Positioning non-timber forest products on the development agenda
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Pandey, Ashok K
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180992 , vital:43679 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2013.07.004"
- Description: Non-timber forests products (NTFPs) provide multiple livelihood benefits to local communities and regional and national economies. And yet this knowledge is rarely drawn upon in debates around and design of poverty alleviation or land use policies, strategies and projects. Unless the accumulating wealth of empirical evidence can be translated into policies and approaches at higher levels, and integrated into poverty alleviation programmes, it will have little impact on local and national poverty profiles. In this paper we propose and briefly discuss eight steps to facilitate integration of NTFPs into the development agenda, for the benefit of local communities. These include: (1) proper inventory of NTFP stocks, (2) research on NTFP ecology and sustainable harvest levels, (3) introduction of extension services for NTFPs, (4) inclusion of NTFPs in land management and trade-off decisions, (5) integration of NTFPs into sectoral policies, (6) ensuring NTFP commercialisation is not at the expense of local livelihood needs, (7) promoting security of access and use, and (8) examination of local contextual drivers of unsustainable use. Each is presented along with examples or proposals towards implementation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The effect of harvesting approaches on fruit yield, embelin concentration and regrowth dynamics of the forest shrub, Embelia tsjeriam-cottam, in central India
- Authors: Pandey, Ashok K , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181094 , vital:43698 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2011.11.015"
- Description: Embelia tsjeriam-cottam Roem and Schult A. DC. (Myrsinaceae), popularly known as Vaividang, is a vulnerable forest species because of the high demand of fruits for medicinal purposes. It is in great demand in ayurveda and the pharmaceutical industry (>100 t/yr), which has imposed tremendous pressure on some natural populations. The fruits contain embelin (a benzoquinone derivative), which has wide clinical applications. Considering the importance, growing use and decreasing populations in some areas of its natural habitat, a study on development of sustainable harvesting practices of E. tsjeriam-cottam fruits was conducted in Chhattisgarh, in central India. Experiments were laid out in Dhamtari, Marvahi and Bilaspur forest divisions of the state covering both protected and open forests in a randomized design with three replications. At each site, quadrats of 40 × 20 m were laid out to study the effect of two fruit harvesting methods and four harvesting intensities on fruit yield, and regeneration of the species. Fruits were analyzed for their embelin content by HPLC method. This study is the first to experimentally assess the consequences of harvesting of E. tsjeriam-cottam fruits from India. It was found that up to 70% fruits could be hand plucked at the right time of maturity (December) to obtain quality produce without impacting the current population size. Since every year is not a good fruiting year, it is difficult to develop universal harvest regime for sustainable management of E. tsjeriam-cottam. The embelin content increased as fruits ripened, ranging from 1.01% to 5.63%. The adoption of sustainable harvesting practices will be helpful in sustainable management of E. tsjeriam-cottam and also provide income and livelihood opportunities to rural people on a sustainable basis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012