Non-timber Plant Resources· in Tropical Moist Forest: An Ecological Primer

The Biodiversity Support Program (BSP) was established in 1988 with funding from the Research and Development Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), under cooperative agreement number DHR-5554-A-00-8044-00. BSP is implemented by a consortium of World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and the World Resources Institute. The central purpose of the program is to support efforts to conserve biological diversity in developing countries through information, networking, pilot implementation projects, and research and analysis of conservation and development techniques. The cover uses three formats-photo, graphs, and profile-to illustrate the process of monitoring non·-timber forest product harvests. The size-class histograms are derived from measurements like those being taken by the man in the photo. The histogram at time 0 depicts a plant population with a large number of seedlings, fewer saplings and very few adult trees; a similar pattern is illustrated in the profile diagram to the left. The histogram at time 1 shows population structure five years later in a situation where overexploitation has caused a notable decrease in the number of seedlings and saplings. taking diameter measurements in a mixed forest orchard near the village of Ensibau in Sanggau District, West Kalimantan. EJH, CHP, LHP and to all the tropical ecologists and foresters who have laid the foundation for the ideas expressed herein. The promise of achieving conservation and development objectives through "green" forest-based enterprises has excited great enthusiasm. Mechanisms are being devised for ensuring sustainable use of forest products: The Forest Stewardship Council's new certification guidelines for sustainable harvest of timber from tropical forests is one example. Most of the world's forests, however, are harvested for both timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). In many areas occupied by traditional societies, management for NTFPs is part of traditional forest management, but new demands on forests are leading communities to seek more formal monitoring processes to guide the allocation and management of their shrinking biological resources. At the same time, managers of protected areas are seeking ways to accommodate the needs of traditional forest users while maintaining the integrity of the ecosystems that the protected areas were created to safeguard. To meet the widespread demand for formal guidance to determine ecological sustainable harvest levels for non-timber forest products, the Biodiversity Support Program (BSP) commissioned the production of Sustainable Harvest of Non-timber Plant Resources in Tropical Moist Forest: An Ecological Primer. As is true for other guidance for ecological sustainability, …