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Kleinhans Fellowship
Research in Tropical Non-Timber Forest Products
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Orchid.
(©1997-98 Campbell Plowden)
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The Rainforest Alliance seeks alternatives to deforestation that provide economic support for rainforest communities. In 1989, with support from Elysabeth Kleinhans, the Rainforest Alliance began to study the management and use of tropical forest resources that preserve the integrity of the forest ecosystem. One way to do this is to support the limited extraction of forest resources (brazil nuts, fruits, medicinal plants) for sale to local, national and international markets. As a way of supporting the Alliance's work to transform business practices and educate consumers, the Kleinhans Fellows research the ecological, social and business challenges for successful non-timber forest product enterprises.
Veronica Tembé, headwoman of Gurupi Tembé (wearing boa constrictor rib necklace).
(©1997-98 Campbell Plowden)
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The Kleinhans Fellowship synthesizes elements of conservation and business - providing solid research data into non-timber forest product supply and market development -- in order to provide alternative income sources for communities living in or near tropical forests. Non-timber forest products provide communities with "free" medicines, fruit, firewood, and a source of income if properly managed. In addition, it provides these communities with an economic incentive to preserve existing forest and even reforest degraded forests. Kleinhans Fellows study the ecology of the local forest, existing resources with economic potential, possible local and international markets and challenges that must be overcome for the project to be successful.
The Kleinhans Fellowship research can serve as a model for other communities seeking opportunities for sustainable resource extraction from tropical forests. Community extraction might include food, fiber, medicinal plants or other products for which there is an existing or potential market. Kleinhans Fellows focus on products found in primary or secondary forests, encourage the reforestation of degraded forests, build on the knowledge of native forest inhabitants (as long as this method proves useful to those same people), and add value to forest products through processing.
Guidelines for Kleinhans Fellowship
Previous Kleinhans Fellows have included:
| 1999-2001 |
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Silvia E. Purata
Conservation and Use of Bursera spp. in the Tropical Dry Forests of Oaxaca: The Role of Markets and Certification in the Management of Non-Timber Forest Products
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| 1997-1999 |
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Campbell Plowden
The Ecology, Management and Marketing of Non-Timber Forest Products in the Alto Rio Guamá Indigenous Reserve (eastern Brazilian Amazon)
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| 1995-1997 |
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Richard H. Wallace
Building Sustainable Marketing Models for Non-Timber Forest Products: A Critical Link to Environmentally Benign Socio-Economic Development in Extractive Reserves in Acre, Brazil)
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| 1993-1995 |
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Daniel Razafimamonjy
Integrating Biological Conservation and Economic Development: Finding the Linkages in the Southeastern Rain Forests of Madagascar
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| 1991-1993 |
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Wil de Jong
Alternatives to Deforestation: Forest Management Practices of Dayaks in West Kalimantan, Indonesia
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| 1989-1991 |
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Stephen F. Siebert
Rattan Cultivation and Management in Hillside Farms and Forest Preserve Buffer Zones of Kerinci-Seblat National Park, Indonesia
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Guidelines for Kleinhans Fellowship
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About Research Projects & Fellowships
Kleinhans Fellowship
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