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Newsletter Number
2 The Third Phase of People & Plants is now underway, and there is much activity to report, ranging from new publications to continuing activity in the field. We intend to make our achievements and experiences available to a wide audience by regular updates to this website and through an efficient link to up-to-date information on related projects around the globe, the latter with the kind help of the staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. New Publications The People & Plants Conservation Manual series deals with many of the topics at the heart of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the general theme of practical plant conservation, and will together provide a valuable body of reference for a wide range of readers. The recent highlight is undoubtedly the publication of Tony Cunningham’s key work Applied Ethnobotany, which is central to the People & Plants approach. This book is based firmly on Tony’s excellent fieldwork and extensive knowledge of plant conservation on the ground, and therefore provides a splendid guide to how ethnobotanical investigations should be carried out in the real world. You will note that the manual series has now moved into a new, somewhat larger format. This design allows more flexibility for this kind of material, with its figures, tables and case-studies. All future manuals will be published in this format. Another major development is the relationship we have established with a Spanish language publisher, Editorial Nordan of Montevideo, Uruguay. This will help us to get the manuals out to the Spanish-reading world, especially in Latin America. The first four books, including Tony Cunningham’s manual, are part of this Spanish programme, and the first is now published as: Pueblos y Plantas The following two manuals have been recently re-issued by Earthscan: Plant invaders: the threat to natural ecosystems People, Plants and Protected Areas: a guide to in-situ
management Three new manuals are now in press with Earthscan, and these will be published over the coming year. These deal with methods for valuing woodland and forest resources (Campbell & Luckert), the management, certification and marketing potential of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) (Shanley et al.), and a detailed book looking at equitable partnerships and traditional knowledge (Laird). Some material relating to the latter publication will be made available later in the year through this website. At least two future manuals are planned – one focussing on the key topic of best practice in plant conservation and an overarching book drawing together many of the varied strands we consider important in the people, plants and conservation interface. Watch this space for more news! As part of our efforts to carry the message of People & Plants to a wider audience, the journal Plant Talk is publishing an article which explains the background to the initiative and illustrates some of the central field projects with which our local experts have been involved. Plant Talk (now the Bulletin of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii) is an excellent publication offering news and views on plant conservation worldwide. Please visit their website for details. People & Plants Videos Two new videos (see below) have been produced, and will be duplicated for distribution this year. The first deals with the achievements of the People and Plants Initiative as a global programme, and the second with the work on medicinal plant conservation in Nepal. Details of these and other People & Plants videos are given on the Videos page. Footage for the sixth video in the series, ‘Beneath the skin: methods for studying bark use’ has been completed, and work is being done on the script so that the editing will be completed this year. Ironically, although bark is so widely used for fibre, paper, medicines, spices such as cinnamon or a source of tannins, methods for studying bark use are poorly known: something that this new video will help address. Details of the availability of the videos will be posted soon on this website. PEOPLE, PLANTS & PRACTICE: plant conservation through ethnobotanical training This video shows some of the practical outcomes of the global ‘People and Plants Initiative’ for field conservation, starting with botanical inventory, as one of the most basic, yet most necessary, steps for conservation and resource management. It then illustrates the types of approaches taken in combining training and research on solutions to field conservation problems. It covers P&P projects in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific where applied ethnobotanical work takes places in key sites representing 8 of the Global 200 priority ecoregions, five of which are critically endangered. Because the link between people and plants is so fundamental to the conservation of both biological and cultural diversity, it concentrates on the core of our capacity building: training in applied ethnobotany, providing people with cross-disciplinary skills highly relevant to conservation action. The video ends with an answer to the question: what happens when the ‘People and Plants Initiative’ ends? MEDICINAL PLANTS IN THE HIDDEN LAND OF DOLPO: working with Himalayan healers at Shey Phoksundo National Park, Nepal Tibetan health-care traditions and their links to landscape and culture are central to the medicinal plants conservation programme supported in Shey Phoksundo National Park in the alpine meadows of the Eastern Himalaya, Nepal. With the cultural perception that the people’s health is linked to that of the environment, medicinal plant conservation and health-care are closely inter-related in the Dolpo region. In addition, local traditional healers, or amchis, are not only responsible for provision of health-care, but also for environmental management, such as the regulation of grazing in alpine pastures. The new challenge being faced is large-scale commercial trade of medicinal plants from this area of Nepal to India and elsewhere, with at least 40 tonnes of medicinal plants exported from the Shey Phoksundo National Park area in 1996/97. An example given in this video is the reduction of local self-sufficiency in popular and effective herbal medicines such as Nardostachys grandiflora and Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora. The video is the work of P&P, which since 1997 has been studying systems of management used for medicinal plants by local amchis, and investigating how they can be strengthened. The new role of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the Third Phase of People and Plants For this third phase of People and Plants, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is concentrating on information support for the project. This takes two forms. First, a selective list of links from the Kew website to other websites useful for ethnobotany, accessible via links from People & Plants. There is an increasing wealth of solid, useful information freely available on the web, but it can be difficult to locate it amongst so much material. Subject categories will include: Agriculture The Kenyan ‘Good Wood’ Campaign is still going strong and needs your support You may have read on our website about the Kenyan ‘Good Wood’ campaign. This campaign aims to make the Kenyan woodcarving industry sustainable by advocating a solution based on switching from slow-growing hardwoods to fast-growing, sustainably-produced ‘Good-Woods’. The campaign also advocates Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) endorsed certification of ‘Good Wood’ carvings as a means of ensuring that the economic benefits of carving accrue to the carvers, while helping to conserve the environment. More awareness-raising with carving importers and tourists buying souvenirs is planned after the initial success of achieving the support of the Fair Trade importers of carvings, OXFAM and Traidcraft. Both these organisations are now committed not only to import fairly-traded Kenyan carvings, but ‘Good Wood’ carvings made from tree species such as neem (Azadirachta indica). Work is also continuing towards achieving FSC certification of ‘Good Wood’ carvings. A management plan for the pilot carving co-op of the Malindi Handicraft Society, Kenya is nearing completion. Its adoption will bring the carving co-op closer to meeting the FSC standards of environmental, social and economic sustainability of wood sourcing and sale of wood products as defined by FSC (www.fscoax.org), the most respected timber certification organisation. The independent FSC certifier Soil Association - Woodmark (www.soilassociation.org) will be conducting a visit to assess and advise on the next steps towards certification. Watch this space for further news. In the third phase of People and Plants, a sustainable woodcarving theme has been initiated. This theme has a global remit, and intends to share lessons from Kenya and to fund wood carving case-studies from around the world to develop best practices in woodcarving – often a significant source of rural livelihoods, but often also a conservation threat. In the meantime, you as a consumer, researcher or member of an environmental organisation can spread the message about this exciting initiative and its potential for achieving sustainable woodcarving in Kenya and beyond! Pakistan – forest use and conservation Dr. Zabta K. Shinwari (WWF-Pakistan) is Technical Co-ordinator for this important project, the purpose of which is to strengthen the abilities of communities in Pakistan to conserve biodiversity and use plant resources sustainably. The Project will provide grants, mainly at MSc level, to train ethnobotanists (mostly registered at local universities) engaged in research on practical issues of conservation and sustainable use of plant resources. Thematic workshops will be held to provide training to other professionals, analyse the results of research and determine potential follow-up conservation activities. One such workshop was held recently on participatory forest management. The main field site in Pakistan will be Ayubia National Park, where there is much conflict between communities and park managers over forest use. The Project will concentrate on promotion of community tree-planting, adoption of fuelwood-efficient stoves, and education. It will also promote the teaching of applied ethnobotany in universities and colleges, including through the provision of grants to prepare case-studies for use as curriculum materials. There will be support for the strengthening, or creation of, ethnobotanical societies and networks. National reviews of ethnobotany will be undertaken, including identification of key areas of focus in applied ethnobotany in the future. The above is a selection of recent activity in this new People & Plants phase. We will strive to keep you up to date with future editions of this on-line newsletter. Martin Walters | |||
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