Karis
McFarlane and Emera
Bridger
On Tuesday
February 19, 2002, Dr. Marla Emery, a research geographer for the USDA Forest
Service Northeastern Research Station, spoke on “Alternative
Economies in a Forested Landscape: Non-Timber Forest Products.” Dr. Emery was
thoroughly excited to share her work with students and faculty at ESF. Her belief in the importance of her work was
immediately evident.
For the
purposes of her studies, Dr. Emery defined non-timber forest products as any plant
or fungal product other than wooden boards or paper. Her scope did not include wildlife or timber
harvested on any scale for any use. She
described four categories of use for NTFPs including: sale in raw form, sale in
processed form, personal consumption, and gift giving. She went on to describe the role of NTFPs in
human-forest interactions including the economic and the ecological.
Dr. Emery
explained that the majority of NTFPs harvested are not used for market-based
sale. In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, for
example, NTFPs are only used for sale 40% of the time. This means that traditional Neoclassical
economics acknowledges the contribution of NTFPs to harvesters livelihoods less
than half of the time. Alternative
economic uses of NTFPs include personal consumption of edibles and medicinals
by a harvester’s household, ceremonials, and decoratives not sold for a profit.
The use of NTFPs is especially important on the household economy level. They supplement other earnings, bridge income
gaps, and provide a flexible commodity for times of special need. NTFP harvesting allows people to maintain
their livelihood in areas where traditional employment opportunities are
scarce. Individuals’ needs change over
their lifespan as do their dependence and use of NTFPs. Non-timber forest products also support local
microenterprises such as a monastery-based jam and jelly business that Dr.
Emery provided as an example.
NTFPs also
provide people with a detailed and localized knowledge about the forest and it’s
plant and fungal species. They
contribute to community and household values.
Provide for the intergenerational relationships and knowledge transfer. They also allow households an alternative to
government assistance and help people to stay in areas where employment
opportunities are few.
The common assumption in popular ecology is that
productive human activity degrades ecosystems.
Dr. Emery argued that different types of human activity effect the
environment in different ways and at different levels. Most harvesters of NTFPs are aligned with
conservation efforts. They are very
concerned with management practices, as these practices have an immediate
impact on non-timber species and their ability to harvest them. NTFPs provide alternative economic development
opportunities as well as alternative human-environment interactions.
During the
questions that followed Dr. Emery’s talk, she expressed concern over the
increasing commercialization of the floral and herbal medicinal
industries. Another source of concern is
the trend of the closing of the commons.
As land continues to be transferred into private hands and regulations
over the use of public land increase, NTFP harvesters may find it more
difficult to harvest and use NTFPs as they have used them in the past. This could have large impacts on the ability
of NTFP harvesters to support themselves, eliminate this aspect of the
human-nature relationship, and lead to the loss of vast amounts of local
knowledge.
