Forests and woodlands provide an enormous range of goods and services to society, from timber and firewood to medicinal plants, watershed protection, destinations for tourists and sacred sites. Only when these are understood and valued can forests and their resources be properly managed and conserved. This work shows how the complicated network of benefits can be untangled and sets out the different approaches needed to value them. It covers the analysis of plant-based markets, non-market valuation and decision frameworks such as cost-benefit analysis.
`The whole idea of developing-nation resources along with indigenous knowledge bases is a relatively recent area of writing. It opens a whole new perspective and can make the debate more meaningful and equitable. There is obvious value in this book for every rural-resource practitioner but there is also much for the educator. Ideas in this book make debate on resource use topics far more realistic and stimulating with the accessible style bringing serious issues within grasp of school students.'
TEG News April 2002
`Uncovering the Hidden Harvest provides an overview of the methods that can be used to calculate the value of forest resources.it will assist researchers in considering which methods or approaches may be applicable to particular communities and locations'
NEW AGRICULTURIST 02-2: in print 21/3/02
'It remains a valuable handbook for forestry conservation and resources management which people with different backgrounds will find extremely handy. It is a valuable contribution to forest resources management that should span greater sense of sustainability and conservation of the ecosystem. The publication makes you learn who is involved, what is at stake, what is involved, and how to contact them. It creates an atmosphere for a change of attitude with respect for local practice and appreciation of indigenous knowledge. It has a rich bibliography. The book offers refreshing new perspectives and original well-informed scholarship on a topic of global significance' JOURNAL OF THE CAMEROON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
'Provides a useful and comprehensive overview...written in clear prose that will be easily understood by the non-technical reader...topics and concepts are thoroughly covered, with particular emphasis given to discussing the nuances and contextual complexities of applying valuation methods in the real world...This timely book should go a long way toward helping improve the rigor of non-timber forest product research. This book should be required reading for any student contemplating fieldwork in rural communities.'
INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY REVIEW, September 2002