Ecological Sustainability for Non-timber Forest Products Dynamics and Case Studies of Harvesting

There is growing knowledge about and appreciation of the importance of Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) to rural livelihoods in developing countries, and to a lesser extent, developed countries. However, there is also an assumption on the part of policy-makers that any harvesting of wild animal or plant products from the forests and other natural and modified ecosystems must be detrimental to the long-term viability of target populations and species. This book challenges this idea and shows that while examples of such negative impacts certainly exist, there are also many examples of sustainable harvesting systems for NTFPs. The chapters review and present coherent and scientifically sound information and case studies on the ecologically sustainable use of NTFPs. They also outline a general interdisciplinary approach for assessing the sustainability of NTFP harvesting systems at different scales. A wide range of case studies is included from Africa, Asia and South America, using plant and animal products for food, crafts, textiles, medicines and cosmetics.

Part 1: Examining Non-Timber Forest Product Systems 1. Introduction: The Need to Understand the Ecological Sustainability of Non-Timber Forest Products Harvesting Systems Charlie M. Shackleton, Tamara Ticktin and Ashok K. Pandey 2. Non-Timber Forest Products in Livelihoods Charlie M. Shackleton 3. The Ecological Sustainability of Non-Timber Forest Product Harvest: Principles and Methods Tamara Ticktin 4. The Importance of Environmental History in Evaluating the Sustainability of Non-Timber Forest Product Harvesting Systems Annika C. Dahlberg Part 2: Case Studies of Ecologically Sustainable Non-timber Forest Product Harvest Systems 5. Harvesting of Palm Fruits can be Ecologically Sustainable: A Case of Buriti (Mauritia Flexuosa; Arecaceae) in Central Brazil Maurício Bonesso Sampaio and Flavio Antonio Maës dos Santos 6. Harvesting from the Tree of Life: Responsible Commercialization of Baobab in South Africa and Malawi Lucy Welford, Sarah Venter, Christian Dohse and Itai Chibaya 7. The Road to Sustainable Harvests in Wild Honey Collection: Experiences from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats, India Anita Varghese, Snehlata Nath, Robert Leo and Sumin George Thomas 8. The Sustainability of Small-Scale Fishery Harvests in the Context of Highly Variable Resources Jaime Aburto, Georgina Cundill and Wolfgang Stotz 9. The Sustainability of Soapberry (Sapindus Laurifolia Vahl) Fruit Harvest by the Soliga Community in South India Siddappa Setty R. 10. Moving from the Ecological Sustainability to the Participatory Management of Janaguba (Himatanthus Drasticus– Apocynaceae) Cristina Baldauf, Christiane E. Corrêa, Maísa Ciampi-Guillardi, Julia C. Sfair, Damasio D. Pessoa, Raydine C.F. Oliveira, Marilyn F. Machado, Cícero Íkaro Dantas Milfont, Terry C.H. Sunderland and Flavio A.M. dos Santos 11. Sustainable Bark Harvesting of Important Medicinal Tree Species, India Ashok K. Pandey 12. Cork Oak (Quercus Suber L.): A Case of Sustainable Bark Harvesting In Southern Europe Augusta Costa and Graça Oliveira 13. Sustainability of Golden Grass Flower Stalk Harvesting in the Brazilian Savanna Isabel B. Schmidt, Isabel Benedetti Figueiredo and Tamara Ticktin Part 3: Ecological Sustainability in Dynamic Social Contexts 14. Commercialization and Sustainability: When can they Co-Exist? Rachel Wynberg and Jaci van Niekerk 15. Good Governance: A Key Element of Sustainable Non-Timber Forest Product Harvesting Systems Rebecca J. McLain and Steven Lawry 16. Ecologically Sustainable Harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Products: Disarming the Narrative and the Complexity Charlie M. Shackleton, Ashok K. Pandey and Tamara Ticktin

Charlie M. Shackleton is Professor and Research Chair in the Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, South Africa. Ashok K. Pandey is a scientist and Head of the Non-wood Forest Produce Division, Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi. Tamara Ticktin is Professor in the Department of Botany, University of Hawai‘i, USA.