TY - JOUR
T1 - No forest without timber?
AU - Lawrence, A.
N1 - Article produced while at University of Oxford; full text available from https://ora.ox.ac.uk/
PY - 2003/6/1
Y1 - 2003/6/1
N2 - The spotlight on NTFPs has changed the face of forestry, but is also a product of its time, emerging in the context of increasingly pluralistic forest management. Early hopes that NTFPs would underpin rural livelihoods, and rescue rural populations from poverty while providing them with a reason to protect and manage forests, led to exaggerated claims of economic potential. They also tended to overlook the great diversity of products referred to, in terms of biological characteristics, and social and economic value, whilst simultaneously ascribing unreasonably lofty and altruistic goals to some of the world's poorest people. This overview of the contributions to this special issue of IFR points to the more sophisticated understanding of NTFP potential that has been acquired since the early 1990s. Focus on differences among NTFPs has led to literature around more specific groupings, such as 'bushmeat', 'indigenous forest fruits', or 'medicinal plants', each providing a more useful lens for assessing ways in which such products lead to sustainable rural livelihoods and forest management. However, contemplation of NTFPs as a group reminds us that forestry is a complex multi-stakeholder management system, wherein a focus on any one subset of components cannot ignore the ecological and social systems of which they form part. The methodological developments portrayed here advocate a more systemic approach, combining biological and economic approaches with NTFP users' own perceptions and knowledge within adaptive forest management, thereby side-stepping the hazards of the NTFP category.
AB - The spotlight on NTFPs has changed the face of forestry, but is also a product of its time, emerging in the context of increasingly pluralistic forest management. Early hopes that NTFPs would underpin rural livelihoods, and rescue rural populations from poverty while providing them with a reason to protect and manage forests, led to exaggerated claims of economic potential. They also tended to overlook the great diversity of products referred to, in terms of biological characteristics, and social and economic value, whilst simultaneously ascribing unreasonably lofty and altruistic goals to some of the world's poorest people. This overview of the contributions to this special issue of IFR points to the more sophisticated understanding of NTFP potential that has been acquired since the early 1990s. Focus on differences among NTFPs has led to literature around more specific groupings, such as 'bushmeat', 'indigenous forest fruits', or 'medicinal plants', each providing a more useful lens for assessing ways in which such products lead to sustainable rural livelihoods and forest management. However, contemplation of NTFPs as a group reminds us that forestry is a complex multi-stakeholder management system, wherein a focus on any one subset of components cannot ignore the ecological and social systems of which they form part. The methodological developments portrayed here advocate a more systemic approach, combining biological and economic approaches with NTFP users' own perceptions and knowledge within adaptive forest management, thereby side-stepping the hazards of the NTFP category.
KW - Commercialisation
KW - Conservation
KW - NTFPs
KW - Policy
KW - Poverty alleviation
KW - Rural livelihoods
KW - Sustainable use
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0346645867&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0346645867&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1505/IFOR.5.2.87.17411
DO - 10.1505/IFOR.5.2.87.17411
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0346645867
SN - 1465-5489
VL - 5
JO - International Forestry Review
JF - International Forestry Review
IS - 2
ER -