Ethnobotanical Skills and Clearance of Tropical Rain Forest for Agriculture: A Case Study in the Lowlands of Bolivia

Reyes-Garcia, V and Vadez, V and Tanner, S and Huanca, T and Leonard, W R and Mcdade, T (2007) Ethnobotanical Skills and Clearance of Tropical Rain Forest for Agriculture: A Case Study in the Lowlands of Bolivia. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 36 (5). pp. 406-408. ISSN 0044-7447

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Abstract

Indigenous peoples are often considered potential allies in the conservation of biological diversity. Here we assess whether ethnobotanical skills of indigenous people contribute to a reduction in the clearance of tropical rain forest. We measured ethnobotanical skills of male household heads and area of rain forest cleared for agriculture among 128 households of Tsimane', a native Amazonian group in Bolivia. We used multivariate regressions to estimate the relation between ethnobotanical skills and area of rain forest cleared while controlling for schooling, health status, number of plots cleared, adults in household, and village of residency. We found that when the ethnobotanical skills of the male household head were doubled, the amount of tropical rain forest cleared per household was reduced by 25%. The association was stronger when the area of old-growth forest cleared was used as the dependent variable than when the area cleared from fallow forest was used as the dependent variable. People who use the forest for subsistence might place a higher value on standing forest than people who do not use it, and thus they may be more reluctant to cut down the forest

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	Others > Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
Depositing User:	Ms K Syamalamba
Date Deposited:	03 Nov 2011 10:29
Last Modified:	31 Dec 2011 05:43
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/3560
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[406:ES...
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	UNSPECIFIED
Links:	Author

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