SOME RANDOM RESPONSES OF READERS ON THE FIRST ISSUE OF NON-WOOD NEWS
Congratulations on the first edition of Non-Wood News. Such a publication was conspicuously absent from the journal scene... (Prof. George Stewart, Head of Botany Department, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
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The newsletter provides a very useful overview of what is going on in the field of non-wood forest products at present (Dr A.B. Cunningham, People and Plants: the WWF/Unesco/Kew Initiative on Ethnobotany and Sustainable Use of Plant Resources)
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Congratulations on your first issue of Non-Wood News. There is a wealth of useful information, not only for our network, but for anyone interested in non-wood forest species (Mr Paul Stinson, Manager, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, New Delhi)
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Congratulations on an excellent and most needed work (Mr L. Leontiades, Project Manager, Forestry Development in the Sudan, Khartoum)
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Received the first issue of Non-Wood News and find that it is an excellent source of information (Appropriate Technology International, Washington)
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Congratulate you for starting Non-Wood News... It has already provided me with some valuable suggestions (Mr Guido Broekhoven, IUCN Coordinator, Forest Conservation Programme, Nairobi, Kenya)
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Enjoyed reading the first issue of Non-Wood News and was impressed by the large amount of interesting and useful information it contains (Dr P.R. Stevens, Chief Technical Advisor, Development of Appropriate Methods for Community Forestry in Turkey, Ankara)
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First issue of Non-Wood News is the most comprehensive and useful publication on non-wood forest products that I have come across (Mr Frank W. Taylor, Director, Veld Products Research, Gaborone, Botswana)
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With pleasure I read through the first volume of Non-Wood News; I congratulate you on the thorough compilation of useful and relevant information for anybody interested in non-wood or lesser-known forest products (Dr Hannah Jaenicke, MPT Database Manager, ICRAF, Nairobi)
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Just seen your Non-Wood News, well done (Mr W.A. Rodgers, Chief Technical Advisor, Institutional Support for Protection of East African Biodiversity, Dar-es-Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania)
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Sincere congratulations on the excellent job done, pooling together very useful information on NWFP Dr P.M. Ganapathy, Director, Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute, Bangalore, India) Congratulations on the introduction of this informative publication. I look forward to future editions (Prof. Thomas R. Waggener, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, USA)
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I believe the newsletter to be one of the most outstanding in the field of non-wood forest products (Dr Nirmal K. Bhattarai, Research Director, ANSAB, Kathmandu, Nepal)
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I enjoyed reading Non-Wood News 1(1). Some observations:
There was no mention of wildlife and related issues. An idea for the next issue?
Truffles, are not only found on oaks and hazel trees - they can be found on almost any tree or shrub species, if environmental conditions are suitable (pH, humidity, etc.). I have seen them thrive in planted Cupresses atlantica and Pinus radiate in Italy (Mrs C. Palmberg-Lerche, Chief, Forest Resources Management Service, FAO, Rome)
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CORRECTION Dr Hannah Jaenicke, MPT Database Manager, ICRAF, Nairobi, points out that the statement made in the first issue of Non-Wood News regarding ICRAF's activity on multipurpose tree and shrub database (p. 37-38) that "species have been evaluated essentially for food, fodder, wood products and utilities and not for other economic products" is not correct. Dr Jaenicke writes: "In the database, we cover 66 different observed uses of MPTs in five sections, viz. human food, animal fodder, wood products, utilities and services. To give you an idea of the wide span of uses included, there are spices and flavours, food colouring, sericulture, shellac insects, thatching, furniture, railway sleepers, fencing, dyes, cosmetics/hygienics, tobacco, soil fertility improvement, riverbank stabilization, windbreaks, etc." |
I was admiring the diagram on the back cover of your bulletin and appreciate the analogy you make between the tree and the interdependency of the various non-lumber products and services that come from forests. But I could not help but notice that there are huge areas missing in your diagram. Microbes (fungi, bacteria, protozoans) are all essential components of forest ecosystem. And in the case of fungi and bacteria, they produce products with commercial values well in excess of many of the products indicated on the diagram. You should look at the monetary values of these products, they are really quite astounding, but rarely even considered in conservation and resource management policy. Why is this?
Why are they not included on your drawing? I have penned in an alternate branch on your tree for microbial products (where fungi should be placed).
If you can't change the diagram, then I hope this little exercise will help bring microbes to your attention (Dr Gerald Bills, Microbial Bio-Chemistry and Process Research, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey, USA)
There is more to be harvested from forests than trees
Wild oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), Bamenda, Cameroon
Forest palms provide a variety of products: food (in the form of palm heart, fruits, nuts, mesocarp and endocarp), beverages. starch. sugar. edible and industrial oils, fibres, plaiting and thatching materials, flavours, tannin. decorative articles. and raw material for craft and utility products.
M/V5890E/1/3.95/2000
