PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 26: Agro-Ecology II.
Presiding: K Gross
Tuesday, August 5. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Meeting Room 100.
Trees in Amazonian agroecosystems: Ecological and economic benefits of smallholder timber management.
Sears, Robin1, 2, 1 Columbia University, New York, NY2 The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY
ABSTRACT- In Amazonia, the over-extraction of traditional timber species has provided an incentive for private landholders to maintain and enrich impoverished forests and agricultural fallows with valuable trees on their landholdings. By enrichment planting and promoting the natural regeneration of timber and fruit trees in their agricultural production systems and forests, Amazonian farmers restore the ecological function and reestablish the economic value of high-graded forests. Near Iquitos, Peru, smallholder farmers on the floodplain actively manage 22 tree species for production of timber, fruits, medicine, and household items, as well as for maintenance of ecological function of this seasonally flooded ecosystem. One native tree, Calycophyllum spruceanum (Rubiaceae), is prominent in these managed stands providing timber, fuelwood and construction material for local and commercial use. This species, a fast-growing hardwood, can account for up to seventy percent of stand basal areas in agricultural fallows or forests where farmers use an array of silvicultural techniques to promote it and other species. This and other timber species respond well to the environmental conditions of the swidden agricultural systems and silvicultural practices of floodplain farmers. While the traditional approach of establishing parks and other protected areas has been recognized to play an important role in conservation and the provision of ecosystem services, I present data that demonstrates the high value of the tree component of diverse and productive agroecosystems outside of protected areas on the floodplain for conservation and sustainable use. The data suggest that smallholder forestry should be considered as one of several conservation practices promoted by government and non-government development and conservation agencies.
Key words: Amazon floodplain, smallholder farming, forestry, Calycophyllum spruceanum