Some general principles and strategies for developing markets in North America and Europe for non-timber forest products: lessons from cultural survival entrerprises 1989-1990
Tropical forests cannot be cut down until the people who live in them are driven out. To prevent this from happening, forest residents must become organized to defend themselves and to enter the market economy on their own terms. Cultural Survival Enterprises (CSE) was founded to expand and develop markets for non-timber forest products (NTFPs) from organizations of forest residents. We present here the lessons that emerge from CSE's first year of operation. They include: (1) start with NTFPs that are already on the market, (2) diversify production and reduce dependence on just a few products; (3) diversify the markets for raw and processed forest products; (4) add value to the product locally (through processing); (5) capture product value that is added further from the source; (6) proposed solutions to deforestation and displacement of forest peoples must equal the scope of the problem; (7) no forest group can provide enough commodities for even a small company in North America or Europe; (8) controling a large market share of a commodity allows considerable influence over the entire market; (9) make a decent profit in the marketplace, not a killing; (10) the markets in North America and Europe are for saving the rain forests and for conservation rather than for forest peoples; and (11) certification of environmental sustainability is key.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | biblioteca |
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Bronx, N.Y. (EUA)
1992
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| Subjects: | PRODUCTOS FORESTALES NO MADERABLES, MERCADEO, RESERVAS EXTRACTIVISTAS, AMAZONIA, |
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| Summary: | Tropical forests cannot be cut down until the people who live in them are driven out. To prevent this from happening, forest residents must become organized to defend themselves and to enter the market economy on their own terms. Cultural Survival Enterprises (CSE) was founded to expand and develop markets for non-timber forest products (NTFPs) from organizations of forest residents. We present here the lessons that emerge from CSE's first year of operation. They include: (1) start with NTFPs that are already on the market, (2) diversify production and reduce dependence on just a few products; (3) diversify the markets for raw and processed forest products; (4) add value to the product locally (through processing); (5) capture product value that is added further from the source; (6) proposed solutions to deforestation and displacement of forest peoples must equal the scope of the problem; (7) no forest group can provide enough commodities for even a small company in North America or Europe; (8) controling a large market share of a commodity allows considerable influence over the entire market; (9) make a decent profit in the marketplace, not a killing; (10) the markets in North America and Europe are for saving the rain forests and for conservation rather than for forest peoples; and (11) certification of environmental sustainability is key. |
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