XI WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS

Antalya, Turkey, 13 to 22 October 1997




VOLUME 3, TOPIC 15


A. K. Mukerji1




    NON-WOODY FOREST PRODUCTS FROM REMOVAL TO INITIAL MARKETING

    Alain Pénelon1 and Mendouga Mebenga2

    The humid forest of the equatorial zone is characterized by considerable biological diversity. Some resources have been exploited since ancient times while in the case of others exploitation has been recent and intensive. This paper considers how nonwoody resources, long held in low regard on account of the priority accorded to commercial timber, are viewed by forest populations.

    The timber industry has triggered many social conflicts by exploiting the timber of several species used for their bark, their fruit or the caterpillars they carry. Beyond these conflicts, it is the economy of households which has been changed by a reduction in own consumption to the benefit of sales, with the modification also - and especially - of the rules governing the removal of, access to and control of resources.

    The study is taking place in the Province of East Cameroon, a feature of which is an imposing stand of 7.5 million ha of semideciduous, sempervirent forest in its southern twothirds and grassier formations with gallery forests in its northern part. The study, conducted among 40 households from 4 villages, is intended to ascertain the socioeconomic importance of nonwoody forest products in the local economy. To achieve the lasting management of this combination of resources, intensifying the present system of barter based on harvesting cannot be envisaged. In fact , it would be liable to cause certain species, particularly the rarest, to disappear. Yet others are still greatly underutilized on a commercial basis.

    1 Agronomist on the API 1 Dimako project, Coopération Française/CIRAD Forêt Campus Baillarguet, MontferriersurLez, BP 5035, 34032 MONTPELL1ER CEDEX1, FRANCE
    2(Luc)Agronomist on the AP1 Dimako project, Eastern Agriculture Delegation, CAMEROON




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