Abstract
This study reviewed one of the most innovative forest conservation strategies in the Amazonintroducing a timber harvesting management system among rubber tappers. It focused on traditional rubber tapping extractivist population residing within the area demarcated for Porto Dias Extractivist Settlement Project (PAE) in Acre in northwestern part of Brazil. The PAE functions as an extractive reserve administered by the INCRA National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform.
Presenting the base-line study results concerning the household, land tenure, subsistence economy as well as forest use, a series of comparative analysis was conducted for the two classified population targets; those who are participants to the forest management project aiming at sustainable timber harvesting, and those who are not participants to the project. The study tried to identify and examine the determining factors governing the introduction of community forestry management systems for rubber tappers in the region.
Among a variety of land use options concerning the forest use including extractivism of forest produce, agriculture and livestock raising, a specific consideration was given to the extractivism -harvesting of a diverse array of produce to be consumed and potentially commercialized, such as latex, raisin, edible fruits, medicinal oil and plants, fibers and dyes, in addition to animal and fish products.
The study results affirmed that rubber tappers showed a strong orientation towards forest extractivism for a cash earning strategy. Further, it was found that they were maintaining a subsistence economy to the extent their nonmonetary economic values greatly surpass their cash revenues obtained by commercializing available forest and agricultural products and livestock.
Further, ‘the forest dependency’-defined as the degree of dependency on forest extractivism both on monetary and non-monetary terms-was measured and comparatively analyzed between forest management participants and non-participants. Two significant implications were derived. First, a rather homogenous nature in forest use and the resource dependency was identified among rubber tappers for both the participants to the forest management and non-participants within the Porto Dias PAE area in Acre. Second, due to the homogeneity in forest use for the two groups, the incentive for introducing forest management systems may arise influenced by factors independent of the degree of forest dependency, such as access to policy incentives, the degree of social organization and organizational strength of the local population.
