretlyand local residents have sold the preciouswood at low prices because they do notknow about its real value.

At Tot village, 1 kg of ky nam sold foronly VND2 million (US$124.8) in the firstfew days but its price later rose to VND10million, then to VND100 million andVND200 million ($12.488). Aftertransporting ky nam from the village,traders offered VND700 million ($43.709)per kg.

Stored by many as an asset, the wood isrevered for its medicinal properties andaromatic essence.

Some traders said that in sales abroad,Vietnamese agarwood would be 1.5 or twotimes higher than the domestic sales.

The current situation suggests that thegovernment should regulate the trade toimprove the value of the precious wood onthe world market, and control whatcommodities are left in the forest to make ita sustainable industry.

Since the country has already organizedmany auctions on recovered antiques,diamonds and birds’ nests (an Asiandelicacy), perhaps agar could also becontrolled through the auction process.(Source: Thanh Nien Daily [Viet Nam], 6September 2006.)

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Big plans for NWFPs A research centre under the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development expectsto triple the revenue from shipping rattanfurniture, farm animals and other NTFPs by2010.

The Non-Timber Forest ProductResearch Centre under the Ministry predictsthat these goods can earn at least US$500million annually, including $300 millionfrom exports.

Developing the sector helps preserve thebiodiversity of forests and improve theincomes of people who live around them. Italso encourages villages to makehandicrafts for export.

The Centre said that so far Viet Nam hadunderestimated the sector’s potential, onlyfocusing on protecting and developingforests to serve the wood industry.

Statistics from the Centre show that from2001 to 2005 Viet Nam earned annually atleast US$100 million from exporting NTFPs,including rattan furniture and farm animals,such as snakes and crocodiles. In Ho ChiMinh City, the export of crocodile products,in line with international standards, reachesalmost $5 million each year, while in theMekong Delta, the export revenue frompython products is $20 million per year.

The Centre will carry out the nationalplan on NTFPs until 2020. Besides animalsand rattan, these products include herbalplants and wild mushrooms. (Source:Saigon Times Daily [Viet Nam], 17 March2006.)

Pine resin exports Viet Nam recently exported its firstconsignment of processed pine resin to theUnited States, which local enterprisesdescribed as a breakthrough for the nation’sfledgling pine resin production industry. TheQuang Ninh Pine Company’s 36-tonneshipment, valued at US$70 000, wasevidence of the great potential fordevelopment in the sector, said the Director-General of the Pacific Ink Company.

American demand for high-quality pineresin – a natural material obtained bydistilling pine wood and used to producemany products including ink, glue and paint

– is substantial, given that the nation is acentre for the printing and chemicalindustries. United States-based inkproducers relied on pine resin importedfrom China, South America and Indonesia,but are increasingly gaining confidence inVietnamese producers. Accordingly, theQuang Ninh Pine Company said it plans toinvest in an additional production facility totake advantage of increasing demand.

Although Viet Nam’s terrain and climatemake it suitable for pine tree cultivation, ithad not yet made good use of the naturalmaterial, with average annual pine resinoutput a modest 8 000 tonnes. Localproducers have so far exported their poorlyprocessed pine resin at prices considerablylower than those expected on majormarkets such as the United States.

If the industry were to be given greaterpriority by the government and authoritiesand favourable conditions continue todevelop, Viet Nam could easily producemore than 40 000 tonnes of high-quality pineresin a year, bringing in about $70 million.This would not only contribute to the statebudget, but also create more local jobs andraise incomes among pine growers.

According to the Ministry of Trade, VietNam may also secure contracts to exportpine resin to Pakistan, which recentlyexpressed interest in importing 800 tonnes.(Source: Viet Nam News, 24 May and 30June 2006.)

ZAMBIA

Honey production Zambia’s woodlands cover millions ofhectares, with a significant portion formingpart of the larger miombo woodland coveringmuch of central and eastern Africa. Theyprovide an excellent habitat for bees, whichin most seasons deliver a surplus of honey.

According to Guni Mickels-Kokwe, anatural resource scientist from the ZambiaAlliance for People and Environment, “Tradein beeswax started in the late 1890s whenZambians travelled by foot through Angolato the Atlantic coast. A hundred years laterand the long-distance trade in honey andbeeswax still provides an important sourceof livelihood for many people in ruralZambia. Today, organically certified, goldenhoney and beeswax find their way from ruralhomesteads into lucrative marketsthroughout the world.”

In the northwestern province some 10 000beekeepers own about 500 000 hives and

produce about 1 000 tonnes of honey and atleast 100 tonnes of beeswax per year. Abouthalf the honey is exported, while 80–100tonnes are sold on local markets, with theremainder used to brew a local beer calledmbote.

Because most honey and beeswax areexported, they have become an importantsource of foreign exchange for Zambia.Exports – mostly to Europe – startedincreasing rapidly after 2000 as newcompanies entered the business.

“Honey and beeswax have become animportant source of livelihood for thousandsof people in Zambia. About one third of thebeekeepers’ annual cash income comesfrom the honey and beeswax trade,” saidCenter for International Forestry Research(CIFOR) scientist Crispen Marunda.

Research by Marunda and Mickels-Kokwe has found that the linkages betweenbeekeeping and forest management inZambia are quite strong. Because honey andwax are so important to the beekeepers’daily struggle against poverty, they areextremely aware of the need to preventforest fires. And the presence of so manybees has increased woodland productivitybecause of increased rates of pollinationamong flowering trees, enhanced plantregeneration rates and has also helped tomaintain high levels of diversity.

However, mortality among some treespecies has increased because beekeepersharvest their fibrous bark to make beehives.

While the current level of honey and waxproduction is improving, Mickels-Kokwe andMarunda believe there is still a lot more thatcould be done to ensure production reachesits fullest potential. The two scientistsbelieve a number of factors are constrainingthe industry, the most pressing need being areform of the beekeeping policy. In responseto a request by Zambia’s ForestryDepartment, CIFOR is now helping Zambiato develop a beekeeping policy. (Source:CIFOR News Online, 39.) �

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36 COUNTRY COMPASS · 2007-02-16 · BANGLADESH Prospects for ... particularly the Unani and...

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Transcript of 36 COUNTRY COMPASS · 2007-02-16 · BANGLADESH Prospects for ... particularly the Unani and...