arath Ekanayake, Dithya Angammana, Suranjan Fernando, Pradeep Samarawickrama, Naalin Perera and Sadun Perera
IUCN- The World Conservation Union, Sri Lanka Country Office, 53, Horton Place, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka.Tel : 0094-11-2682418, 2694094 [ext.309], Fax : 0094-11-2682470,
Email : spe@iucnsl.org, Web : www.iucnsl.org
Abstract
A study was carried out in Sri Lankan southwestern lowland tropical rain forests to obtain background information to support decision-making in sustainable extraction of NTFP. The research sites were located in the Dipterocarp-dominant forests within Kanneliya and Sinharaja protected areas, where 36 plots of 10mx10m were surveyed with the objectives of documenting NTFP site data, high-priority species, abundance, pattern of distribution, seasonality, available harvestable quantities, manpower requirements for harvesting, activity timing, cost associated with operations and cash incomes. Field data were gathered in collaboration with the local communities and hence, the results are heavily based on community perception, observation and inference. The results showed that the most important NTFP species (19) are Enicosanthus accuminata, Ochlandra stridula, Garcinia quaesita, Dipterocarpus glandulosus, Doona venulosa, Hopea discolor, Hopea jucunda, Shorea congestiflora , Shorea sp., Cinnamomum multiflora, Cinnamomum verum , Coscinium feneatratum, Calamus digitatus, Calamus ovoides, Calamus pseudotenuis , Calamus radiatus, Calamus thwaitesii, Caryota urens and Pandanus ceylanicus. Density of priority NTFP species, which are harvestable individuals, ranged from 11 per ha to 242 per ha. On average cash income from NTFP, harvested in conservative manner, was Rs.7132 (USD 72) per ha per year with an input of manpower worth Rs.2000.00 (USD 21) per ha per year in 2004. January and December were identified as the peak NTFP harvesting months. For ecological and economic sustainability of the NTFP extractions in those forests, more action oriented research are required to shed light on the biological safe limits of NTFP extraction, low impact harvesting techniques, best harvesting time for different species, domestication of NTFP species and marketing of NTFP.
Key words: Sri Lanka, NTFP, dipterocarps.
Introduction
Rain forests in Sri Lanka located in the southwest part of the country are exceptionally rich in plant diversity. However, presently they existed as fragmented forest patches. Although 23.88% of Sri Lanka is covered with natural forests, only 2.14% is natural lowland wet evergreen forests (Legg and Jewlle1995) that are dominated by dipterocarps. The major causes for rainforest loss in Sri Lanka are deforestation and forest degradation. Deforestation occurs mainly due to the collection of fuelwood from the forests, permanent agriculture, shifting cultivation, tree plantations, fire, illegal gem mining in forest land, urbanization and timber felling. The absence of well-defined forest reserve boundaries has exacerbated the problem. Rain forests are also adversely affected due to the over-collection of forest plants and animals for commercial uses such as fish for the aquaculture trade, plants for medicinal purposes, etc., that leads to the rapid depletion of forest resources. Therefore, sustainable management of Non-timber forest products (NTFP) extraction from forests has been gaining ground in forestry sector for the wellbeing of forest ecosystem as well as associated local people.
NTFPrefers to all natural resources from forests apart from sawn timber (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity 2001). The recent advances in NTFP related activities in forestry sector in Sri Lanka are due to several factors:
– NTFP contributes in many ways to the livelihoods of people living in adjacent areas of forests, providing them with food, medicines, fibres, resins, rattan, bamboo and the like.
– Harvesting of NTFP is less destructive than timber felling and hence it is a better way of resource use.
– Economic values of NTFP of natural forests contribute to conserving the forests rather than converting them into other land uses.
– Sustainable harvesting of NTFP conserves the indigenous knowledge of the rural communities.
The main objective of this study was to obtain background information to support decision-making in sustainable extraction of NTFP in Dipterocarp-dominant forests in Kanneliya and Sinharaja protected areas of Sri Lanka. Attention was paid to gather information on the following aspects of the high-priority NTFP species:
– Demography of NTFP relevant plant species.
– Harvestable NTFP quantities and their seasonality.
– Cash income from NTFP.
– Manpower requirements for harvesting.
– Activity timing for sustainable NTFP harvesting operations.
– Ecological and economic sustainability of NTFP extraction.
Material and method
Site description
The study sites are located in two protected rain forest areas, Kanneliya (6010′ N- 6018 N’ and 80019′ E – 80026′ E) and Sinharaja (6021’N-6026’N and 80021′ E – 80034’ E), in the southwestern part of Sri Lanka. The region receives about 2 500 mm to 5 000 mm of rainfall, with no drought months. The altitude extends from sea level to about 1 000 m. The area is under bioregion (4), classified as lowland wet zone, where tropical lowland wet evergreen forests are the climax formation, and are dominated by Dipterocarp species. The forests are characterized by a dense canopy of tree species reaching 30 to 40 m in height, with emergent species rising to about 45 m, and woody lianas that form an intricate network (Gunetilleke and Gunetillke 1990).
Plot layout
Rectangular plots of the size 50m x100m were laid out in natural and buffer zone (slightly disturbed) forests at both sites:
Plot 1. Kanneliya – Natural forest
Plot 2. Kanneliya – Buffer zone forest
Plot 3. Sinharaja – Natural forest
Plot 4. Sinharaja – Buffer zone forest
Plots 1 and 2 were 1.5 km apart in the Kanneliya forest close to the Forest Department office (80020N 06015E), while plots 3and 4 were 1 km apart in the Sinharaja forest in the vicinity of the Pitadeniya village (80030N 06022E). The two main sites, Kanneliya and Sinharaja, were some 28 km apart, but both areas were covered with well-developed lowland rain forests. ..
Sources: 8th Round-Table Conference on Dipterocarps
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