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Tropical Forest Research Network |
RESEARCH TOPICS: FILLING THE GAPS; CONCEPTS AND STRATEGIES
Thinking of Bali, the artistic and colourful carvings and masks sold at all the major tourist spots come quickly to mind. These Balinese souvenirs and art objects are the most important segment of the US$45 million Indonesia earns each year from exporting woodcarvings. As a major generator of income and employment, with a steady source of wood from cultivated species, this is in many ways a forest product success story.
Just next to Bali, on the island of Timor, we find an equally dramatic story of failure. Here, sandalwood, the fragrant wood of the cendana tree, was once a major export, attracting traders from distant lands, bringing wealth to the island. Today sandalwood has been seriously depleted, collectors have lost an important source of livelihood, and the local carving and essential oils industries have been virtually wiped out.
There are innumerable examples of NTFPs used for a wide variety of purposes: for daily needs, cash income, as a "safety net" in times of shortage, and as raw materials for industries. Awareness of the importance of NTFPs as one crucial benefit from forests, coupled with a desire to conserve forests while making life better for millions of poor people, has made forest products the object of many research and development interventions.
Considering these facts, what should be the role of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), which is funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research? This consortium of 58 public and private-sector donors supports 16 research centres in bringing to bear scientific knowledge on agricultural and natural resource issues on the problem of how to end hunger and poverty and increase food security in developing countries while protecting the environment. The 16 centres share a mandate to produce 'international public goods', meaning that research results should be useful beyond the individual research sites and a national context.
Toward systematic methods
NTFP researchers
have been plagued by a lack of coherence in the understanding of the potential
role of NTFPs in development efforts. Most of the research so far has been case-based,
making it difficult to draw generalisable conclusions. Differences in data classification
methods and researchers' perspectives can lead to conflicting results. To help
bring order to this chaos, CIFOR has developed a methodology for analysing diverse
cases of commercial forest product use. Information from about 50 cases from
around the world is recorded using a standardised set of 220 descriptors. This
will provide the basis for a classification of these, and any other cases, and
detect patterns that correlate with their development and conservation outcomes.
Commercialisation trends
NTFP commercialisation
is the primary objective of many development programmes, but this raises many
important questions. How will local use and management of a forest product change
as development progresses? What will happen if people succeed in increasing
the sales of forest products and their incomes? Experience suggests that some
products will become quite important -- the cases of bamboo in China and India
are good examples. Other products will remain important only in economic or
ecological niches -- wild-gathered rattan, for example, is economically viable
only when land pressure is low. Other forest products will be abandoned as better
opportunities arise. In most cases pressure on the resource will increase. When
produced on common land, social controls may be needed to prevent over-exploitation
and encourage sound management. Research should show us how institutions (local
rules and norms) evolve when changes in the relative value of forest products
occur.
Increasing production
Commercialisation
of NTFPs often demands intensified production. Feasible 'production' models
range from 'pure' extraction to intensified cultivation, such as plantations.
Intermediate management within a forest environment merits greater attention
because it has advantages in relation to biodiversity conservation and, sometimes,
socio-economic development. Recently CIFOR co-organised a workshop with FORRESASIA
and EFTRN to define the social, economic and ecological conditions under which
intermediate systems of NTFP management are viable. Another important issue
is how to integrate timber production with supplies of other products, often
for multiple users. Research may lead to new silvicultural and institutional
tools to aid this kind of management. One way to increase forest product production
is to domesticate high-value trees for on-farm cultivation. The International
Centre for Agroforestry (ICRAF) is providing knowledge to improve the reproduction,
growth and yield of promising forest species.
Downstream issues
Successful development
of forest products depends as much on the markets for the products as on ecology
and production. Research has ignored this, although recent work by FAO, RECOFTC,
and others is helping to close the gap. A methodological approach identified
as a "production-to-consumption system" addresses forest product issues like
the need for sustained supply, the distribution of income, ensuring markets
and marketing channels, and institutional and policy problems. Although the
approach is generally well defined, more work is needed to incorporate practical
experience into the theory.
Benefiting the poorest
NTFP commercialisation
practitioners tend to ignore that many forest products are important because
they are available to poor people. Development and conservation projects that
make forests inaccessible -- economically or legally -- to poor people can have
severe economic and social consequences, especially in hard times. New tools
and methods for forest management need to take into account the tradeoffs of
forest development, identifying the winners and losers. The poor, and not any
well-connected elites, need to benefit from development assistance or policy
changes. This requires strengthening user groups that have limited power and
influence, and their land and resource property rights.
A role in priorities
and policy changes
CIFOR and the
other CGIAR international research centres must make sure that research has
impact. One way to do this is to influence government policy. Governments increasingly
recognise the real and potential benefits of forest products to poor people
and are becoming more amenable to policies favouring sustained, equitable use
of forest products. There are many examples of how bad policies have had negative
effects. In the case of sandalwood in Timor, for example, the government imposed
regulations intended to control the supply, leading to a virtual depletion of
the resource. On the other hand, China's investment and trade liberations encouraged
private production of bamboo, boosting exports and contributions to rural income.
Conservation groups, development agencies and NGOs are driving much of the current interest in NTFP development. CIFOR and ProFound, a Dutch NGO, thought it useful to understand the project portfolios of such agencies. Both organisations have started a study to that extent. This will, among other things, help to design a research portfolio, which should produce results more useful to targeted beneficiaries.
Expectations are that our research will produce knowledge that helps to solve real-life problems, such as how to better target and achieve success in NTFP development efforts. In our vision, examples such as sandalwood from Timor will be the exception rather than the rule and, 10 or 20 years from now, we will be able to point to many more examples like the woodcarvings from Bali.
Wil de Jong, Brian Belcher
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
Bogor, Indonesia
Website http://www.cgiar.org/cifor
Please send comments
to w.de-jong@cgiar.org
SOME
RECENT ACTIVITIES OF THE NWFP PROGRAMME OF THE FAO FORESTRY DEPARTMENT
By Laura Russo
Since 1991 the Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has implemented a programme on "The promotion and development of Non-Wood Forest Products". Under this specific programme and other ones linked to it, FAO carries out many activities aimed at addressing gaps in knowledge and field application of best practices for NWFPs. Some of them are presented as examples below.
Improving data on NWFPs
Since 1997, FAO
and the European Commission have started collaborative programmes aimed at improving
the availability and quality of statistical data in the forestry sector. Work
under these efforts encompasses both development of methodologies and actual
gathering of data. The data thus collected are used as inputs to a Special Study
on NWFPs for the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000).
Three projects on "Data collection and analysis for sustainable forest management: linking national and international efforts" are ongoing in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Under the one almost completed in Africa (1997-2000), quantitative and qualitative information was gathered during 1998/99 on the exploitation practices and production levels of major NWFPs in collaboration with relevant specialists in 42 African countries. Information was collected on a country basis on major NWFPs, the plant or animal sources from which they are extracted (and part used), the habitat in which they are found/produced, their destination (subsistence/trade), main uses and economic value. The process also identified the most important NWFPs in Africa, on which further development efforts should be concentrated, including: gums, mushrooms, forest fruits, bushmeat and medicinal plants.
Developing methodologies
Methodological
work in support of the gathering of available information concentrates on the
information requirements for data collection of NWFPs at the national level,
and on harmonizing definitions and classification for NWFPs. The latter area
is one in which FAO is actively seeking the collaboration of international organizations,
such as IUFRO, for the organization of an international meeting on this subject
in the near future.
An FAO/EC project entitled "Sustainable forest management in African ACP countries" (2000-2002) is looking at methodologies for assessment of NWFPs. Methodologies are being developed and will be tested in collaboration with national institutions (government and NGO) in sub-Saharan African countries. The project has maintained close links with other initiatives in this field, such as the ZF0077 Forestry Research Programme (UK DFID funded) pre-project to examine the biometrics of current NTFP assessment methods (see Jenny Wong's article in this issue). A publication based on the outcomes of the FRP project will be published under the FAO NWFP Series.
The FAO NWFP programme is presently looking for national and international partners who have field activities on NWFP inventory and assessment in Africa and who would be willing to join in this effort.
Disseminating technical
knowledge
The above activities
all have a very strong orientation toward strengthening national capacity to
collect, analyse and disseminate forest information data. FAO also compiles
and disseminates knowledge on good practices for NWFP production, management
and market trends and potential. This is done chiefly through the FAO NWFP series
of publications.
At present, there are 12 publications in the NWFP series (see at http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/public-e.stm).
One of the future additions will be a publication on wild edible fungi, under preparation, and expected to be issued in early 2002. The publication, which will be coordinated by CABI Bioscience, will document the contribution of wild edible fungi to food security and will cover aspects from forest management issues to market issues, as well as nutritional aspects, and will include case studies from various parts of the world.
Product analysis and
development
In May 2000,
an African regional network for natural gums and resins (NGARA) was established.
The main focus of the network so far has been gum arabic (from Acacia senegal
and A. seyal), although gums and resins from other natural and planted species
will be considered. Membership of NGARA is open to all countries in Africa that
want to develop the use and markets of natural gums and resins. FAO's continued
technical support to the network is also focusing on securing operational funds
for the network secretariat.
In December 2000, FAO called for an international expert consultation in Rome to address the issue of dwindling resources of rattan, one of the most important NWFPs, the demand for which is increasing. This consultation was jointly organized with SIDA (Sweden) and the International Network on Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) (see also announcement/ short note in this issue).
Policy and technical
advice
Given its global
mandate, FAO assists governments in all regions of the world in their efforts
to develop comprehensive and coherent forest strategies and policies in support
of the sustainable utilization, conservation and development of NWFPs. A recent
example is the support given (since 1999) to the Iran initiative on low forest
cover countries (LFCCs). The development of NWFPs is considered one of the priority
technical issues to be addressed by the Teheran process. An important research
theme is R&D for new products and economic and market research, including
strategic evaluation of market conditions and opportunities for NWFPs.
Marketing and trade
issues
Another particular
focus of FAO's work on NWFPs is marketing. Activities are directed at increasing
awareness of the importance of marketing in the NWFP sector, to provide information
and understanding of the basic elements of marketing and the business environment
and to increase collaboration between public and private organizations in this
sector.
In October 2000, a seminar on NWFP marketing was organized in Moldova. The seminar was attended mainly by representatives of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
An initiative on these subjects recently launched by the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean is a study on the experiences of certification of NWFPs in Latin America.
More information on the
activities of the FAO NWFP Programme can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm
The website is in 4 languages (English, French, Spanish and Arabic) and also allows access to NWFP publications online, including the bulletin Non-Wood News, the electronic newsletter NWFP-Digest-L, and the database on NWFP organizations.
Laura Russo
Forest Products Division, FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39-06-57052044, Fax: +39-06-57055618
E-mail: laura.russo@fao.org
http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm