The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

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Non-timber products
The cultural context of biodiversity conservation
Non-timber products play an essential role for ensuring food supplies and health care.
They provide critical support to seasonally dependent agricultural production in times
of shortage, especially in interim periods between the harvests or in cases of drought
or crop failure. 28 Thus, they significantly supplement the overall diversity and nutritional
quality of the peasants' diet. A large variety of edible, medicinal and other useful
products for construction, ornamentation, artisanry and the like are obtained from the
forest, the fallow lands and pastures. In particular, the forest supplies materials for
house construction, granaries or nurseries such as lianas (*kurarina k'aam, pita roja),
which are used to tie up beams, and palm fronds for roofing. 29 Likewise, talquetzal (Poaceae),
which grows in the guamil of the first order, serves as material for making thatches,
just like chispa (Pteridium aquilinum), which is used for the roofs of nurseries to
provide shade for the plants grown in the seedbeds. Moreover, the forest provides
many plants gathered for nutritional purpose. Important trees providing the peasants
with fruits include anona (Annona diversifolia), aguacate (Persea americana), zapote (Pouteria
mammosa), mamey (Mammea americana), chicozapote (Lucuma durdlandii), guayaba (Spondias
sp.), guanaba (Annona muricata) and huevo de coche (Pithecelobium arboreum). Likewise, herbal
plants are of particular relevance to the diet of the villagers, as they contain high levels
of minerals. The most important ones are *maakuy or hierba mora (Solanum americanum),
*ch'onte' (Solanaceae) and bledo (Amaranthus hybridus). These are gathered mostly on the
fallow lands. Hierba mora is found on the milpa but is also planted in the home gardens,
just like samat (Eryngium foetidum), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), chiltepe (Capsicum annum),
chile rojo (Capsicum frutescens), cocoa (Theobroma cacao), coffee (Coffea arabiga), güisquil
(Sechium edule), papaya (Carica papaya) and ginger (Zingiber officinale). Apart from the use
of herbs and fruits for alimentation, mushrooms also form part of the staple diet. In
both communities they are commonly collected in the season between April and June
and between October and November, when the rains end. In San Benito, for instance,
*asam (Schizophyllum commune) is found in the forest beneath the rotten trunks of the palo
sangre (Virola koschnyi).
Non-timber products are often gathered by women accompanied by their children
of both sexes. Thereby the women teach their children from an early age to recognise
edible fruits and other useful plants. These are gathered when the opportunity arises,
for instance, when collecting firewood. But there are also times when the women go
to the forest or fallows with the purpose to gather particular products, such as materials
for the weaving of baskets. In both communities several women were specialised
in the production of baskets made of bayal (Desmoncus orthacanthos) and other items
made of leaves of the corozo palm (Orbignya cohune).
28 In many parts of the world, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are an important component of
local economies. For further details and examples of this traditional resource use pattern, see Plants,
People, and Culture. The Science of Ethnbotany by Balick & Cox (1997).
29 Depending on the size, the farmers need around 250 leaves for one roof, which is said to last for
up to six years.