EXTRACTION OF NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS FROM TROPICAL RAIN-FORESTS -DOES DIVERSITY COME AT A PRICE

Tropical rain forests are rich in plant and animal species. The sustai nable extraction of non-timber forest products has been advocated as a strategy to best conserve this diversity. However, the development an d implementation of such exploitation systems, which aim to reconcile conservation and economic development, are still hampered by the lack of information on the biological sustainability of these systems, the impact of these exploitation systems on the biological diversity and t he insufficient knowledge of the role of forest products in the house- hold economy of forest dependent people and hence their prospects for economic development. Whether the exploitation of non-timber forest pr oducts from tropical rain forests is sustainable or not is still open to question, but data presently available on the biological, social an d economic aspects of these extraction systems point at an interesting question: Does diversity come at a price? Namely, low density of cons pecifics - and thus products - and hence low productivity for those in volved in the collection of forest resources. The paper will further d iscuss whether domestication of forest species provide an alternative for some of these species? Species are part of a complex ecosystem and their functioning is partly depended on the presence of other species in the system. What are the attributes of the species which have to b e taken into account in order to make domestication of forest species successful? Finally, the paper will return to the question: How to rec oncile conservation and use of tropical rain forests? It will present a case for domesticating the forest instead of the species. Or in othe r words changing the forest composition without changing its structure and functioning, and maintaining acceptable levels of biodiversity.