People and Plants International (2024) Knowledge Exchange and Education. Lessons learned from environmental, biocultural, ethnobiological, and other knowledge exchange programs over the last 30 years.

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Knowledge exchange is a wide and diverse field of activity, and difficult to generalize, but in this document we present some key lessons learned by People and Plants partners around the world, to provide general guidance and thoughts for consideration as groups plan their programs.

Rizki Maharini (2021) Praktek Budidaya, Pengeringan & Penyimpanan Tengkawang.

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This manual is accompanied by two posters on Planting, Drying and Storing of Illipe, produced by Malaysia-based organization MY Transform and its Indonesian partners Yayasan Riak Bumi and Institut Riset dan Pengembangan Teknologi Hasil Hutan (INTAN), in collaboration with Dr Rizki Maharani, Senior Researcher at the Center for Dipterocarp Research, Samarinda, Indonesia.

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Marlina Ardiyani, Lynn Clayton, Arief Hidayat, Ujang Hapid, Zulham R. Tangahu, Nurma Rosalia, James Kumolontang, Dedy Darnaedi (2020) A Picture Guide to the Plants of the Nantu Wildlife Sanctuary.

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Mary Stockdale and Citlalli López Binnqüist (eds) Jutta Blauert, Martha Miranda Jiménez, Erick Arancibia Arias, Fabrice Edouard (2019). Manejo comunitario sustentable de Productos Forestales No Maderables: Un manual para América Latina.

This manual provides guidance to rural communities working to develop, implement and monitor plans for the sustainable management of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). It is also a resource on methods and approaches to the sustainable management of natural resources.
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Valentinus Heri (2017). Memahami Kondisi Terkini dan Kemungkinan di Masa Depan Dari Minyak Tengkawang di Indonesia.

Tengkawang (Borneo illipe nut) is endemic to Kalimantan and its seeds are one of the most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) of the region. Traditionally, tengkawang oil is used as cooking oil, fuel for oil lamps, and as a medicinal ingredient. Tengkawang oil is also used as a cosmetic ingredient, and as a substitute for cocoa butter in the food industry.

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Yayasan Riak Bumi (2016). Manual Madu.

This manual seeks to improve technical skills and the quality of forest honey in the Danau Sentarum National Park. It is written in the form of illustrated narratives covering a range of topics, including harvesting and marketing.

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Silvia Purata, Patricia Gerez and Charles Peters (2016). Manual Para el Monitoreo Comunitario del Crecimiento de Árboles.

This illustrated manual was produced as part of a program to help forest-based communities in Mexico develop their capacities for managing and monitoring their forests, both for timber and for environmental services including carbon capture. Using simple, accessible and effective tools and techniques the manual allows small holders to collect key data to help them make wise management decisions and receive benefits from the REDD+ scheme. This initiative was carried out by Silvia Purata, Patricia Gerez and Charles Peters with funding from USAID’s Program on Global Climate Change, through the Mexico REDD+ Alliance and its partner organizations The Nature Conservancy, Rainforest Alliance, Espacios Naturales y Desarrollo Sustentable A.C and Woods Hole Research Center.
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Yayasan Riak Bumi (2014). Manual pengolahan minyak tengkawang.

Tengkawang oil processing manual. Tengkawang tree (shorea spp) is an endemic plant of Kalimantan, whose fruit is widely used by local people to make oil. Tengkawang fruit is often sold in the form of raw fruit that is processed by drying or smoking and then peeling. During the Tengkawang fruit harvest season, a single village in Kapuas Hulu Regency can produce tens of tons per season. This simple manual is meant to increase the added value of products and provide benefits for the community.

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Belinda Contreras and Miguel Angel Sosme (2014). Los Textiles de la Tlasesekya: Cuentos sobre hilos, telares y vellones.

This audiovisual resource pack, containing a bi-lingual illustrated story book and an audio CD, was produced for the children in traditional weaving communities of Zongolica. These communities raise a native breed of sheep as part of a biodiverse and complex management system that produces the wool and plant-based dyes necessary for high-quality weavings and handcrafts. Download PDF

David García, Alejandra Quintanar and Citlalli López. (2012). Guía Características y Usos de la Madera de Jonote en la Carpintería (Trema micrantha).

This guide was produced as part of ongoing efforts by Citlalli López and her collaborators to promote the use, management and cultivation of this ecologically and economically promising tree species. Jonote currently supplies the raw material for the manufacture of Mexican bark paper (papel amate), a traditional handicraft which supports the livelihoods of hundreds of families of artisans and bark producers, collectors and processors. Using the wood for carpentry adds further value to the tree and makes its use and harvesting more efficient.
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Patricia Shanley, Margaret Cymerys, Murilo Serra and Gabriel Medina (2011). Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life.

This beautifully illustrated 353-page book was co-produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and People and Plants (PPI). It presents detailed profiles of nineteen plant species used as food, medicine and for materials by Amazonian peoples. It also summarizes, using highly accessible language, some of the underutilized opportunities and formidable challenges faced by Amazonia's rich biocultural patrimony. Like its predecessor - a manual published in Portuguese in 2005 - this updated and expanded translation works to bridge the gap in knowledge between scientists and local people.
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Silvia Purata (2008). Uso y Manejo de los Copales Aromáticos: Resinas y Aceites.

This manual is written for people from rural communities to help them collect or extract copal resins and aromatic oils from different species of Bursera in a sustainable manner. The manual has general information on the production of resins and aromatic oils, historic uses of these materials, as well as explanations of the technical-scientific concepts necessary to understand the principles of sustainable management of non-timber forest products.
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Patricia Gerez and Silvia Purata (2008). Guía Práctica Forestal de Silvicultura Comunitaria.

This practical forest management guide is directed towards community forests managers who desire to use their natural resources in a sustainable manner. The guide includes topics such as the history of community forestry in Mexico, understanding the ecosystem, conducting forest inventories, sustainable harvesting, and other benefits or uses of forests such as carbon sequestration and ecotourism.
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Citlalli Lopez, Patricia Shanley and Martha Cuba Cronkleton (eds) (2006). Riquezas del Bosque: Frutas, Remedios y Artesanías en América Latina.

Based on the knowledge of several researchers and local people from different Latin American countries, this manual shares information about selected non-timber forest species. It contains information on marketing, harvesting, preparation and commercialization of key NTFPs, and is written and presented in a style that is both attractive and easily accessible to a broad popular audience.
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Citlalli Lopez, Susana Chanfón and Gerardo Segura (eds) (2005). La Riqueza de los Bosques Mexicanos: Mas Allá de La Madera. Experiencias en Communidades Rurales.

This book profiles 19 NTFP cases from different natural regions (desert to humid tropics) in Mexico. Each case describes the natural, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of non-timber forest products, and their potential and constraints. In brief and accessible language combined with descriptive illustrations, each chapter describes the current production conditions of the 19 NTFPs, which include chicle, spring water, charcoal, fibers, palms, and spices.
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Citlalli López and Patricia Shanley (eds) (2004). Riches of the Forest: Food, Spices, Crafts and Resins of Asia.

This book profiles 20 NTFP cases, including both plant and animal products, and is written by a wide range of specialists from different regions within Asia. Originally published in English, the manual was subsequently translated into Japanese by forestry students and teachers from Kyoto University, as part of their education and forestry training. The volume serves as a basis for knowledge exchange between NTFP producers, students and a larger interested audience.
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Miguel Alexiades, G. Huajo-Huajo, et al. (2004). Ejabawejakiji Ebiohoneki Shemeno Ese Ejaha Sowiho: Para Conocer Los Remedios del Monte.

Researched, written, illustrated with and by six Ese Eja from four different communities, this health manual aims to strengthen the internal capacity of the Ese Eja in Peru and Bolivia to deal with their health issues, and other problems linked to rapid social and ecological change. Providing information on the use of medicinal plants to treat common illness symptoms, this bi-lingual health manual helps secure and re-energize traditional health-care delivery means and resources, and has enabled cross-exchange of knowledge between different Ese Eja communities in Peru and Bolivia.

David Arora, Tony Cunningham, Wang Xianghua, Yang Yongping and Yang Xuefei (2011). Wise harvest of wild mushrooms: a practical handbook.

In partnership with the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB) in China, People and Plants addressed a significant knowledge gap: the economic values and sustainable harvest of mushrooms and fungi. This manual addresses the values of fungi for forest conservation, and links between policy and practice.
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