Closing remarks
Fritz Shumacher has argued that land management should define health, beauty and permanence as its three main goals. Unfortunately, up to recent, the only goal accepted by development experts was productivity, while the negative consequences that this exclusive concentration had on ecological and social stability was neglected. Even more, there was no consideration of the fact that management practices, which target the three prime goals, can eventually result to productivity. Managing woodlands for NTFPs can contribute to the maintenance of the health, beauty and permanence of Mediterranean landscapes. To do so, investments on land need to locate and capitalise on existing knowledge of multi-management of forests. Any aid given for the introduction of new economic activities should follow a piecemeal approach and be based on the existing potential of Mediterranean woodland resources. This applies equally to the double experience of Mediterranean countries. In the north, where abandonment lead to the decline of original management methods and left only migration as the option for rural populations, reconsidering the values of NTFPs could create small poles of attractions in the countryside. But this could not be more urgent than in the south, where intensification of management has violated balances and has given reasons to experts to push for the adoption of imported land management methods based on mono-specific cultures, which supposedly could lead to the solution of existing problems. The time is now to act and establish small to medium scale operations, which would organise forest management for NTFPs, address ecological and social needs of rural populations and preserve the centuries-old rich natural and cultural landscape.
References
Baumann, H., The Greek Flora in Myth, Art and Literature, Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, 1993
Beretsos Marinos, personal communication (chestnut certification)
Diamatis Stefanos, personal communication (chestnut certification)
Direccão General das Florestas, Report on cork, Portugal, 1990
Economist, the, May 4th 1996r report on cork,
Eutichidis, Y., The last stone pine stand, Nea Oikologia, April 1988 (in Greek)
FAO Forestry Paper 97, Non-wood Forest Products: the Way Ahead, 1991
FAO Non-wood Forest Products 1, Flavours and Fragrances of Plant Origin, 1995
FAO Non-wood Forest Products 11, Medicinal Plants for Forest Conservation and Health Care, 1997
FAO Non-wood Forest Products 3, International Expert Consultation on Non-wood Forest Products, 1995
FAO Non-wood Forest Products 3, International Expert Consultation on Non-wood Forest Products, 1995
FAO Non-wood Forest Products 7, Non-wood Forest Products for rural Income & Sustainable Forestry, 1995
FAO Non-wood Forest Products 8, Trade restrictions affecting International Trade in Non-wood Forest Products, 1995
FAO Non-wood Forest Products 9, Domestication and Commercialisation of Non-timber Forest Products in Agro-foresty Systems, 1995
Frison E., Varela M., C. & Turok J., Quercus suber Network, IPGRI, 1995
Gilgamesh, a verse narrative by Herbert Mason, Mentor Books, 1972
Kalem Sedat, personal communication (styrax oil)
Kannelis, Y., Strofilia, Nea Oikologia, July 1998 (in Greek)
Lange, D., Europe's Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, their Use, Trade and Conservation, TRAFFIC International 1998 Baldini, S., Produits Forestiers non lignieux dans la region Mediterraneenne, FAO report, Rome, 1993
McNeil, J. R., The mountains of the Mediterranean World, Cambridge U.P., Cambridge, 1992
Papageorgiou Aristotelis, personal communication (Parnon chestnuts)
Perikos, Y., The mastic gum of Chios, Perikos Publications, 1990
Peters, C., M., The Ecology and Management of Non-Timber Forest Resources, World Bank Technical Paper number 322, Washington DC, 1996
Pierce A., Certification of Non-timber Forest Products, FSC Notes, vol. 1, is. 3, 1996
Politis Yorgos, personal communication (chestnut certification)
Rainforest Alliance, NTFP certification Guidelines produced by the NTFP Marketing and Certification Project
Regato, P., Jim-nez-Caballero, S., Elena-RossellÙ, R. & CastejÙn, M., in press report in: S. Mazzoleni, P. Di Martino, G. Di Pasquale & F. Rego (Eds.): Dynamics of Mediterranean Vegetation Landscape, Gordon & Breach Pub., Reading, U.K.
Regato-Pajares, P., Mediterranean Forests: an Introduction, in SILVA 96 Handbook - a WWF Course on Mediterranean Forests, 1996
Roberts, N., The Holocene: an Environmental History, Blackwell, 1994
Schultz A. M., et al., Agroforestry in Greece, working document, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki / School of Forestry & Natural Environment / Department of Range & Wildlife Science / Laboratory of Range Science, 1987
Sfikas, Y., Medicinal Plants of Greece, Efstathiadis Group A. E., 1995 (in Greek)
Shumacher, E. F., Small is Beautiful, Vintage, 1993
Svoronou Eleni, Literature Anthology on Mediterranean Forests, Unpublished Document, WWF Greece (in Greek)
Theophrastus, Aetiology of Plants, Kaktos, 1998 (2 volumes, in Greek)
Theophrastus, History of Plants, Kaktos, 1998 (3 volumes, in Greek)
Viana M. V. et al., Certification of Forest products, Issues and Perspectives, Island Press, Washington D.C., 1996.
Vokou, D., Mediterranean Forests, unpublished report to WWF Greece, 1996
Walter Sven, FAO, personal communication (NTFP definition)
Web posting, Under-utilised Mediterranean Species - Pistacia Network, WWW report on Pistacia Genetic Resources Network