Carving out a future : forests, livelihoods and the international woodcarving trade

Very little has yet been written about the cultural or economic contributions of woodcarving to people's livelihoods or the consequences of felling hardwood and softwood trees for the international woodcarving trade. Carving Out a Future is the first examination of this trade and its critical links to rural livelihoods, biodiversity, conservation, forestry and the international trade regime. A range of case studies from Australia, Bali, India,Africa and Mexico provides a lens for examining the critical issues relating to the significant impacts of woodcarving on forests, conservation efforts, the need to promote sustainable rural livelihoods and efforts to promote trade so that skilled artisans in developing countries get a fair economic return.Livelihoods, Carving and Conservation * Global Overview * The Case of Woodcarving in Kenya * Drums and Hornbills * Sculpture and Identity * Carving Wood in Southern Zimbabwe * The Kiaat Woodcrafters of Bushbuckridge, South Africa * Carvers, Conservation and Certification in India * Colour, Sustainability and Market Sense in Bali * Aboriginal Woodcarvers in Australia * BurseraWoodcarving in Oaxaca, Mexico * Linaloe Wood Handicrafts * Learning from a Comparison of Cases * Carving, Sustainability and Scarcity * Certification of Woodcarving * Planning for Woodcarving in the 21st Century *

Author Notes

Anthony Cunningham is an ethnobotanist working at Charles Darwin University in Western Australia. He is also Director of People and Plants International. Brian Belcher is Principal Scientist for the Forests and Livelihoods programme at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia.Bruce Campbell conducts research on conservation and development issues for both Charles Darwin University and CIFOR.

Brian Belcher and Anthony Cunningham and Bruce CampbellAnthony CunninghamSimon K. Choge and Anthony Cunningham and William ElleryPatrick Omeja and Anthony Cunningham and Joseph ObuaZachary KingdonWavell Standa-Gunda and Oliver BraedtSheona E. ShackletonSudipto Chatterjee and Manish Pande and Govinda Pangging and Gitika GoswamiDede Rohadi and Pipin Permadi and Syarif HidayatJennifer Koenig and Jon C. Altman and Anthony D. GriffithsSilvia E. Purata and Michael Chibnik and Berry J. Brosi and Ana Maria LopezPaul Hersch-Martinez and Robert GlassBrian Belcher and Ramadhani AchdiawanAnthony Cunningham and Bruce Campbell and Brian Belcher and Ramadhani AchdiawanSusanne F. Schmitt and David R. MaingiBruce Campbell and Anthony Cunningham and Brian Belcher

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes	p. ix
List of Contributors	p. xvi
Acknowledgements	p. xix
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xxi
1 Livelihoods, Carving and Conservation	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
History, culture and tradition	p. 2
Woodcarving: Big business and petty trade	p. 3
Attention to livelihoods	p. 4
Learning from experience	p. 5
Wood supply and conservation	p. 6
Carving out a future	p. 9
2 Global Overview: Tradition, Technology and Trade	p. 11
Introduction	p. 11
Carvers' preferences: Wood properties and products	p. 13
Regional differences and distinctiveness	p. 16
Change, innovation and commercialization	p. 23
Future trends	p. 27
3 Chasing the Wooden Rhino: The Case of Woodcarving in Kenya	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
History of woodcarving	p. 32
Carving in the context of other Kenyan wood markets	p. 35
Woodcarving: Supply of raw materials	p. 35
Wood processing and carving	p. 36
Successful trade, declining resource base	p. 38
Forestry policy and commercial woodcarving	p. 40
4 Drums and Hornbills	p. 43
Introduction	p. 43
History of drum-making	p. 43
Species selection and volumes used	p. 45
Tree abundance and size-class distribution	p. 46
Supply and demand	p. 50
Ecosystem and socio-cultural implications of resource depletion	p. 51
Management implications	p. 52
5 Sculpture and Identity: The Makonde African Blackwood Carving Movement	p. 53
Introduction	p. 53
The development of the Makonde African blackwood carving movement	p. 54
The importance of patronage: The case of Mohamed Peera	p. 57
Blackwood sculpting and identity	p. 60
African blackwood and identity	p. 63
Conclusions	p. 65
6 Fallbacks and Tourist Traps: Carving Wood in Southern Zimbabwe	p. 67
Introduction	p. 67
Chivi study area	p. 68
Characteristics of the woodcraft markets	p. 69
The policy environment	p. 76
Conservation and development lessons	p. 78
7 Bowls, Spoons and Other Useful Items: The Kiaat Woodcrafters of Bushbuckridge, South Africa	p. 81
Introduction	p. 81
Geographic and socio-economic setting of the case	p. 82
The Bushbuckridge woodcraft industry in context	p. 84
Wood sources, access and characteristics of the resource base	p. 87
Processing industry	p. 95
Trade and markets	p. 99
The way forward	p. 101
8 Carvers, Conservation and Certification in India	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
Diversity of products and scale of production	p. 104
Growth and limits to growth	p. 108
Logs and livelihoods	p. 109
Resource and forestry policy implications: No wood, no work	p. 110
Alternative supply sources	p. 113
State and United Nations support in policy and practice	p. 115
Conclusions	p. 119
9 Colour, Sustainability and Market Sense in Bali	p. 121
Introduction	p. 121
Historical background	p. 121
Trends in wood species used	p. 123
Impacts on regional development and livelihoods	p. 126
Support for the development of the woodcarving industry	p. 130
Conclusions	p. 132
10 'Too Many Trees!': Aboriginal Woodcarvers in Australia	p. 135
Introduction	p. 135
Aboriginal woodcarving	p. 136
Aboriginal art industry in Australia	p. 138
Aboriginal woodcarvers in Maningrida, central Arnhem Land	p. 140
Future directions	p. 145
11 Fantasy Figures: Bursera Woodcarving in Oaxaca, Mexico	p. 147
Introduction	p. 147
History of carving	p. 148
The resource base	p. 150
Harvesters	p. 152
Carvers and carving	p. 154
Trends and prospects	p. 157
12 Linaloe Wood Handicrafts: Natural and Social Witnesses	p. 161
Introduction	p. 161
History	p. 162
Natural resources and conflicting uses	p. 163
The production process	p. 165
Trade	p. 170
Contribution of linaloe craftsmanship to household income	p. 171
Trends	p. 171
13 Getting Out of the Woods: Learning from a Comparison of Cases	p. 175
Introduction	p. 175
The case comparison: Methods	p. 176
The woodcarving cases	p. 177
Comparison with other NTFPs	p. 179
Role of NTFPs in household economies	p. 186
Organization in the processing sector	p. 188
Investing in the woodcarving sector	p. 189
Conclusions	p. 195
14 Ecological Footprints: Carving, Sustainability and Scarcity	p. 199
Introduction	p. 199
Focal families and genera	p. 201
Context and carving woods: Multiple reasons for scarcity	p. 207
Predicting carver responses to wood scarcity	p. 209
Resource managers and conservationists: What's your worst nightmare?	p. 214
Beyond trees: 'Ecological footprints' and wildlife	p. 220
The transition from wild harvest to tree cultivation	p. 224
Conclusions	p. 227
15 Certification of Woodcarving	p. 229
Introduction	p. 229
What is certification and what can it do for woodcarving?	p. 229
Certifying Kenyan woodcarvings	p. 234
Overcoming the constraints to certifying Kenyan woodcarvings	p. 238
Conclusions	p. 246
16 Carving Out a Future: Planning for Woodcarving in the 21st Century	p. 249
Introduction	p. 249
Why woodcarving is important	p. 249
What needs to be done: Towards best practice	p. 256
What needs to be done: Towards more enabling policies and strategies	p. 261
Conclusions	p. 268
References	p. 271
Index	p. 287

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