Giving Palms a Hand
Millions of people worldwide derive a considerable portion of their subsistence needs and income through the harvest of non-timber forest products. Because this non-timber harvesting has fewer impacts than logging, cattle ranching, and mining, it has been promoted has a method of sustainable development in areas of conservation concern.
However, in most cases the ecological impact of harvest on the target species is unknown, which has lead to vigorous debate on the value of non-timber harvesting to conservation and the socio-economic well-being of rural and marginalized people. Palms are one of most important non-timber forest products, and wild populations are exploited for a wide-range of purposes. Many are listed by CITES or by countries as being threatened, endangered, or at-risk.
Due to their importance and wide distributions, governments, conservation organizations, scientists, and others are interested in developing sustainable palm harvest guidelines with social, economic, and ecological benefits, not only to conserve harvested palm species, but also to protect the ecosystems in which they are found.
Current protocols for certifying sustainable harvest of palm leaves are not science-based and they lack the information to develop appropriate monitoring and certification protocols. Progress has been hindered by the lack of scientific information on the biology, ecology and resource management of palm species.
We are developing improved monitoring and certification protocols for harvest of palm resources using Chamaedorea (Mexico), Brahea (Mexico), and Astrocaryum (Peru) as model systems to advance the science and sustainable management of palms. Our work includes studies on palm natural history, demography, distribution, and abundance, demographic effects of harvest on growth, survival, reproduction, and population dynamics, secondary impacts of harvest in terms of loss of forage for birds and small mammals), and finally, how market forces influence harvester decisions at the local and regional levels.
