Village bamboo preservation (1)

Why preserve bamboo? Preserving bamboo extends its life and maintains its quality. Bamboo culms are a natural material and will decay with time. They are also susceptible to insect and fungal attack. This will limit the useful lives of the products they are used to produce and may reduce the quality of the raw material to the point that it is no longer useable. How are bamboos preserved? There are many methods of preserving bamboos but they can be divided into two general categories; non-pressure methods and pressurised methods. Non-pressure methods allow the preservative to penetrate the bamboo at a natural rate. Soaking the bamboo in preservative and allowing the preservative to penetrate by capillary or wick action are the main non-pressure methods. Pressurised methods force the preservative into the bamboo. These methods are more rapid but require pressurised vessels and facilities that are more expensive to establish and run. What are the uses of preserved bamboos? Almost every bamboo processing unit producing large items (e.g. furniture, fencing, housing) requires preserved bamboos and preservation is preferable if bamboos are used for scaffolding. Preserved bamboos may also be required for smaller items such as household goods and farm implements. What is the role of a village bamboo preservation unit in rural development? A village bamboo preservation unit will provide income generating opportunities for local people. The preserved bamboo produced by the unit will be applicable for a wide range of uses and can be used to supply local rural bamboo processing units that can be established concurrently. The unit will promote the sustainable management of nearby bamboo stands to supply a regular quantity of bamboos for preservation. How do I establish a village bamboo preservation unit? A village bamboo preservation unit can be established with two or three US dollars for a bucket, or up to US $5000 for a pressure treatment plant. A “modified Boucherie” processing unit requires US$500 and other non-pressure methods are much cheaper to establish. Note that preservation is an intermediary stage in the processing of bamboo into useable end products. Knowledge of market requirements for the preserved bamboo is vital to ensure the unit can remain in business and some market research may be needed before establishment.Preserving bamboo extends its life and maintains its qualit

Rattan oil curing (2)

This report presents rattan oil curing, bleaching and preservation as a suitable “Transfer of Technology Model” (TOTEM) for rural development projects in poor regions where rattan is available as a resource and (potentially) used in various applications. The report is meant to serve as a guide for local extension workers involved with community-based rattan processing, and for those interested in developing a small enterprise for the processing of rattan. The information in this report is based on a detailed inventory of the application of rattan oil curing, bleaching and preservation in 38 rattan processing mills in the States of Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johore. These states are located in the southern parts of Peninsular Malaysia, the focal point of rattan oil curing, bleaching and preservation activity in the country. The first part of the report introduces the technology as it is used in Malaysia and discusses the scope for its implementation, its development attributes and its limitations. The second part elaborates in detail on the process of rattan oil curing, bleaching and preservation, and as such can be used as a manual for implementation of the technology. For additional illustrative material, the reader is referred to the accompanying demonstration film, the PowerPoint presentation and the poster.Rattan oil curing, bleaching and preservatio

Village bamboo preservation (2)

Why preserve bamboo? Preserving bamboo extends its life and maintains its quality. Bamboo culms are a natural material and will decay with time. They are also susceptible to insect and fungal attack. This will limit the useful lives of the products they are used to produce and may reduce the quality of the raw material to the point that it is no longer useable. How are bamboos preserved? There are many methods of preserving bamboos but they can be divided into two general categories; non-pressure methods and pressurised methods. Non-pressure methods allow the preservative to penetrate the bamboo at a natural rate. Soaking the bamboo in preservative and allowing the preservative to penetrate by capillary or wick action are the main non-pressure methods. Pressurised methods force the preservative into the bamboo. These methods are more rapid but require pressurised vessels and facilities that are more expensive to establish and run. What are the uses of preserved bamboos? Almost every bamboo processing unit producing large items (e.g. furniture, fencing, housing) requires preserved bamboos and preservation is preferable if bamboos are used for scaffolding. Preserved bamboos may also be required for smaller items such as household goods and farm implements. What is the role of a village bamboo preservation unit in rural development? A village bamboo preservation unit will provide income generating opportunities for local people. The preserved bamboo produced by the unit will be applicable for a wide range of uses and can be used to supply local rural bamboo processing units that can be established concurrently. The unit will promote the sustainable management of nearby bamboo stands to supply a regular quantity of bamboos for preservation. How do I establish a village bamboo preservation unit? A village bamboo preservation unit can be established with two or three US dollars for a bucket, or up to US $5000 for a pressure treatment plant. A “modified Boucherie” processing unit requires US$500 and other non-pressure methods are much cheaper to establish. Note that preservation is an intermediary stage in the processing of bamboo into useable end products. Knowledge of market requirements for the preserved bamboo is vital to ensure the unit can remain in business and some market research may be needed before establishment.Preserving bamboo extends its life and maintains its qualit

Woven rattan products (2)

This TOTEM describes the experiences of the Community Crafts Association of the Philippines, Inc. (CCAP). The CCAP was established in 1973 and federates and serves as a marketing arm of cottage or small-scale enterprises engaged in the production of rattan and other NTFP-based handicrafts in various parts of the Philippines. By illustrating the experiences of the communities involved in this way it is hoped that it will provide useful information for others wishing to adopt such a system of manufacturing woven products. The CCAP is a non-stock and non-profit organization. It was established on May 7, 1973 with a mission to significantly contribute to the social and economic development of the country’s urban and rural poor with a particular focus on community craftworkers nationwide. Its main goal is to promote fair trade for craft producers through its various local and international marketing linkages. This strategy is complemented by providing various capability building programs aimed at developing socially and self-reliant craft-producer groups or associations. The handicraft producers organizations in different parts of the country associated with CCAP include ethnic groups, slum communities in urban centres and resettlement projects, and craftworkers in the rural areas. The member producer groups throughout the Philippines directly employ around 2,000 workers. Aside from rattan, the CCAP-organized producer groups manufacture various types of GTH (gifts, toys and housewares) and decorative items from other NTFPs. These include bamboo, abaca (Musa textiles), pandan (Pandanus spp.), nito (Lygodium spp.) woody vines or lianas, palms, sedges, twigs and bark. These are fashioned from single or mixed raw materials based on the product specifications and designs from the CCAP. The Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) has been one of the agencies assisting the operation of the CCAP and its member producer groups since 1996. The Institute has been providing technical assistance and advisory/consultancy services on raw material sourcing, processing techniques and design and installation of equipment.Community based woven rattan products manufactuin

Woven rattan products (1)

This TOTEM describes the experiences of the Community Crafts Association of the Philippines, Inc. (CCAP). The CCAP was established in 1973 and federates and serves as a marketing arm of cottage or small-scale enterprises engaged in the production of rattan and other NTFP-based handicrafts in various parts of the Philippines. By illustrating the experiences of the communities involved in this way it is hoped that it will provide useful information for others wishing to adopt such a system of manufacturing woven products. The CCAP is a non-stock and non-profit organization. It was established on May 7, 1973 with a mission to significantly contribute to the social and economic development of the country’s urban and rural poor with a particular focus on community craftworkers nationwide. Its main goal is to promote fair trade for craft producers through its various local and international marketing linkages. This strategy is complemented by providing various capability building programs aimed at developing socially and self-reliant craft-producer groups or associations. The handicraft producers organizations in different parts of the country associated with CCAP include ethnic groups, slum communities in urban centres and resettlement projects, and craftworkers in the rural areas. The member producer groups throughout the Philippines directly employ around 2,000 workers. Aside from rattan, the CCAP-organized producer groups manufacture various types of GTH (gifts, toys and housewares) and decorative items from other NTFPs. These include bamboo, abaca (Musa textiles), pandan (Pandanus spp.), nito (Lygodium spp.) woody vines or lianas, palms, sedges, twigs and bark. These are fashioned from single or mixed raw materials based on the product specifications and designs from the CCAP. The Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) has been one of the agencies assisting the operation of the CCAP and its member producer groups since 1996. The Institute has been providing technical assistance and advisory/consultancy services on raw material sourcing, processing techniques and design and installation of equipment.Community based woven rattan products manufactuin

Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird

Camouflage may promote fitness of given phenotypes in different environments. The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is a color polymorphic species with a gray and brown morph resident in the Western Palearctic. A strong selection pressure against the brown morph during snowy and cold winters has been documented earlier, but the selection mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we hypothesize that selection favors the gray morph because it is better camouflaged against predators and mobbers in snowy conditions compared to the brown one. We conducted an online citizen science experiment where volunteers were asked to locate a gray or a brown tawny owl specimen from pictures taken in snowy and snowless landscapes. Our results show that the gray morph in snowy landscapes is the hardest to detect whereas the brown morph in snowy landscapes is the easiest to detect. With an avian vision model, we show that, similar to human perceivers, the brown morph is more conspicuous than the gray against coniferous tree trunks for a mobbing passerine. We suggest that with better camouflage, the gray morph may avoid mobbers and predators more efficiently than the brown morph and thus survive better in snowy environments. As winters are getting milder and shorter in the species range, the selection periods against brown coloration may eventually disappear or shift poleward.Peer reviewe

Low-productivity boreal forests have high conservation value for lichens

1. Land set aside for preservation of biodiversity often has low productivity. As biodiversity generally increases with productivity, due to higher or more diverse availability of resources, this implies that some of the biodiversity may be left unprotected. Due to a lack of knowledge on the species diversity and conservation value of low-productivity habitats, the consequences of the biased allocation of low-productivity land for set-asides are unknown. 2. We examined the conservation value of boreal low-productivity forests (potential tree growth <1 m(3) ha(-1) year(-1)) by comparing assemblages of tree- and deadwood-dwelling lichens and forest stand structure between productive and low-productivity forest stands. We surveyed 84 Scots pine-dominated stands in three regions in Sweden, each including four stand types: two productive (managed and unman-aged) and two low-productivity stands (on mires and on thin, rocky soils). 3. Lichen species richness was the highest in low-productivity stands on thin soil, which had similar amounts and diversity of resources (living trees and dead wood) to productive unmanaged stands. Stands in low-productivity mires, which had low abundance of living trees and dead wood, hosted the lowest lichen richness. Lichen species composition differed among stand types, but none of them hosted unique species. The differences in both species richness and composition were more pronounced in northern than in southern Sweden, likely due to shorter history of intensive forestry. 4. Synthesis and applications. Boreal low-productivity forests can have as high conservation value as productive forests, which should be reflected in conservation strategies. However, their value is far from uniform, and conservation planning should acknowledge this variation and not treat all low-productivity forests as a uniform group. Some types of low-productivity forest (e.g. on rocky soil) are more valuable than others (e.g. on mires), and should thus be prioritized in conservation. It is also important to consider the landscape context: low-productivity forests may have higher value in landscapes where high-productivity forests are highly influenced by forestry. Finally, although low-productivity forests can be valuable for some taxa, productive forests may still be important for other taxa

Sustaining tropical timber trees in production forests of Asia - ensuring their genetic viability

Sustainable timber production in approximately 400 million hectares of production forests in the tropics would be enhanced by incorporating genetic conservation measures in their management. This factsheet, based on a scientific review, explains why tropical Asian timber species are particularly vulnerable to logging and habitat fragmentation and what policymakers and forest managers can do to maintain productivity and resilience of timber trees in Asian production forests

Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical evaluation of Quassia undulata (Guill. & Perr.) D. Dietr. leaves using different solvent polarities

This study investigated solvent effects on the phytochemical composition of Quassia undulata leaves a medicinal plant used in treating arrays of diseases including fever and cough. The leaves were collected, washed, air-dried, pulverized and evaluated for some inherent phytochemicals using four different solvent systems based on their polarities. The solvents are methanol, acetone, ethyl acetate and chloroform. The methanol extract was found to have the highest number of secondary metabolites (saponins, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, coumarins, anthraquinones, alkaloids and phenols). None of the extracts tested positive for the presence of phlobatannins, terpenoids and emodins. The methanol extract was further analyzed quantitatively for some of the determined phytochemicals. Tannins had a concentration of 3.131 mg of catechin equivalents per 100 mg sample (mg CE/100g), alkaloids - 5.200 %, total phenolics - 11.828 mg of gallic acid equivalents per gram of extract (mg GAE/g), flavonoids - 8.074 mg of quercetin equivalents per gram of extract (mg QE/g) while 0.673 % saponins were detected. The presence of these secondary metabolites might justify the ethnomedicinal uses of Quassia undulata leaves as their bioactivity has been found to be dependent on the solvent used for extraction