NWFP-Digest-L
No. 3/09
Welcome to FAO's NWFP-Digest-L, a free e-mail journal that covers all aspects of non-wood forest products. Back issues of the Digest may be found on FAO's NWFP home page: www.fao.org/forestry/site/12980/en.
You can take part in contributing to the continued success of this newsletter by sharing with the NWFP community any news that you may have regarding research, events, publications and projects. Kindly send such information to NWFP-Digest-L@mailserv.fao.org:We also appreciate any comments or feedback.
A special thank you to all those who have sent me links to information and also to Adam DeHeer for his help with this issue.
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1. Acai berry, SuperFood or SuperFraud?
2. Bamboo: Are eco-conscious consumers being bamboozled?
3. Bamboo firewood and charcoal program in Ethiopia and Ghana
4. Bushmeat in Gabon: Urban hunters do most harm to ape populations
5. Bushmeat in Madagascar: Frogs important food source
6. Bushmeat in Tanzania: Bushmeat hunting constitutes the most immediate threat to wildlife
7. Cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) could tackle dengue fever
8. Chicozapote tree provides new biodegradable chewing gum Chicza
9. Cork: World's first winery to earn FSC certification
10. Frankincense: A brief catch-up
11. Frankincense oil may be a treatment for bladder cancer
12. Maples in Korea: Gorosoe sap – prized elixir from South Korean forests
13. Medicinal Plants: Nigeria revokes sickle cell drug license
14. Moss: Oakmoss and Treemoss
15. Palm fronds: Palms for Palm Sunday, fair trade and eco-friendly
16. Sclerocarya birrea: A lesser know NWFP of Africa
17. Bhutan: CountrySTAT-Bhutan – Everything you need to know about agriculture in Bhutan
18. Brazil: Land boost for Indians
19. Bolivia: Tree iguanas targeted by hunters as source of traditional medicine
20. Cambodia: 'Ecstasy oil' distilleries threaten rainforests
21. Cameroon: Life around Ngovayang Forest
22. China: Fund aims to preserve culture of conservation in Tibetan communities
23. Georgia: Breakthrough sustainable forest use plan
24. India: Ethnic groups crucial to bio-diversity
25. Madagascar: Scramble to log valuable rainforest trees in midst of crisis
26. Nepal: Small changes improve Nepalese communities' relationship to forest
27. Perú: Dos millones de plantones de camu camu
28. Tanzania: Traditional practices contribute to conservation of medicinal plants
29. Vietnam: Nghe An exports rattan products for the first time
30. Zambia plans to increase honey production
31. Africa: Minister tasks continent on bio-resources development
32. Birdflu antivirus sourced from Indian trees
33. Carnegie Research Fellowship Program accepting applications
34. Finland/FAO provide €14 million for data collection and management skills
35. Forests Move Rain: Study revolutionizes meteorology
36. Plant workshop winds up in Botswana with resolve to create a regional network
37. UNEP-WCMC launches new Carbon and Biodiversity Atlas
38. Request for information: Rural livelihoods and forest income
39. Second Gender and Forestry Conference
40. Biodiversity Hotspots in the Mediterranean Area
41. Indigenous Plant Use Forum (IPUF) 2009 Annual Conference
42. IPROMO Course on "Developing economic opportunities for mountain areas"
43. Decentralization, Power and Tenure Rights of Forest-Dependent People
44. Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources seeking experts in multiple fields
45. FAO accepting applications for Chief Technical Advisor in Cameroon
46. IFS accepting applications from young scientists
47. World Resources Institute (WRI) is seeking a results-oriented Senior Associate
LITERATURE REVIEW AND WEB SITES
48. IIED papers: How to protect forests, improve lives and tackle climate change
49. Research Publications on Jatropha and Pongamia
50. Other publications of interest
52. Photovoices: New way to share TK
53. Search for rhino turf in Buxa, India
54. Tree death rate in Pacific Northwest United States doubled in 17 years
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1. Acai berry, SuperFood or SuperFraud?
Source: Trans World News, USA, 8 April 2009
Is the Acai Berry a SuperFood or a SuperFraud? For years the media has been raving about the Acai berry and its health benefits, but a recent rash of negative publicity has forced people to ask the question – Is Acai the real deal?
"The media tends to like juicy stories – either something very positive or something very negative. Of course, the truth usually lies in the middle. This is the case with the Acai Berry," states Bob Peters, Director of Communications for PowerSupplements.
The Acai Berry comes from the Acai Palm trees in the Amazon Rainforest. The Acai berry is very high in antioxidants, healthy Omega fats, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Due to the impressive nutritional profile of the Acai Berry it has been called a superfruit or superfood.
The mention of the Acai Berry on the Oprah show in the USA set off an avalanche of positive publicity on the Acai berry as a super fruit. Soon, the Acai berry was being featured in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
Unfortunately in 2008 a number of marketing companies decided to create fictitious Acai Berry Review sites and Acai diet blogs. These Acai scam companies would promise "free trials" and guarantee that you would lose "30 pounds in one week". The Acai that they sell is of very low quality, they were never endorsed by any celebrities and the only weight you lose is in your wallet.
"Let's be very clear about this, there are a number of companies selling Acai that are an absolute scam on every level. We have been raising red flags about these Acai scam companies for over a year now" states Peters. "However, it is unfair to say that the Acai Berry is a scam or fraud simply because there are some fraudulent companies selling Acai supplements. If consumers do their research and look for the Perfect Acai Consumer Bill of Rights seal, they will be fine."
For full story, please see: www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=82195&cat=10
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2. Bamboo: Are eco-conscious consumers being bamboozled?
Source: Ecowordly, Guardian Environmental Network, Guardian. CO. UK, 18 February 2009
Due to its many benefits, bamboo has been touted as an environmental miracle crop. It is a significant carbon sink, it grows fast, is more termite-resistant than timber, and can be used for everything from food to clothing material to scaffolding for building construction. But are environmentalists being bamboozled? Despite its benefits, increased bamboo production could raise a lot of concerns too.
Perhaps the biggest concern about bamboo comes from the fact that it cannot be sustainably grown on a large scale in North America and Europe, meaning it has to be imported from abroad. Currently 80% of the world's bamboo production comes from China. There is also a concern that increased demand for bamboo could encourage farmers to ramp up their use of pesticides to boost yield, which would readily accumulate as run-off in the moist regions where bamboo grows best.
There is also increased distress that bamboo is environmentally inappropriate as raw material for textiles and clothing fabrics. Because of its rugged fibers, bamboo must be cooked in strong chemical solvents and turned into a viscose solution before it can be reconstructed into proper weaving material.
Furthermore, while expanding bamboo production worldwide could help to prevent deforestation and timber usage at home, there are concerns that it could prompt farmers in the developing world to clear their native forests.
The good news is that many of these concerns are outweighed by the immense benefits that bamboo production brings. Agricultural efficiency is easily its largest benefit. Since bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants in the world, the crop can be replenished quickly. Furthermore, bamboo is self-regenerating, which means that after the stalk has been cut, it rapidly re-grows from the remaining rootstock. As long as bamboo is grown in its native habitat, its impact on local ecosystems is minimal compared to the destructive foresting practices of timber production.
Although concerns about bamboo as a textile and clothing fabric are warranted (and consumers should probably avoid bamboo textiles unless they are particularly well-informed), bamboo is a remarkably suitable replacement for timber as building material.
And despite the fact that almost all bamboo has to be imported to North America and Europe, the carbon-conscious consumer can rest easier knowing that the fuel-usage for transporting bamboo from Asia to California is essentially equivalent to shipping timber coast-to-coast in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
For farmers and local communities in developing countries like Vietnam, it is impossible to deny the economic benefits of growing more bamboo. As many as 1.5 billion people already rely upon bamboo or rattan in some significant way, according to the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan.
For full story, please see: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/17/network-bamboo-production-benefits
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3. Bamboo firewood and charcoal program in Ethiopia and Ghana
From: Fu Jinhe, INBAR, jfu@inbar.int
6 April 2009, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) and the European Union, along with their partners the Rural Energy Development and Promotion Centre (EREDPC), Ethiopia, the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), the Federal Micro and Small Enterprises Agency (FeMSEDA), Ethiopia, the Bamboo and Rattan Development Program (BARADEP), Ghana and Nanjing Forestry University (NFU), China, announces the launch of its "Bamboo as sustainable biomass energy: A suitable alternative for firewood and charcoal production in Africa" program in Ethiopia and Ghana.
The project is the first to develop bamboo firewood and charcoal as an alternative to timber charcoal in the region. It will increase the range of useable bamboos available in each country, establish bamboo charcoal Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), and help government and civil society organizations support bamboo firewood and charcoal production and use. The experiences from the program will be applicable throughout the bamboo-growing regions of Africa.
Dr. Coosje Hoogendoorn, Director General, INBAR said "We are very excited to launch this innovative new program today. The new bamboo charcoal technologies developed in Asia by INBAR and our partners over the past decade have enormous potential to help reduce deforestation and generate sustainable incomes, and this program marks a major step in their application for improved energy security, environment and livelihoods of the peoples of the bamboo-growing regions of Africa".
The program will work in Benishangul-Gumuz State, Amhara National Regional State and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State in Ethiopia and Western region, Ghana to develop at least 1,000 enterprises producing bamboo charcoal, and 30, 000 households using it. It will train over 6,000 people in bamboo cultivation, best bamboo firewood practices and bamboo charcoal production, set up three bamboo charcoal technology centers and develop marketing strategies for bamboo charcoal.
Funding for the program comes mainly from the European Commission's "Environment and sustainable management of natural resources, including energy (ENTRP)" program. The Ambassador of the delegation of the European Commission to Ethiopia, Dino Sinigallia said "We are proud of funding such an important project. The EC has always been in the forefront in sustaining environmentally positive initiatives. The activities to be implemented under this project will promote sustainable energy consumption and are fully inline with the EC's major concern of promoting sustainable and long term development".
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4. Bushmeat in Gabon: Urban hunters do most harm to ape populations
Source: New Scientist, 3 March 2009
Commercial hunters from towns are exacting a much bigger toll on great apes than subsistence hunters from small villages, according to an analysis of ape nest density near human settlements.
The finding that numbers of gorillas and chimpanzees appear to have dwindled twice as much near towns in Gabon than near villages supports a focus on conservation efforts that tackle commercial hunting over those that aim to convince villagers to give up subsistence hunting, says Hjalmar Kühl at the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who conducted the study with colleagues.
The team counted sleeping nests left by gorillas and chimps in Gabon's mountainous Moukalaba Doudou National Park. They found that nest density decreased the closer they got to the towns that surround the park. The towns' populations range from 10,000 to 18,000 people.
Although some nests could be found close to the towns, their overall density was only half that seen in the centre of the park. In contrast, the team found no such gradient near smaller villages.
"This suggests that the impact local subsistence hunting has is much smaller than that from commercial hunters coming from the bigger towns," says Kühl.
For full story, please see: www.newscientist.com/article/dn16898-urban-hunters-most-harm-ape-populations.html
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5. Bushmeat in Madagascar: Frogs important food source
Source: Mongabay.com, Madagascar, 23 March 2009
With its famous diversity of frog species, Madagascar has long been targeted by smugglers for the pet trade. While this threat is relatively well understood, less known is the domestic market for edible frogs. Writing in Tropical Conservation Science, researchers from the University of Aberdeen (UK) and institutions in Madagascar provide a glimpse into this activity.
Richard Jenkins and Malagasy colleagues conducted a five-month survey of collectors delivering frogs to a restaurant in eastern Madagascar. They found a thriving trade — 3,233 frogs were delivered to the restaurant during the period. Income for collectors selling edible frogs was only slightly lower per edible frog ($0.29) than it was for Mantella milotympanum ($0.32), a critically endangered frog collected for the international pet trade, thus providing an importance source of income for frog hunters. The researchers are now working to determine the sustainability of the industry.
The authors conclude by noting that forest degradation — largely due to conversion of agriculture — likely damages frog habitat, thereby potentially impacting collector livelihoods.
For full story, please see: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0323-jenkins_et_al_tcs.html
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6. Bushmeat in Tanzania: Bushmeat hunting constitutes the most immediate threat to wildlife
Source: Mongabay.com, Tanzania, 23 March 2009
Bushmeat hunting constitutes the most immediate threat to wildlife populations in the Udzungwa Mountains of the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot in Tanzania. A new study, published in Tropical Conservation Science assesses the impact of hunting by comparing densities of mammalian species between the little hunted West Kilombero Scarp Forest Reserve, the medium-hunted Udzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve and the intensively hunted New Dabaga Ulangambi Forest Reserve.
Conducting surveys of these conservation areas for the 22 species of mammal known to inhabit the region, Elmer Topp-Jørgensen and colleagues recorded 20 species in West Kilombero Scarp Forest Reserve, 17 in Udzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, and 12 in New Dabaga Ulangambi Forest Reserve. They found large species — larger than 40 kg (90 pounds) — to be the most affected. Hunting had little effect on primates, blue duiker, Harvey's duiker, aardvark, eastern tree hyrax, and giant pouched rat in Udzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve.
Encouragingly, after the data collection for the study, the Tanzanian government, together with local communities, launched a forest management program involving patrolling and monitoring of biodiversity and forest quality. The authors say their data establishes a baseline for evaluating the effectiveness of the conservation program as well as establishment of the new Kilombero Nature Reserve.
For full story, please see: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0323-top-jorgenssen_tcs.html
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7. Cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) could tackle dengue fever
Source: SciDev.Net Weekly Update (2 - 8 March 2009)
CURITIBA - An Amazonian plant could form the basis of a drug to combat dengue fever, according to Brazilian researchers.
A group of scientists at the Viral Immunology Laboratory of the Brazil-based Oswaldo Cruz Foundation has found that compounds of the plant cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) — native to the Amazon rainforest — have both antiviral and immune system-regulating properties when they come into contact with infected cells in the laboratory.
Cat's claw is known in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory — immune system-regulating — effects, which prompted the scientists to investigate the plant.
"We reacted a solution containing substances extracted from cat's claw with immune cells and noticed that the product inhibited the production of cytokines, proteins necessary to react to the inflammatory effects of dengue," biologist Claire Kubelka, chief of the laboratory and one of the coordinators of the study, told SciDev.Net.
The researchers also found fewer dengue virus cells in immune cells that had been treated with the cat's claw preparation.
Dengue fever is a disease caused by a virus of the genus Flavivirus, transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The WHO estimates there might be 50 million dengue infections worldwide every year. No effective medicine exists so the only recommended treatment is hydrating patients while they are recovering.
Besides Uncaria tomentosa, the Brazilian group is currently looking for anti-dengue properties in solutions of approximately 15 other plants.
The research was published in International Immunopharmacology in December.
For full story, please see: www.scidev.net/en/health/traditional-medicine/news/amazon-plant-could-tackle-dengue-fever-.html
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8. Chicozapote tree provides new biodegradable chewing gum Chicza
Source: CNN, Britain, 3 April 2009
British authorities and environmental groups were welcoming the launch this week of the world's first biodegradable chewing gum, which they say could help save some of the millions spent on clearing up the mess ordinary gum creates.
The new gum becomes non-adhesive when dry and decomposes to dust within six weeks, a spokesman for Mexico's Chicza Mayan Rainforest Chewing Gum told CNN.
Unlike other gums that contain petrochemicals the natural gum is produced from the sap of the chicozapote tree (Manilkara zapota) found in the Mexican rainforest, a spokesman for Chicza told CNN.
A spokesman for campaign group Keep Britain Tidy told CNN they welcome any product that can help eradicate the staining on pavements caused by dropped chewing gum. Removing chewing gum litter costs local authorities £150 million ($222 million) a year, a spokesman for the Local Government Association told CNN.
The producer of the new gum is Consorcio Chiclero, which comprises 46 cooperatives with around 2,000 chicleros farmers, working in an area of 1.3 million hectares of rainforest, according to a statement from Chicza.
Locals have been extracting the natural chicle gum base from the bark of the chicozapote trees for a century, a spokesman for Chicza told CNN.
After years of exporting the gum base to be used as an ingredient in the manufacture of regular chewing gum, the cooperative recently decided to start making its own gum using only chicle gum base and natural flavorings and sweeteners, Chicza said.
For full story, please see: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/04/03/chewing.gum.bio/?iref=mpstoryview
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9. Cork: World's first winery to earn FSC certification
From: Rainforest Matters monthly publication, March 2009
The Willamette Valley Vineyards in Oregon, USA – the world's first winery to earn Forest Stewardship Council / Rainforest Alliance certification for using cork stoppers harvested from responsibly managed forestlands – has launched a new cork recycling program -- Cork ReHarvest -- further demonstrating its commitment to environmental stewardship.
A first for Oregon and a model for wineries around the globe, the program has two aims: to collect and recycle used corks and to educate the public about the importance of sustaining the cork forests of the Mediterranean.
For full story, please see: www.rainforest-alliance.org/news/rainforest-matters/march_09.html
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10. Frankincense: A brief catch-up
From: Cropwatch Newsletter, USA, 14 January 2009
The year 2008 saw the publication of a number of papers on the analysis and therapeutic properties of Frankincense gum, extracts & distillates. Frankincense gum (syn. Olibanum) (syn. Incense) are obtained by tapping the trees of a number of Boswellia spp., and the gum and derivatives are valuable exported commodities for the Horn of Africa region (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia & the island of Socotra (off Yemen)), but also for Sudan and other African regions. Frankincense gum is used to prepare incense, and extracts and distillates have been widely used as fragrance ingredients. Indian, Arabian and African Boswellia spp. have a number of uses in local ethnic medicine, which is starting to translate into uses in evidence based conventional medicine (see for example, the major feature on Frankincense and derivatives in Phytomedicine, June 2008).
For a working definition, we can say that Frankincense is the dried exudation obtained from the schizogenous gum-oleoresin pockets in the bark of various Boswellia spp - the Boswellia group itself being placed within the Burseraceae 12 family.
Frankincense has been very highly valued for thousands of years, and has many uses & applications. It is the Horn of Africa's highest volume export, and apart from uses in incense/perfumery, the gum oleoresin & preparations thereof are also used in a number of medicinal systems, for flavourings and for skin cosmetic applications for toner, emollient and anti-wrinkle uses.
Several Boswellia spp. are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008, including several individual spp. from the island of Socotra, off Yemen: