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Cultural Importance of Non-timber Forest Products: Opportunities they Pose for Bio-Cultural Diversity in Dynamic Societies

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Non-Timber Forest Products in the Global Context

Part of the book series: Tropical Forestry ((TROPICAL,volume 7))

Abstract

There is an increasing awareness that monetary value does not fully represent the complete value and significance of NTFPs. Consequently, there is growing interest in the cultural dimensions of biodiversity and the role that it plays in human well-being. This chapter presents two case studies, one on traditional brooms in South Africa, and the other on amate paper in Mexico, to demonstrate the importance of cultural values on driving demand for NTFPs. Because cultural values are so deeply embedded, the demand for culturally valued NTFPs continue across the rural-urban divide, and are maintained even by modernising urban communities. This poses particular challenges, not only for conservation of the NTFPs, but also to sustain cultural diversity in a rapidly changing world.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), Rhodes University, 94, Grahamstown, 6140, Eastern Cape, South Africa

    Michelle Cocks

  2. Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales, Universidad Veracruzana, Calle Araucarias s/n, Interior de la Ex-hacienda Lucas Martin, Colonia Periodistas, C.P. 91019, Apartado Postal 252, Xalapa, Veracruz, México

    Citlalli López

  3. Botany Department, Selmar Schonland Herbarium (GRA), Rhodes University, 94, Grahamstown, 6140, Eastern Cape, South Africa

    Tony Dold

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  1. Michelle Cocks
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  2. Citlalli López
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Correspondence to Michelle Cocks .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    Sheona Shackleton

  2. Dept. Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    Charlie Shackleton

  3. Forestry Research (CIFOR), Center for International, Bogor, Indonesia

    Patricia Shanley

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Cocks, M., López, C., Dold, T. (2011). Cultural Importance of Non-timber Forest Products: Opportunities they Pose for Bio-Cultural Diversity in Dynamic Societies. In: Shackleton, S., Shackleton, C., Shanley, P. (eds) Non-Timber Forest Products in the Global Context. Tropical Forestry, vol 7. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17983-9_5

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