IUFROLAT III Session Highlights: Traditional Forest-related Knowledge

Traditional forest-related knowledge / Contribución de bosques a economías locales

Moderator: Su See Lee, IUFRO Vice-President, FRIM Malaysia

Thursday, 13 June 2013, 08:00 – 10:00 (Chirripó)

For more information on TFK in IUFRO, visit also: www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-9/90000/90300/

In this session the audience was presented with a mixed bag of papers:  3 papers focussing on TFK, and other three on contributions to local economies. Emphasis was placed on the fact that there is a lot of traditional knowledge out there, which is rapidly getting lost because of various factors. Among the suggestions of what can be done to preserve traditional forest knowledge, the example of Korea was presented which established together with other countries of East Asia the Asian Center for Traditional Forest Knowledge as an institutional approach for the preservation of TFK. This was also recommended as an idea to implement in Latin America.

However, TFK should not only be kept as a historical asset but also be combined with innovation – as a logical consequence – whilst considering and adapting to changes in economy and society.The importance of markets for traditional products was mentioned to be crucial for the preservation of TFK. In this context, innovative aspects and development must be originated by the people concerned and traditional organisations be strengthened in a horizontal way.

With regard to contributions of forests to local economies, initiatives in the domain of medicinal plants, the importance of equal benefit sharing (EBS) and smallholder land-use were highlighted, as well as the optimal use of the whole set of services that forests can offer.

Presentations in this session:

El territorio shirian: conocimiento indígena del alto curso del río Paragua, Venezuela (Francia Medina, Universidad Central de Venezuela)

Present Status and Future Direction of the Asian Center for Traditional Forest-related Knowledge (ACTFOK) (Joo Han Sung and Chan Ryul Park, Korea Forest Research Institute, Korea)

Is Income Generation of Importance for the Preservation of TK? The case of carapa oil producing communities in Suriname (Mayra Esseboom, Suriname)

Forest Use and Agriculture Interactions; Livelihoods, Wellbeing and Deforestation in Ucayali, Peruvian Amazon (Roberto Porro, Embrapa, Brazil)

Rentabilidad económica de bosques naturales de segundo crecimiento de Nothofagus spp. Bajo tres opciones de manejo (Yasna Rojas, Sabine Müller-Using, Majorie Martin, Burkhard Müller-Using, INFOR Chile)

Identificación de una estrategia para la sostenibilidad financiera del area protegida: Parque Nacional Laguna Lachua, del muncipio de Coban, a.v. Guatemala (Andrea Yat, Guatemala)