Approaches to Sustainable Forest Management in Parcelized Landscapes

The holistic, landscape-based approach of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in the United States emphasizes the importance of addressing three components of forest management: ecology, community, and economy. Many believe this approach represents an important and positive paradigm shift in natural resource management. In Vermont, as well as many other parts of the United States, parcelized forest ownership presents challenges to the achievement of SFM on private property. These challenges include that of applying concepts of landscape-scale management over a mosaic of small landownerships while addressing ecological, economic, and social dynamics. Many authors have suggested a need for new institutions that are better capable of addressing the integrated, boundary-crossing nature of SFM on private lands. In Vermont, partnerships involving environmental non-profit organizations are implementing innovative management strategies to promote SFM which address the challenges of parcelization. In so doing, non-profit groups are branching out from traditional roles of advocacy and public goods protection to address not only the ecological, but also economic and community aspects of forest management. Examining the strategies, organizational roles, challenges and perceived permanence of these partnerships provides a greater understanding of the nature of these new institutional arrangements for SFM. This study asks the question: How do partnerships involving environmental nonprofit organizations in Vermont attempt to achieve goals of sustainable forest management in the context of a parcelized landscape? Using a multiple case study approach, I examine three SFM-related partnerships in Vermont that involve environmental nonprofit organizations. I assess their strategies, organizational roles, challenges and perceived permanence. Results indicate that partnerships involving environmental nonprofit organizations are playing important roles in defining and institutionalizing SFM in Vermont. Partnerships use diverse strategies through which they strive to account for the three components of SFM. I find three points of entry into SFM-related issues, connected to three strategies used by partnerships to address issues of parcelization: community-based, alternative silviculture and product branding. This diversity in approach may complement the diverse nature of forest landowner’s wants and needs. Furthermore, demonstrated flexibility at the partnership and organizational levels allowed partnerships to better work toward their goals. Challenges encountered by partnerships involved both internal dynamics and external circumstances, including differential organizational capacity and economic conditions, respectively. In addition, perceived permanence of these institutional arrangements may be related to the roles that environmental nonprofit organizations play within each partnership. Findings increase our understanding of the changing roles of non-profit organizations in the forest management sector, raise key questions about the permanence of such arrangements, and provide insights into partnership practices and challenges that may be applied in other settings. The results of this study contribute to a broader analysis of national trends in SFM

Medicinal Plant Use and Health Sovereignty: Findings from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs

Medicinal plants are indicators of indigenous knowledge in the context of political volatility and socio-cultural and ecological change in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Medicinal plants are the primary health care option in this region of Central Asia. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that medicinal plants contribute to health security and sovereignty in a time of instability. We illustrate the nutritional as well as medicinal significance of plants in the daily lives of villagers. Based on over a decade and half of research related to resilience and livelihood security, we present plant uses in the context of mountain communities. Villagers identified over 58 cultivated and non-cultivated plants and described 310 distinct uses within 63 categories of treatment and prevention. Presence of knowledge about medicinal plants is directly connected to their use. © 2010 The Author(s)

Medicinal Plant Use and Health Sovereignty: Findings from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs

Medicinal plants are indicators of indigenous knowledge in the context of political volatility and sociocultural and ecological change in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Medicinal plants are the primary health care option in this region of Central Asia. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that medicinal plants contribute to health security and sovereignty in a time of instability. We illustrate the nutritional as well as medicinal significance of plants in the daily lives of villagers. Based on over a decade and half of research related to resilience and livelihood security, we present plant uses in the context of mountain communities. Villagers identified over 58 cultivated and noncultivated plants and described 310 distinct uses within 63 categories of treatment and prevention. Presence of knowledge about medicinal plants is directly connected to their use

Sustainable Forest Management for Nontimber Products

Many of the plants and fungi that are harvested for nontimber products (e.g., foods, medicines, crafts) are critical to healthy forest ecosystems. These products also are essential to rural societies, contributing to the material and nonmaterial composition of communities and cultures. Product sales make important contributions at all economic scales, from household to national economies. Nontimber forest products (NTFPs) have been harvested for generations, sometimes centuries, yet they are seldom integrated into forest management. Few methods exist for inventory and assessment, and there is little evidence that harvests are sustainable. This article examines three elements of sustainable forest management for nontimber products: sociocultural, economic, and ecological, and elaborates with detailed examples of edible and medicinal species from United States (U.S.) forests. We synthesize the state of knowledge and emerging issues, and identify research priorities that are needed to advance sustainable management of NTFPs in the United States. Despite their social, economic, and ecological values, many of these species and resources are threatened by the overuse and lack of management and market integration. Sustainable management for nontimber products is attainable, but much research and development is needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of these resources and their cultural values, and to realize their economic potentials

An Overview of Non-timber Forest Products in Appalachia

Harvesting medicinal, edible and decorative plants and fungi has a long history in Appalachian forests, and today the practice remains a source of livelihood, identity and sense of place within Appalachian communities. This presentation will provide an introduction to non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and an overview of their use in Appalachia. They can be, among other things: roots, nuts and berries, barks, vines, foliage or mushrooms. Most are wild-harvested from lands treated as commons, which are often corporate or publicly owned. They are collected for personal use, and sold through local and global supply chains. They are harvested in rural and urban areas, by descendants of the region’s earliest inhabitants and by the most recent. Knowledge about them is being shared across generations and across social media. Biophysical, socio-economic and political realities all influence NTFP activity differently throughout what is often considered a homogenous region. Commercially traded NTFPs in Appalachia and elsewhere are often simultaneously viewed as a source of sustainable income for struggling communities, and a means to conserve forest ecosystems, especially in areas threatened by resource extraction or development. However, the status of wild NTFP populations are not systemically monitored, and the size and distribution of harvests are unknown for most species, making it difficult to assess their sustainability. Efforts to steward, manage or cultivate NTFPs face many challenges. Recent collaborations between grass-roots organizations, research institutions, and NTFP users and businesses are creating new ideas for how to overcome them