Sustainable production of non-timber forest products: Natural dye extraction from El Cruce Dos Aguadas, Petén, Guatemala

Abstract

The traditional harvest of non-timber forest products (NTFP) in Petén, Guatemala, provides a model for integrated conservation and development programs. Conservation International and El Cruce a Dos Aguadas (El Cruce). and agricultural community in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Northern Petén, have created a new NTFP, called Gatherings™ which is a potpourri composed of seeds, flowers and leaves. Gatherings™ is promoted on international and domestic markets as a sustainably extracted natural product whose sale provides a direct incentive for local producers to conserve their forests. The purpose of this investigation is to test the ecological sustainability of extraction of the natural dyes used to color the potpourri ingredients and to present the following eight-step method for testing the sustainability of NTFP harvesting: (1) delineate current supply area; (2) determine current supply; (3) estimate the growth and yield of target species; (4) determine the current demand; (5) compare short-term supply and demand and evaluate management options: (6) assess secondary ecological effects of harvesting; (7) repeat the process for future time periods; and (8) summarize the analysis. Using this method, we found that two of the dyes are likely to be over-harvested within 10 years, and that the harvest of the third could be increased substantially without endangering the dye-producing species. When we summarized the analysis, we found no evidence to conclude that the current production of Gatherings™ directly benefits the forests of El Cruce. However, the goodwill created by this project has contributed to a new conservation initiative; a Land Management Area which has been proposed by the community to Guatemala's National Protected Areas Council (CONAP) and which contains a 13 273 ha forest reserve.