The extraction of rattan-like lianas in the new world tropics: a possible prototype for sustainable forest management

Abstract

The tropical forests of the Americas contain great biological diversity yet they are being rapidly destroyed by population pressure, injudicious logging, and inappropriate government policies. In this article we explain how the extraction of rattan-like lianas could represent a sustainable system of forest management in which smallholder incomes are increased while relieving deforestation pressures. © 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers.