Political versus techno‐economic factors in the development of non‐timber forest products: Lessons from a comparison of natural and cultivated rubbers in Southeast Asia (and South America)

Abstract

An outstanding historic example of development of non‐timber forest products (NTFPs) involves the transition among the forest dwellers of Indonesia early this century, from gathering native forest rubbers to cultivating Para rubber fHevea brasilien‐sis), introduced from South America. The dynamics of this transition bring into question one of the key premises of current research on NTFPs, that the challenges to this development are largely technical and economic. Analysis of this transition and comparative data from South America suggest that the most important issue in NTFP development is not the size or efficiency of the return but rather who receives it. This analysis can contribute to a politically more informed analysis of the contemporary development of NTFPs and to improved understanding of relations between forest‐dwelling peoples and the broader societies in which they live.

Keywords:

• Keywords colonial policy
• Hevea brasiliensis
• Indonesia
• Kalimantan
• nature‐culture
• non‐timber forest products
• peasant‐state relations
• rubber
• South America
• swidden agriculture
• trade