Abstract
Lowland and mid-elevational rainforests of Sri Lanka harbor a relict, endemic-rich flora which is also rich in timber and non-timber forest resources. These forests supply nearly half the total wood requirements of the country and are dwindling rapidly; management of the forests to conserve the biological richness and maintain environmental services is therefore a difficult proposition. This predicament is further compounded by the dependency of rural people on a range of non-timber forest resources for their subsistence and income. A forestry master plan recently prepared for Sri Lanka has not given adequate recognition to the important role played by non-timber forest resources in rural livelihood. This oversight is primarily due to the lack of quantitative information to justify the role of non-timber forest resources in forestry sector development. Forestry policies that ignore these resources often anger local people, leading the villagers to vent their disapproval through destructive actions such as burning timber plantations. Long-term interdisciplinary research in ecology, reproductive and soil biology, ethnobiology, silviculture, rural sociology and resource economics in progress at Sinharaja attempts to address these questions of sustainable development of forest resources in an integrated mode. While research oriented toward conservation investigates both short- and long-term ecosystem dynamics in natural and modified forest stands, utilization-oriented research probes the impact of increased human disturbance, particularly the impact of rural communities on dwindling forest resources, as well as the effect of forest conservation on rural livelihood. These studies continue to seek alternative methods of forest management which are socially acceptable, economically viable, and ecologically sustainable for multiple uses. These methods will assist in the refinement of current forest policies, forestry planning, and the implementation of new policies and plans in Sri Lanka.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Literature Cited
Anon. 1986a. Forestry master plan for Sri Lanka. Main report. Jaako Poyry International Oy. Unpublished Document, FINNIDA, Helsinki.
-. 1986b. Conservation plan for the Sinharaja forest. Forest Department, Ministry of Lands and Land Development, Sri Lanka, and WWF/IUCN. Colombo, Sri Lanka.
-. 1989. Sri Lanka forest sector development project—environmental management component. World Conservation Union (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland.
Ashton, P. M. S. 1990. Seedling response ofShorea species across moisture and light regimes in a Sri Lankan rain forest. Ph.D. Thesis, Yale University, New Haven.
Ashton, P. S., and C. V. S. Gunatilleke. 1987. New light on the plant geography of Ceylon, I. Historical plant geography. Journal of Biogeography 14: 249–285.
Attygalle, D. N. C. 1988. Reproductive biology ofElettaria cardamomum var.major in relation to its conservation and domestication. Unpublished report 81 pp., USAID/PSTC Project, Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Dayanandan, S., D. N. C. Attygalle, A. W. W. L. Abey-gunasekera, I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke, and C. V. S. Gunatilleke. 1990. Phenology and floral morphology in relation to pollination of some Sri Lankan dipterocarps. Pages 103–149in K. S. Bawa and M. Hadley, eds., Reproductive ecology of tropical forest plants. Man and the biosphere series, Vol. 7, UNESCO, Paris and Parthenon Publishing, Carnforth, U.K.
de Zoysa, N. D., C. V. S. Gunatilleke, and I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke. 1990. Comparative phytosociology of modified and undisturbed forest sites in Sinharaja MAB reserve in Sri Lanka. Pages 223–233in A. Gomez-Pompa, T. C. Whitmore andM. Hadley, eds., Rain forest regeneration and management. Man and the biosphere series, Vol. 6, UNESCO, Paris and Parthenon Publishing, Carnforth, U.K.
de Zoysa, N., and K. Vivekanandan. 1991. The bamboo and rattan cottage industry in Sri Lanka: livelihoods in danger. Forest Department and IDRC, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Fernando, R., and S. W. R. de A Samarasinghe. 1988. Forest conservation and the forestry master plan for Sri Lanka—a review. Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
Gamage, A. S., P. M. S. Ashton, C. V. S. Gunatilleke, and I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke. 1992. Feasibility studies on underplanting multiple use speciesPinus plantations. Proceedings of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (Abstract), Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Gunatilleke, N. 1986. A raid at Sinharaja: my experiences and conflicting thoughts. Loris17: 22–25.
Gunatilleke, C. V. S., and I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke. 1985. Phytosociology of Sinharaja—a contribution to rainforest conservation in Sri Lanka. Biological Conservation31: 21–40.
Gunatilleke, I. A. U. N., and C. V. S. Gunatilleke. 1991. Threatened woody endemics of the wet lowlands of Sri Lanka and their conservation. Biological Conservation55: 17–36.
—. 1993. Underutilized food plants of Sinharaja rain forest, Sri Lanka.In C. M. Hladik, F. Hladik, and M. Hadley, eds., Food and nutrition in the tropical forest: biocultural interactions. Man and biosphere series Vol. 15, UNESCO, Paris & Parthenon Publishing, Carnforth, U.K. (in press).
McDermott, M., C. V. S. Gunatilleke, and I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke. 1990. Sinharaja Rain Forest: the compatibility of biological and cultural conservation. Sri Lanka Forester 20: 3–28.
Panayotou, T., and P. S. Ashton. 1992. Not by timber alone—economics and ecology for sustaining tropical forests. Island Press, Washington, DC.
Ratnayake, P. D. K. C, C. V. S. Gunatilleke, and I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke. 1991.Caryota urens L. (Palmae): a indigenous multipurpose tree species in the wet lowlands of Sri Lanka. Pages 77–88in D. A. Taylor and K. Macdicken, eds., Research on multipurpose tree species in Asia. Winrock International F/FRED, Bangkok.
Senerath, M. A. B. D. 1990. Biological studies onCoscinium fenestratum Colebr. (Menispermaceae). Unpublished M.Phil. Thesis, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Werahera, M., and P. Abeygunawardena. 1993. An economic assessment of non-timber forest products extracted from Sinharaja. Unpublished report submitted to the Department of Agricultural Economics and extension, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N., Gunatilleke, C.V.S. & Abeygunawardena, P. Interdisciplinary research towards management of non-timber forest resources in lowland rain forests of Sri Lanka. Econ Bot 47, 282–290 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862295
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862295