Comments on: Seeking sustainability in Amazonian palm production

By: Forest Policy Research » Blog Archive » 443 - Latin America Tree News

Forest Policy Research » Blog Archive » 443 - Latin America Tree News — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:18:21 +0000

[...] 1) Mauritia flexuosa, commonly known as the Moriche palm, aguaje, burití (and a variety of other names) is a large palm which is native to tropical South America and Trinidad. It grows in permanently or temporarily flooded forests, and often forms monodominant stands. In parts of South America these stands cover thousands of hectares at densities which can exceed 300 trees per hectare. Moriche palms are important as a source of “food, fiber, oil, medicinals, materials for construction and fishing equipment, and fallen stems serve as a substrate for raising of edible larvae of the palm beetle (suri, Rhynchophorus palmarum)”1 Palm fruits are important food sources both for humans and wildlife. The outer surface of the Moriche fruit is reddish-brown and scaly. Beneath this is a thin layer of yellowish pulp which covers a large seed. This pulp is used in Peru to make ice cream, popsicles and cold drinks. Consumption in Iquitos ranges from 22-150 tonnes/month. The harvest and sale of the fruit is an important source of income for rural people in the Peruvian Amazon.1 The idea of a non-timber product from the rainforest with a well-established market…it seems too good to be true. And in a sense, it is. While it would seem to be the perfect tool for forest conservation, demand for aguaje has led to the degradation or destruction of extensive areas of Moriche swamps. You see, the normal way to harvest the fruit is to cut down the tree. Aguaje production around Iquitos, Peru, is estimated to lead to the destruction of at least 24,000 trees annually.1 It takes 7-8 years for an individual to reach maturity, so the rate of replacement of cut trees is pretty slow. Add to that the fact that the most productive trees are cut (it takes the same effort to cut down a tree with a large fruit crop as it does a tree with few fruit) and the end result is pretty obvious. Not only do aguaje collectors have to travel to more and more remote sites in order to harvest fruit, the trees left behind to re-seed the area are the ones that produce the least attractive crops. In addition, moriche swamps are important food resources for wildlife.1 http://ianramjohn.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/seeking-sustainability-in-amazonian-palm-production/ [...]

By: BGR #11 is up « Seeds Aside

BGR #11 is up « Seeds Aside — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:29:11 +0000

[...] Catalogue of Organisms. A colourful taste of fall around, and also specials mentions to ginkgo and palms… Go read the [...]

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:34:26 +0000

The authors of the paper seemed to be saying that people with more forest knowledge were ones who did more hunting. To a hunter, it’s pretty obvious that game species are going to be more abundant when there’s more food available.

One point that I didn’t mention is that the palm has separate males and females. Harvesting the fruit only eliminates the female trees. So presumably the palm swamp is still there, it’s still full of the same sort of trees, but since the remaining trees are all male in a heavily exploited forest, there’s no fruit production. If you spend a lot of time hunting, you know where to find game (e.g., in an unexploited palm swamp, where there’s plenty of food to attract them) and where not to (e.g., in an exploited palm swamp, where there isn’t much food).

By: Sustainability Advocate

Sustainability Advocate — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:11:53 +0000

So, is this research pointing to the fact that those with more forest knowledge and traditional use of forest products understand how the climbing system can benefit them? Seems pretty obvious to me. Sustainability is built out of knowledge of one’s environment and resources. Cool to see that the climbing system is being adopted and used.