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Livelihood and Conservation Aspects of Non-wood Forest Product Collection in the Shaxi Valley, Southwest China1

中国西南地区沙溪流域的非木材林产品采集与生计和保护的关系

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Abstract

Livelihood and Conservation Aspects of Non-wood Forest Product Collection in the Shaxi Valley, Southwest China. The Shaxi Valley in Yunnan Province, P.R. China, is inhabited by Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups. We found a clear dichotomy between household strategies in the valley bottom and the mountain areas, with significantly lower household income in the mountains. The majority Bai people live predominantly in the fertile valley floor and cultivate rice, keep livestock, and commonly pursue off-farm work. Other ethnic groups live in more remote mountainous areas of the Shaxi Valley, where the collection of non-wood forest products, especially wild mushrooms, plays an important role in securing livelihoods. However, only households in the valley's central villages engage in the profitable non-wood forest product trade. Mushroom populations appear to be less vulnerable to commercial harvest than the rapidly declining wild medicinal plant populations. Due to this decline, local farmers have gained interest in cultivating medicinal plants, but only if risks are low and if financial and technical support is provided. Encouraging the cultivation of medicinal plants appears to be an appropriate means of sustainable community development.

摘要

中国西南地区沙溪流域的非木材林产品采集与生计和保护的关系. 沙溪流域位于中国西南地区的云南省剑川县南部, 居住有白、汉、彝、僳僳、纳西等多个藏-缅语系的少数民族。我们发现:在同一流域内, 山区农户的收入远不及坝区高, 两地的家庭生计策略大相径庭; 流域的主体民族白族居住在平坦而肥沃的坝区, 以种植水稻、发展畜牧业以及寻找一些非农收入作为生计发展策略, 而居住在边远山区的其他一些少数民族, 多以采集和销售非木材林副产品, 特别是菌类以维系生计, 但从事非木材林副产品经销的人主要是来自坝区中心村寨村民。研究还发现:由于商业化采集, 当地的野生药用植物资源锐减, 而菌类资源受威胁程度较小; 如果风险不大, 资金和技术有保障, 当地农户对种植药材表现出浓厚的兴趣, 因此鼓励药材种植应是当地实现可持续发展的有效途径。

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the people in Shaxi who made this study possible, especially the Ouyang family and Dr. Yang Wanlin. We are also very grateful to Chen Yuli for interpreting, Wang Xianghua for the identification of mushroom specimens, and, together with Rolf Rutishauser, Caroline Frances-King and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the manuscript. The study was financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PMPD33-118635) and the Swiss Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Society, Environment and Culture, Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zürich, Sonneggstrasse 33, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Franz K. Huber

  2. Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zürich, Switzerland

    Robert Ineichen & Caroline S. Weckerle

  3. Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Heilongtan, 650204, Kunming, People’s Republic of China

    Yongping Yang

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  1. Franz K. Huber
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  4. Caroline S. Weckerle
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Correspondence to Caroline S. Weckerle.

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Huber, F.K., Ineichen, R., Yang, Y. et al. Livelihood and Conservation Aspects of Non-wood Forest Product Collection in the Shaxi Valley, Southwest China1 . Econ Bot 64, 189–204 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-010-9126-z

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