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A continental-scale validation of ecosystem service models

- Willcock, Simon, Hooftman, Danny A P, Balbi, Stefano, Blanchard, Ryan, Dawson, Terence P, O’Farrell, Patrick J, Hickler, Thomas, Hudson, Malcolm D, Lindeskog, Mats, Martinez-Lopez, Javier, Mulligan, Mark, Reyers, Belinda, Shackleton, Charlie M, Sitas, Nadia, Villa, Ferdinando, Watts, Sophie M, Eigenbrod, Felix, Bullock, James M

Abundance and correlates of the Acacia dealbata invasion in the northern Eastern Cape, South Africa

- Gouws, Aidan J, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Gouws, Aidan J , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179735 , vital:43165 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.09.048"
  • Description: An increase in the density and biomass of woody invasive plants contributes to the intensification of ecological impacts and can often be met with dissatisfaction by local communities. Despite their reliance on Acacia dealbata as a source of livelihood, villagers in the northern Eastern Cape have expressed concerns about the high densities of the species. This study sought to quantify the current abundance and growth of A. dealbata in selected landscapes in the northern Eastern Cape, around nine villages in rural Matatiele, Mount Fletcher and Maclear. Standard vegetation survey techniques were adopted to quantify the density, biomass and growth rate of A. dealbata. Overall, the average density, biomass and productivity of A. dealbata were estimated at approximately 7000 stems ha−1, 12 Mg ha−1 and 4 Mg ha−1 year−1, respectively. However, the abundance and productivity of A. dealbata were spatially variable between study areas. Acacia dealbata stems experienced significant growth over the period of a single year, contributing to substantial biomass production at the landscape level, despite continued harvest. Furthermore, relatively few biophysical variables were significantly influential correlates with the abundance of A. dealbata. Indeed, the degree of biological invasion can be highly variable across the landscape, shaped by the interaction of local-scale biophysical conditions.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Assessing household food insecurity experience in the context of deforestation in Cameroon

- Ngome, Precillia I T, Shackleton, Charlie M, Degrande, Ann, Nossi, Eric J, Ngome, Francis

Bushmeat use is widespread but under-researched in rural communities of South Africa

- Martins, Vusumzi, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Martins, Vusumzi , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179745 , vital:43167 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00583"
  • Description: Bushmeat hunting and consumption is common throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, a recent review indicated that the prevalence and nature of bushmeat hunting was little researched or understood in southern African savannas. Here we present information from a number of rural livelihoods studies in South Africa that indicate that bushmeat consumption is common, with typically between 30 and 60% of rural households in the communal tenure regions stating that they consume it. Yet there are only five studies in the country explicitly investigating bushmeat hunting practices, motivations, offtake and target species. A review of the five studies indicates that bushmeat hunting is largely a male activity and that motivations and practices vary between sites. Hunting with dogs is the most common method, targeting multiple small and medium-sized species. With such widespread consumption, it is possible that bushmeat hunting may have significant effects on the population status of some target species and consequently requires urgent and in-depth research of both practices and effects
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Changes in household use and sale of locally collected environmental resources over a 15-year period in a rural village, South Africa

- Falayi, Menelisi, Shackleton, Sheona E, Kemp, Georgina Cundill, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Falayi, Menelisi , Shackleton, Sheona E , Kemp, Georgina Cundill , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/398196 , vital:69383 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14728028.2019.1568309"
  • Description: Many rural areas are experiencing rapid social-ecological changes, impacting livelihoods and creating less certain futures. Despite several decades of research on the use of locally collected environmental resources there have been few repeat studies, especially in South and Southern Africa, to consider how households may be altering such use alongside other changes. This paper explores changes in the use of environmental resources by communities in the Kat River Valley, South Africa over a fifteen-year period, between 2000 and 2015, using a repeat survey, key informant interviews and other data from a larger study relating to social-ecological change. The proportion of households collecting different environmental resources was similar between the two periods. However, the mean quantities used per household had declined for several resources . Consequently, the monetary contribution or worth of these to livelihoods also declined, except for fuelwood and river sand. These changes can be related to, amongst others, transformations in both the local landscape and socio-economic environment, such as increases in state social welfare, a decline in agricultural production, woody plant encroachment, generational preferences, and the expansion of supermarket retailers. Understanding such trends is important for considering the sustainable management of landscapes and livelihoods into the future.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Considering the links between non-timber forest products and poverty alleviation

- Shackleton, Charlie M, Pullanikkatil, Deepa

  • Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Pullanikkatil, Deepa
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book chapter
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433551 , vital:72983 , ISBN 978-3-319-75580-9 , https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-75580-9_2
  • Description: The debates around the value and importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are complex and ongoing. The complexity is a result of many factors, including the wide variety of species, products and uses, as well as the variety of constituencies and disciplines each seeing advantage from ‘co-opting’ the importance of the contribution of NTFPs to their own areas of interest and concern. Conservationists are interested in NTFPs because their combined high value in many settings offers a potential alternative to the destruction of forests by either commercial logging or their widespread conversion to other land uses.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Deactivation of field cultivation in communal areas of South Africa: Patterns, drivers and socio-economic and ecological consequences

- Shackleton, Charlie M, Mograbi, Penelope, Drimie, Scott, Fay, Derick, Hebinck, Paul, Hoffman, Michael T, Maciejewski, Kristine, Twine, Wayne

  • Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Mograbi, Penelope , Drimie, Scott , Fay, Derick , Hebinck, Paul , Hoffman, Michael T , Maciejewski, Kristine , Twine, Wayne
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/398210 , vital:69384 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.01.009"
  • Description: Smallholder production is a significant contributor to rural livelihoods and rural economies in much of the developing world. Yet, there is evidence of increasing disengagement in some regions, including southern Africa. However, there has been little consideration of the rates and the livelihood, ecological and policy implications of such. In this paper we examine previous studies on rates of deactivation of crop fields by smallholders in the communal areas of South Africa, supported by repeat photo images and case study material. Together these various methods show that it is a widespread phenomenon occurring at variable rates. Over short periods deactivation of crop fields can be balanced through some reactivation or intensification of homegardens. But over longer periods there is a net decline in the area of fields cultivated in many areas, with corresponding increases in the area of fallow land which, through time, may undergo changes towards more natural vegetation. We review the drivers of this deactivation of field cropping, and then contemplate the possible socio-economic and ecological implications at local and national scales. We show that there are numerous and profound implications that require greater understanding and policy responses.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Explaining people's perceptions of invasive alien species: A conceptual framework

- Shackleton, Ross T, Richardson, David M, Shackleton, Charlie M, Bennett, Brett, Crowley, Sarah L, Dehnen-Schmutz, Katharina, Estévez, Rodrigo A, Fischer, Anke, Kueffer, Christoph, Kull, Christian, Marchante, Elizabete, Novoa, Ana, Potgieter, Luke J, Vass, Jetske, Vas, Anna S, Larson, Brendon

  • Authors: Shackleton, Ross T , Richardson, David M , Shackleton, Charlie M , Bennett, Brett , Crowley, Sarah L , Dehnen-Schmutz, Katharina , Estévez, Rodrigo A , Fischer, Anke , Kueffer, Christoph , Kull, Christian , Marchante, Elizabete , Novoa, Ana , Potgieter, Luke J , Vass, Jetske , Vas, Anna S , Larson, Brendon
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181356 , vital:43726 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.04.045"
  • Description: Human perceptions of nature and the environment are increasingly being recognised as important for environmental management and conservation. Understanding people's perceptions is crucial for understanding behaviour and developing effective management strategies to maintain, preserve and improve biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. As an interdisciplinary team, we produced a synthesis of the key factors that influence people's perceptions of invasive alien species, and ordered them in a conceptual framework. In a context of considerable complexity and variation across time and space, we identified six broad-scale dimensions: (1) attributes of the individual perceiving the invasive alien species; (2) characteristics of the invasive alien species itself; (3) effects of the invasion (including negative and positive impacts, i.e. benefits and costs); (4) socio-cultural context; (5) landscape context; and (6) institutional and policy context. A number of underlying and facilitating aspects for each of these six overarching dimensions are also identified and discussed. Synthesising and understanding the main factors that influence people's perceptions is useful to guide future research, to facilitate dialogue and negotiation between actors, and to aid management and policy formulation and governance of invasive alien species. This can help to circumvent and mitigate conflicts, support prioritisation plans, improve stakeholder engagement platforms, and implement control measures.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Food insecurity in South Africa: To what extent can social grants and consumption of wild foods eradicate hunger?

- Chakona, Gamuchirai, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Chakona, Gamuchirai , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179541 , vital:43081 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2019.02.001"
  • Description: As the world continues to face widespread food insecurity, achieving food security for all at all times is increasingly complicated. In South Africa, social grants and the use of wild foods have been reported as some ways to improve household food insecurity and reduce poverty. The study examined if social grants and consumption of wild foods alleviate food insecurity in South Africa. Household surveys and focus group discussions were conducted along the rural-urban continuum in three South African towns situated along an agro-ecological gradient. We explored the differences in household food security indicators, mean monthly food expenditure and wealth index between households receiving social grants, households consuming wild foods, and those who did not. Households receiving social grants were more food insecure with lower mean monthly food expenditure and wealth index than those who did not. Overall all towns, the use of wild foods improved household food security which was not true within towns where wild foods were mostly consumed by low income and more food insecure households. Social grants alone cannot eradicate food insecurity as the money is not enough to cater for all household needs whilst wild foods can potentially alleviate household food insecurity. As food prices continue to increase gradually and worsening household food insecurity, ways to shift ‘income circumstances’ of households and promote the use and consumption of wild foods which may increase dietary diversity and diversifying food access. Focus should be placed on capacity building, employment creation and promoting awareness on own food production which is one way to improve food security of poor households rather than depending on purchases from the grant money alone.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Food taboos and cultural beliefs influence food choice and dietary preferences among pregnant women in the eastern cape, South Africa

- Chakona, Gamuchirai, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Chakona, Gamuchirai , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177444 , vital:42822 , https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11112668
  • Description: A well-nourished and healthy population is a central tenet of sustainable development. In South Africa, cultural beliefs and food taboos followed by some pregnant women influence their food consumption, which impacts the health of mothers and children during pregnancy and immediately afterwards. We documented food taboos and beliefs amongst pregnant isiXhosa women from five communities in the Kat River Valley, South Africa. A mixed-methods approach was used, which was comprised of questionnaire interviews with 224 women and nine focus group discussions with 94 participants.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

He says, she says: ecosystem services and gender among indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon

- Cruz-Garcia, Gisella S, Cubillos, Martha V, Torres-Vitolas, Carlos, Harvey, Celia A, Shackleton, Charlie M, Schreckenberg, Kate, Willcock, Simon, Navarrete-Frías, Carolina, Sachet, Erwan

  • Authors: Cruz-Garcia, Gisella S , Cubillos, Martha V , Torres-Vitolas, Carlos , Harvey, Celia A , Shackleton, Charlie M , Schreckenberg, Kate , Willcock, Simon , Navarrete-Frías, Carolina , Sachet, Erwan
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: South Africa To be catalogued 1836-1909 Maps
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179627 , vital:43128 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100921"
  • Description: Although it has been hypothesized that men and women vary in the way they value ecosystem services, research on ecosystem services rarely incorporates a gender dimension. We conducted research with nine indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon to understand which ecosystem services men and women perceive as most important for their wellbeing and to rank them according to locally-defined criteria of importance. Participants identified a total of 26 ecosystem services and 20 different ranking criteria. Ecosystem services such as land for agricultural fields (a supporting service), and provision of fish and medicinal plants were equally important for both men and women. Wild fruits and resources to make handicrafts were more frequently mentioned by women, whereas timber, materials for making tools and coca leaves were more frequently mentioned by men. There were also differences in the criteria used to value ecosystem services, with 11 criteria mentioned by both men and women, five mentioned exclusively by women and another four only by men. Our results suggest that taking gender differences into account in ecosystem services assessments may result in the prioritization of different services in conservation and sustainable development programs, and may lead to different outcomes for ecosystem service provision and local livelihoods.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Impacts of gum-resin harvest and Lantana camara invasion on the population structure and dynamics of Boswellia serrata in the Western Ghats, India

- Soumya, Kori V, Shackleton, Charlie M, Setty, Siddappa R

  • Authors: Soumya, Kori V , Shackleton, Charlie M , Setty, Siddappa R
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177549 , vital:42832 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117618
  • Description: Assessing the effects of harvesting on the population dynamics of important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) species is important for informing species conservation options, guiding sustainable harvesting practices and offtake and supporting local livelihoods. However, harvesting is rarely the only pressure on NTFP populations, and it is vital that the effects of interactive pressures be considered. This applies to Boswellia serrata, an NTFP tree species which is widely harvested for gum-resin used in religious practices. However, in many settings populations are in decline, presumably due to heavy harvesting, but other factors may play a role, such as altered fire regimes and invasive species. Here we report on the effects of harvesting and invasion by Lantana camara on B. serrata populations in three protected areas in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in southern India. We considered tree and juvenile density, size class distribution, and growth, mortality, and recruitment rates in harvested and unharvested populations over two years.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Knowledge and knowledge sources on the importance of fruits for nutritional security are unaffected by deforestation status in Cameroon

- Ijang, T N P, Shackleton, Charlie M, Degrande, A

  • Authors: Ijang, T N P , Shackleton, Charlie M , Degrande, A
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177454 , vital:42823 , DOI: 10.17660/th2019/74.6.2
  • Description: The Congo basin forest is experiencing increasing rate of deforestation, and is prone to inconsistent food supply and sporadic food shortages with corresponding high levels of malnutrition. Maintenance or planting of fruit trees can help mitigate deforestation while supplying fruits for home consumption. However, data on rates of fruit consumption are lacking for many developing countries, including Cameroon.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Listening to the Stories

- Pullanikkatil, Deepa, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Pullanikkatil, Deepa , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book chapter
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433565 , vital:72984 , ISBN 978-3-319-75580-9 , https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-75580-9_25
  • Description: This book has sought to contribute to the policy and academic debates regarding the opportunities and usefulness of the NTFP sector in reducing poverty. We have argued in the opening chapters that it is unlikely that NTFP use and trade will provide a pathway out of poverty for the millions of poor in the Global South. However, it is unlikely that any other one sector or intervention will. Consequently, the value of the NTFP sector and its role in poverty reduction for some needs to be added to the suite of strategies that governments, development agencies and NGOs consider when seeking to address poverty in the areas in which they operate.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Livelihood benefits and costs from an invasive alien tree (Acacia dealbata) to rural communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

- Ngorima, A, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Ngorima, A , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179755 , vital:43168 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.05.077"
  • Description: The negative effects of invasive alien species (IAS) are increasingly invoked to justify widespread and usually top-down approaches for their management or eradication. However, very little of the research or discourse is based on investigating local perceptions, uses and struggles with IAS, and how their presence influences and changes local livelihoods. The objective of this study was to assess the perceptions and livelihood uses of Acacia dealbata by local communities at three localities in the montane grasslands of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, using a combination of random household interviews, focus group discussions and participatory tools. We calculated direct-use values for each product and household (based on quantity used and local prices) and disaggregated these by gender of the household head and wealth quartiles. The results revealed the dualistic role of A. dealbata in local livelihoods. On the one hand, A. dealbata was widely used for firewood (100% of households), tools (77%) and construction timber (73%), with limited use for traditional medicines and forage. The cumulative value of approximately ZAR 2870 (±US$224) per household per year (across all households) represents considerable cash saving to households, most of whom are quite poor by national and international measures. On the other hand, the increasing extent of A. dealbata (93% said it was increasing) exacerbates local household vulnerability though reported reductions in cultivated areas, crop yields and forage production, and allegedly higher risks of crime. This quandary is well encapsulated by the considerable majority of respondents (84%) not wanting higher extents and densities of A. dealbata, but an equally high majority not wanting its total removal from local landscapes. Most respondents disliked A. dealbata in fields, close to homesteads or along primary access routes, and were more tolerant of it away from such sites. Institutional and use dynamics have varied over several decades in response to the changing extent and densities of A. dealbata and the broader political and socio-economic contexts. These results indicate that greater efforts are required to understand perceptions and uses of IAS by the people who live with them, and to direct such understanding into more spatially and temporally contextualised response strategies where required.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Non-timber forest product use and market chains along a deforestation gradient in southwest Malawi

- Mahonya, Sophie, Shackleton, Charlie M, Schreckenberg, Kate

  • Authors: Mahonya, Sophie , Shackleton, Charlie M , Schreckenberg, Kate
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177465 , vital:42824 , https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00071
  • Description: The importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to rural livelihoods is widely acknowledged globally, as is the income generated from casual or fulltime trade on village and urban markets. However, there is less understanding of how the condition or status of the neighboring landscapes influence the use of and trade in NTFPs. Here we report on the use and trade in NTFPs in four villages situated along a gradient of decreasing forest cover in southwest Malawi using a mixed-methods approach. Data were sourced via a survey of 286 households, value chain analysis of the four most commonly traded NTFPs (thatch grass, edible orchids, mushrooms, and wild fruits), key informant interviews with NTFP traders and direct observations.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Perceptions and preferences for urban trees across multiple socio-economic contexts in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

- Gwedla, Nanamhla, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Gwedla, Nanamhla , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177419 , vital:42820 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.05.001
  • Description: Urban trees are vital components of urban ecosystems, and thus important for environmental quality, urban sustainability, and quality of life in cities. Regrettably, urban trees are sometimes unequally distributed both between and within towns, a pattern largely associated with differences in the social environment of cities and historical patterns of development, and the dearth in strategic management plans and systematic monitoring of the existing urban forest. Most management plans focus on ecological and arboricultural aspects at the expense of the social, and studies examining perceptions in relation urban forests are largely from developed countries. Accordingly, we conducted a study to examine the perceptions and preferences regarding urban trees of 1200 residents from 10 urban areas across multiple socio-economic contexts in South Africa.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Poverty reduction strategies and non-timber forest products

- Pullanikkatil, Deepa, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Pullanikkatil, Deepa , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book chapter
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433583 , vital:72985 , ISBN 978-3-319-75580-9 , https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-75580-9_1
  • Description: The first of the 17 Global Goals that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. Although the numbers of poor people in the world has declined over the last few decades, it is still alarmingly high, being approximately 770 million in 2013 (Fig. 1) (World Bank in Understanding Poverty 2017). Currently the majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and their livelihoods are dominated by land-based activities including gathering of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs). There were rela tively few studies offering more socially orientated perspectives and insights on the links between NTFP use, dependency and poverty. The ordinary people using NTFPs, their reasons for doing so and their experiences are given in this book.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Poverty reduction through non-timber forest products

- Pullanikkatil, Deepa, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Pullanikkatil, Deepa , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433598 , vital:72986 , ISBN 978-3-319-75580-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75580-9
  • Description: This book narrates personal stories of people from around the world who have used natural products, in particular Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) as a means to come out of poverty. Ending poverty remains a major worldwide challenge and is the number one goal under the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The book fills an important knowledge gap; that of personal stories of NTFP users. This has not been part of past publications on NTFPs which tend to focus on statistics and analysis of numbers, thus, the human faces of NTFP users are missing. Narrative stories provide a wealth of data about people and their experiences rather than aggregated classifications, categories and characteristics of poverty. The objective of this book is to illustrate the poverty alleviation potential of NTFPs through documenting the personal life stories of individuals and households that lifted themselves out of poverty through trade of NTFPs. This book is for all who are interested in poverty alleviation and NTFPs.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

The availability of non-timber forest products under forest succession on abandoned fields along the Wild Coast, South Africa

- Njwaxu, Afrika, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Njwaxu, Afrika , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177565 , vital:42833 , https://doi.org/10.3390/f10121093
  • Description: Large swathes of arable fields have been abandoned in many areas of the world over the last few decades driven by a multitude of local and broader-scale factors. Many former fields experience a change in vegetation composition and structure post-abandonment, typically through a process of plant succession. The changes in species and abundance mean that the nature and quantity of ecosystem services provided by the former fields also varies. We examined the types of provisioning services obtained from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) with increasing age since field abandonment. We sampled 43 former fields ranging in age since abandonment from approximately 7 to 55 years, and seven plots in intact forests. We held seven focus group discussions with local residents to determine uses of species found in the former fields.
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  • Date Issued: 2019
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