NTFP trade is not likely to reconcile development and conservation

NTFP trade is unlikely to reconcile development and conservation of natural forest, says a study that forms part of the world's largest and most comprehensive NTFP research. On the basis of the analysis of 55 cases across Asia, Africa and Latin America, the study team at CIFOR concludes that commercial production of nontimber forest products is not likely to reconcile the goals of conservation and development. "More of the one tends to mean less of the other", say the researchers. Read on...

"To what extent and under which conditions nontimber forest product (NTFP) trade leads to both livelihood improvement and forest conservation?" This was the question asked by the researchers at Center for International Forestry Research(CIFOR). In order to find an answer they analysed 55 cases of NTFP trade from three continents--Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They developed and used a methodology to assess livelihood and environmental outcomes, based on expert judgments. However, in order to maximize the objectivity they designed two assessment tools that were used by the individual case researchers associated with 55 cases. This was necessary to make the individual assessments systematic, comprehensive, to help ensure that all important issues are considered, and consistent, such that different assessors familiar with the case would make similar assessments. The team analyzed the livelihood and environmental outcomes independently as well as the relationship between the development and conservation outcomes using the statistical tools such as principal component analysis.

The results of the analysis by Koen Kusters, Ramadhani Achdiawan, Brian Belcher and Manuel Ruiz Pérezs shows that overall, nontimber forest product trade has a positive impact on local livelihoods, but there are greater differences in the environmental outcomes. The study shows that: (1) while NTFP trade benefits local livelihoods, it may increase inequality between households; (2) involvement of women in the production-to-consumption system (PCS) tends to have a positive impact on intrahousehold equity; and (3) in 80% of the cases, the commercial production of NTFPs does not enable people to make financial investments to increase quality and quantity of production, limiting the potential for development.

However, the most depressing news to those who have believed NTFP to be the panacea for sustainable forest use, is the finding, as Kusters et al. note, that: "In our set of cases, commercial extraction from the wild, without further management, tends to lead to resource depletion. NTFP production systems are generally considered to have lower environmental values than natural forest, but do contribute positively to the environmental values in the landscape. We found that higher livelihood outcomes are associated with lower environmental outcomes and conclude that NTFP trade is not likely to reconcile development and conservation of natural forest".

How can we link this knowledge to field and policy action? There seem to be a key application of this research. As authors rightly suggest "breaking away from the proposition that NTFP trade automatically reconciles conservation and development objectives will help the relevant agencies to formulate realistic objectives, and to also consider the potential negative effects of their interventions". Efforts to achieve NTFP-based development need to create conditions that enable people to intensify forest product management and production and improve their market access. But these same conditions tend to have negative impacts on natural forests. Governments and conservation and development organizations working in this area need to understand these trade-offs.

To read the full text of the paper go to the open access journal Ecology and Society link given below:
Kusters, K., R. Achdiawan, B. Belcher, and M. Ruiz Pérez 2006. "Balancing development and conservation? An assessment of livelihood and environmental outcomes of nontimber forest product trade in Asia, Africa, and Latin America". Ecology and Society 11(2): 20. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss2/art20/

Other publications can be accessed at the CIFOR website: Just click http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/publications/search and enter the name of author as "Belcher" in the advance search box (Dr Brian Belcher, Principal Scientist at CIFOR led the global NTFP research). Search results will yield links to numerous Full Text reports, papers and documents.