Cultivation can increase harvesting pressure on overexploited plant populations

Constraints to Cultivation of Medicinal Plants by Smallholder Farmers in South Africa

Growing demand for therapeutic products from indigenous medicinal plants has led to increased interest in its cultivation, which presents a viable option for improving smallholder farmers’ livelihoods, as well as sustaining the availability of these resources for future generations. Serious bottlenecks however exist for subsistent farmers in the cultivation of these valuable plants. It was pertinent to probe whether the cultivation of medicinal plants provides feasible solutions to rural poverty, while effectively conserving threatened indigenous biodiversity. The paper employed a comprehensive review of existing literature to explore issues constraining smallholder farmers from involvement in a potentially lucrative plant value chain. Findings indicate challenges such as inadequate domestication of valuable plants species, continued over-harvesting from wild populations, poor knowledge of required agronomic practices, low efficacy perception regarding derivatives from cultivated plants, among others. These constraints occur alongside the conservation-oriented strategy driven by international conservation agencies and wholly adopted by the South African government. Recommendations to improve smallholder involvement in the cultivation of medicinal plants include support to research and extension, targeted inducement to smallholders, contracting and off-take agreements, aimed at promoting an alternative poverty-alleviation-focused economic development strategy. The review adds to the conceptual discourse related to plant diversity, resource conservation, poverty alleviation, and economic development

Orchid Obscurity: Understanding Domestic Trade in Wild-Harvested Orchids in Viet Nam

Unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade is a well-known conservation issue, but there are still large gaps in our understanding of how trade chains operate for the majority of over-exploited wildlife products. In particular, the large-scale global plant trade is under-reported and under-researched, and this is even more pronounced when the trade takes place within a country’s borders. A clear example is the trade in orchids, all species of which are listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Although countries such as Viet Nam are known hotspots for the large-scale collection of wild orchids for the international horticultural trade, little is known about how plants move from the wild to the end-consumer, what role is played by domestic markets and the sustainability of this trade. We use a mixed-methods approach to determine the structure of trade chains for orchids in key trading areas of Northern Viet Nam, and use a thematic framework to identify five groups of actors trading wild-harvested orchids. Trade occurs both domestically and internationally, underpinned by demand for rare, wild plants. An important first step to address the illegal and unsustainable plant trade is to recognise it as a major and growing conservation issue, and develop diverse approaches that consider the complexity of the supply chains involved. It is imperative that the scale and process of domestic trade is understood, and its impact on long term conservation of these species assessed to make more informed decisions about effective interventions that take into account the full supply chain.

Understanding complex drivers of wildlife crime to design effective conservation interventions

In conservation understanding the drivers of behavior and developing robust interventions to promote behavioral change is challenging and requires a multifaceted approach. This is particularly true for efforts to address illegal wildlife use, where pervasive-and sometimes simplistic-narratives often obscure complex realities. We used an indirect questioning approach, the unmatched count technique, to investigate the drivers and prevalence of wildlife crime in communities surrounding 2 national parks in Uganda and combined scenario interviews and a choice experiment to predict the performance of potential interventions designed to tackle these crimes. Although poverty is often assumed to be a key driver of wildlife crime, we found that better-off households and those subject to human-wildlife conflict and those that do not receive any benefits from the parks' tourism revenue sharing were more likely to be involved in certain types of wildlife crime, especially illegal hunting. The interventions predicted to have the greatest impact on reducing local participation in wildlife crime were those that directly addressed the drivers including, mitigating damage caused by wildlife and generating financial benefits for park-adjacent households. Our triangulated approach provided insights into complex and hard-to-access behaviors and highlighted the importance of going beyond single-driver narratives.

The Processing of Non-Timber Forest Products through Small and Medium Enterprises—A Review of Enabling and Constraining Factors

Research Highlights: This study reviews the available literature on processed non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in order to comprehensively identify relevant factors enabling or constraining their potential to contribute to rural development. Background and Objectives: NTFPs, such as wild foods, medicinal plants, and raw materials for handicrafts, make significant contributions to rural livelihoods. NTFPs can help fulfil households' subsistence and consumption needs, serve as a safety-net in times of crises, and provide cash income. In particular, the processing of NTFPs has often been suggested to positively influence sustainable economic development in rural areas. However, despite rising interest and recognition of the potential contributions of such industries as key sources of employment and their strategic role in overall growth strategies of developing countries, many NTFP processing enterprises remain in the informal sector and an in-depth understanding of the underlying factors is lacking. This review aims to identify enabling and constraining factors affecting NTFP processing enterprises. Materials and Methods: Using systematic review methodology, studies investigating commercialized, processed NTFPs and their economic impacts have been identified and the current evidence base with regard to NTFP processing and small and medium sized enterprise (SME) development synthesized. Results: Despite the diverse nature of NTFPs, a number of constraining and enabling factors affecting NTFP processing and commercialization were identified. The former includes aspects such as the lack of resource access (finances, skills, technologies, etc.), market information, and basic infrastructure; the latter, amongst others, the role of key entrepreneurs; and cooperation across the value chain, amongst producers, and among members of the institutional environment or an abundant resource base. Moving from small-scale NTFP commercialization in local markets to more mature NTFP value chains reaching export markets, the increasing role of cooperation and having a supportive institutional framework in place, becomes apparent. Conclusions: Overall, successful NTFP processing strongly depends on the socio-economic and environmental context in question, requiring a holistic approach tailored to the respective context and value chain.

Asian Medicinal Plants’ Production and Utilization Potentials: A Review

Medicinal plants research in Asia continues to receive significant national and international attention, particularly concerning its multiple roles in poverty alleviation and health care support. However, scientific information on the institutional arrangements, the potentials of different medicinal plants production systems, and the utilization methods, remain highly fragmented. This incomprehensive information base shades the development of a comprehensive research agenda to improve the current body of knowledge, at least in the context of Asia. To address this impasse and propose future research perspectives, we systematically reviewed 247 journal articles, 15 institutional reports, and 28 book chapters. From the reviews, five key lessons are drawn: (i) Asian medicinal plant production systems demonstrate some dynamics, characterized by a gradual but continuous shift from wild gathering to cultivation, (ii) sub-regional variations exist with regards to the appreciation of medicinal plants potentials for traditional healing, modern healthcare and livelihoods support, (iii) knowledge on the effect of multi-scale institutional arrangements (formal and informal) on medicinal plant management practices is fragmented, (iv) very few studies dwell on the challenges of medicinal plants commercialization, particularly with regards to the role of middlemen, boom–bust cycle, raw material readiness, and product quality, and (v) law enforcement, benefit and knowledge sharing, and research and development should be prioritized to serve the interest of medicinal plants production actors. To further extend the body of knowledge on medicinal plants in Asia, we advance the need for empirical investigations on the performance of medicinal plants production systems and their contribution to livelihoods in diverse institutional contexts.

Conservation impacts of commercial cultivation of endangered and overharvested plants

Overharvesting is one of the greatest threats to species survival. Farming overharvested species is a conservation strategy that can meet growing market demand and conserve wild populations of the target species. This strategy is compatible with the international community's desire to uphold the right of local communities to use biological resources to support their livelihoods. However, studies investigating whether farming can alleviate poaching pressure have focused almost exclusively on animals. To address the shortfall in plant-focused studies, we compiled information on commercial cultivation of threatened plants to assess its conservation benefits. Because China's rising middle class has rapidly intensified demand for wildlife products, we searched the scientific literature published in Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Baidu) and in English. We found 32 reports that contained data on 193 internationally or nationally threatened plant species that were under commercial cultivation. These reports showed that cultivations of 82% of the 193 species were sustained by collecting whole plants from the wild periodically or continuously. Although based on a small sample size, species that were maintained in cultivation only through artificial propagation or seeds collected in the wild were likely associated with a reported reduction in wild harvesting of whole plants. Even so, results of correlation analyses suggested that production system, scale, and when a species began being cultivated had little effect on conservation status of the species, either globally or in China. However, species brought into cultivation relatively recently and on a smaller scale were more likely to have undergone a reduction in collecting pressure. Farming of nonmedicinal plants was most problematic for species conservation because wild plants were laundered (i.e., sold as cultivated plants). For effective conservation, policy to guide cultivation operations based on the target species' biological characteristics, cultural significance, market demand, and conservation status is needed.

Black Truffle Harvesting in Spanish Forests: Trends, Current Policies and Practices, and Implications on its Sustainability

The European black truffle is a mycorrhizal fungus native to Spanish Mediterranean forests. In most Spanish regions it was originally commercially harvested in the second half of the 20th century. Experts agree that wild truffle yields suffered a sharp decline during the 1970s and 1980s. However, official statistics for Spanish harvest are scarce and seemingly conflicting, and little attention has been paid to the regime for the exploitation of truffle-producing forests and its implications on the sustainability of this resource. Trends in harvest from 1969 to 2013 and current harvesting practices were analyzed as a case study, taking into account that Spain is a major truffle producer worldwide, but at the same time truffles have only recently been exploited. The available statistical sources, which include an increasing proportion of cultivated truffles since the mid-1990s, were explored, with estimates from Truffle Harvesters Federation showing higher consistency. Statistical sources were then compared with proxies for wild harvest (rents from truffle leases in public forests) to corroborate time trends in wild harvesting. Results suggest that black truffle production is recovering in recent years thanks to plantations, whereas wild harvest is still declining. The implications of Spanish legal and institutional framework on sustainability of wild truffle use are reviewed. In the current scenario, the decline of wild harvest is likely to continue and eventually make commercial harvesting economically unattractive, thus aggravating sustainability issues. Strengthening of property rights, rationalization of harvesting pressure, forest planning and involvement of public stakeholders are proposed as corrective measures.