POLITICAL VERSUS TECHNOECONOMIC FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NONTIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS - LESSONS FROM A COMPARISON OF NATURAL AND CULTIVATED RUBBERS IN SOUTHEAST-ASIA (AND SOUTH-AMERICA)

An outstanding historic example of development of non-timber forest pr oducts (NTFPs) involves the transition among the forest dwellers of In donesia early this century, from gathering native forest rubbers to cu ltivating Para rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), introduced from South Amer ica. The dynamics of this transition bring into question one of the ke y premises of current research on NTFPs, that the challenges to this d evelopment are largely technical and economic. Analysis of this transi tion and comparative data from South America suggest that the most imp ortant issue in NTFP development is not the size or efficiency of the return but rather who receives it. This analysis can contribute to a p olitically more informed analysis of the contemporary development of N TFPs and to improved understanding of relations between forest-dwellin g peoples and the broader societies in which they live.