Dr A B (Tony) Cunningham is an ethnoecologist/applied ecologist working on natural resource use by local people. Over the past 25 years, he has worked in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania), southern Africa (Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa), West Africa (Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire), South Asia (Nepal, India) and to a lesser extent, Oceania (Australia, Fiji) in habitats from desert to tropical rainforest. He has a Ph.D in Botany (University of Cape Town, 1985) and a Master degree in Social Sciences (University of Natal, 1993). He is the author or co-author of over 70 publications, including the book “Applied ethnobotany: people, wild plant use and conservation” (Earthscan, 2001), which is also available in Spanish (2002) and Chinese (2004). He has worked for a conservation agency (1980 - 1984), at a university research institute (1986-1991) and helped start an international conservation programme, the WWF/UNESCO/Kew “People and Plants Initiative” (1992-2004).

Tony Cunningham's main interest is the links between people and conservation, centred on the resource values (economic, medicinal, nutritional, utilitarian) of natural resources to people and conflicts between conservation areas and local communities. In 2004, he was GP Wilder Chair, University of Hawaii teaching an interdisciplinary ethnoecology course bridging marine & terrestrial environments focused on species in trade.

Video Clips:

Marula Kernels

Intsia Measuring

Mata int Intsia

Kava Bowl

Selected Publications:

CUNNINGHAM, A B & M E TERRY. In press. African basketry: grassroots art from southern Africa. Fernwood Press, Cape Town.

CUNNINGHAM, A B, B BELCHER & B M CAMPBELL (eds). in prep. "Carving out a future : tropical forests, livelihoods and the international woodcarving trade". To be published by Earthscan, London (2004).

CUNNINGHAM, A B and C M SHACKLETON. 2004 Use of fruits and seeds from indigenous and naturalized plant species. Chapter 20 in : H Eeeley, C Shackleton and M Lawes (eds) Use and Value of Indigenous Forests and Woodlands in South Africa. University of Natal Press, Pietermartizburg.

CUNNINGHAM, A B and S K CHOGE. 2004. Crafts and Conservation: The Ecological Footprint of International Markets on an African Resource. in : Ethnobotany and Conservation of Biocultural Diversity, T Carlson & L. Maffi (eds.). Advances in Economic Botany Series, The New York Botanical Garden Press.

CUNNINGHAM, A B and M CUNNINGHAM. 2000. Profits, Prunus and the prostate. Ch. 12., pp. 309-329. In : C Zerner (ed) People, plants and justice. Columbia University Press, New York.

CUNNINGHAM, A B and G DAVIS. 1997. Human use of plants. Chapter 20 (pp. 474-506) in : R M Cowling, D M Richardson and S Pierce (eds) Vegetation of southern Africa (Cambridge University Press).

CUNNINGHAM, A B. 2001. Applied ethnobotany : people, wild plant use and conservation. Earthscan, London. [translated into Spanish (2002, see above) & available in Mandarin Chinese in 2004]

CUNNINGHAM, A.B. 1991. Development of a conservation policy on commercially exploited medicinal plants : a case study from southern Africa. pp. 337 - 358, In : Heywood, V., Synge, H & Akerele, O (eds). Conservation of medicinal plants. Cambridge University Press.