Non-Wood News 24

An information bulletin on Non-Wood Forest Products

May 2012

This is my last issue of Non-Wood News as your editor so I am glad that it is such a special one! It is special because it highlights the exceptional partnerships we have made and the truly rich information that has been generated.

The first important partnership is with Rainforest Alliance, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Deanna Newsom, the manager of the Rainforest Alliance’s Kleinhans Fellowship contacted Non-Wood News last year to see if we would like to be involved in their anniversary celebrations by highlighting the work of the Kleinhans Fellowships, which are two-year fellowships dedicated exclusively to research into non-wood forest products. The Special Feature in the present issue is a direct result of this collaboration, and includes nine original essays from researchers past and present who have been awarded such a fellowship.

The second partnership highlighted in this issue is the one with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and People and Plants International. I was contacted by Patricia Shanley, Senior Research Associate at CIFOR, some years ago, to see how we could collaborate together to co-produce an updated English version of a unique publication that had then only been published in Portuguese. Its uniqueness lies in its emphasis on communicating scientific information and results in a way that non-scientists – for example, local people who have interacted with the scientists – can understand and use: a form of “respectful research”. Our partnership culminated in the publication of Fruit trees and useful plants in Amazonian life, which was launched in December 2011at a ceremony at FAO headquarters marking the close of the International Year of Forests with Patricia, who was lead editor of the publication, as the guest
speaker. Her speech (which was truly inspirational and met with lengthy applause), together with extracts from the publication are featured in this issue.

The third partnership covered concerns the collaboration on edible insects with Wageningen University of the Netherlands, which led to the workshop – “Assessing the potential of insects as food and feed in assuring food security”– that took place in January at FAO headquarters. This was the first time that the many different actors in the sector came together to discuss the varied role of edible insects in food security issues. A report on the workshop, together with coverage on different aspects of edible insects – for example, food or feed – can be found in this issue.

And this brings me to the last partnership – the partnership between Non-Wood News and you, its readers. After being involved in 21 issues of Non-Wood News, and having worked in FAO since 1978, it is time for me to “move on”. I would like, therefore, to thank the many people with whom I have been in contact over the years, those of you who have kindly shared their research or written articles, those who have sent an interesting link or provided me with a copy of their latest publication – or those of you who have just sent kind words. It has always been encouraging to know that Non-Wood News has such an active readership. Thank you also to all the scientists and researchers who have willingly shared their viewpoints through the guest article. Non- Wood News has been a joy and a real privilege for me to produce because of you all and I will certainly miss that! Final thanks go to my great team (Roberta, Claudia, Anouchka, Deliana, Giulia and Susy) who have helped me over the years

I would like to end by remembering the founder and first editor of Non-Wood News: Dr Cherukat Chandrasekharan (1933–2007). It was his recognition of the vital role and importance of NWFPs in the
lives and livelihoods of many people worldwide that led him to create Non-Wood News in 1994 as a vehicle to raise awareness and disseminate the latest thinking from the world of NWFPs. The importance of NWFPs remains – as you, the readers of Non- Wood News, well know. I would like to close by wishing you all the best in the future.

Tina Etherington

NON-WOOD NEWS

is compiled and coordinated by Tina Etherington, FAO Forest Economics, Policy and Products Division. Language editing by Roberta Mitchell and Anouchka Lazarev; design, graphics and desktop publishing by Claudia Tonini.

Non-Wood News is open to contributions by readers. Contributions are welcomed in English, French and Spanish and may be edited to fit the appropriate size and focus of the bulletin.
If you have any material that could be included in the next issue of Non-Wood News for the benefit of other readers, kindly send it, before 31 August 2012, to:
NON-WOOD NEWS – FOE
FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome, Italy
E-mail: [email protected]
www.fao.org/forestry/nwfp/nonwood.htm

FAO home page: www.fao.org

All Internet links cited were checked on 24 October 2011. Articles express the views of their authors, not necessarily those of FAO. Authors may be contacted directly for their reference sources. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) are goods of biological origin other than wood, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs), another term frequently used to cover this vast array of animal and plant products, also include small wood and fuelwood. However, these two terms are used synonymously throughout this bulletin. Other terms, such as “minor”, “secondary” or “speciality” forest products, are sometimes used to keep original names and/or titles.