Internationally Significant Research from Turku Assesses the Use of Natural Resources More Broadly Than Before

29.01.2014

A comprehensive and internationally significant new approach to the assessment of the harvest of wild species and its effect on environment and society has been developed at the University of Turku.

The model, that Anders Sirén, Risto Kalliola and Matti Salo created, is based on the examples of forestry, hunting, fishing and gathering in the Amazon and it can be used, for example, for considering the state and effects of picking berries and Baltic Sea salmon fishing in Finland.

​The profitability and significance of using renewable natural resources have traditionally been assessed by economic indicators and on the basis of the environmental impact.

The internationally significant research from Turku includes the geographical and historical perspectives, as well as the impact of the use of natural resources on, for example, income distribution, society and society’s function in a broader view. It challenges us to think how to preserve the continuity of the wild species harvest and who are entitled to a share of the harvested natural resources.

The new approach was developed at the University of Turku as a part of the research project: The tragedy of the overuse of biodiversity resources in the Amazon – the ecological and social interaction of gathering. The research results are presented in the newly published book Diagnosing Wild Species Harvest: Resource Use and Conservation. The book was published by Elseviers Academic Press, which is one of the leading publishers of scientific texts in the world.

The book was written by Doctor of Philosophy Matti Salo from the Department of Biology at the University of Turku, Docent Anders Sirén and Professor of Geography Risto Kalliola from the Department of Geography and Geology at the University of Turku.

Açaí Reveals the Need for Comprehensive Assessment

In the book, one example of the significance of the wild species harvest is the gathering of the fruits of the açaí palm trees in the Amazon estuary.

The fruit, which has been used by the locals for centuries, became a market product worth millions, as the açaí first became urbanised because of migration and second it was found out to have an exceptionally high nutrient content, after which it has been called “superfood”.

– A great amount of money revolves around the açaí business. Those gatherers who have good connections to the markets, a profitable negotiation position in relation to the buyers and a secure land ownership have clearly prospered, says Salo.

The increased income level can be seen in the improved living conditions and in the increase of home electronics on the countryside.

– However, it is evident how the increasing açaí harvest has mostly been realised as unreported employment and the added value produced by the business has not been efficiently channelled to social development, continues Salo.

Getting Rid of Emotional Juxtaposition

The book presents seven different perspectives that together form a comprehensive basis for the assessment of natural resources. Traditionally, most attention has been paid, for example, to the economic profits of the gatherers and the environmental impacts of their actions. In the research from Turku, the perspective is broader and extended to include the significance of the care, control and knowledge of natural resources as well as geographical and historical factors.

– The harvest of renewable natural resources is an essential part of human culture, economy and societies all over the world, but can easily lead to problematic situations. Who has the right to use natural resources? How much harvest can the wild species populations and other natural resources sustain, ponders Salo.

The researchers developed a method for analysing these questions systematically in different situations.
– We also want to pay attention to how you can move forward in the problematic situations and not get stuck on laying blame, says Risto Kalliola.

He gives an example of the Finnish discussion about salmon fishing in the Baltic Sea. How many salmon can be fished, who can fish them and where? May only professional fishers fish salmon at Sea of Bothnia or only the recreational fishers in the northern rivers or both? Or should the recreational fishers release the caught salmon back to the river?

– The starting point to assessing the situation is inclusive planning. When the matter is discussed together, the arguments become clear and we can be rid of emotional fervency, says Kalliola.

In order to consider the matter carefully, different factors have to be found out, such as the roles and significance of the different parties in the entire production chain from the hunting and harvest of different animals or plants to the transport, processing, sale and use of the product.

The Results of the Example Cases Are Transferrable to Finland

The açaí example shows how the harvest of a single raw material based on wild species can shape whole societies. The açaí palm trees that used to grow entirely in the wild are now often grown on efficiently tended plantings. The fruits are harvested by climbing to the top of the tree and then dropping the fruits to the ground. The efficient harvest naturally has an impact on the surrounding environment.
– When the fruits are efficiently harvested for humans, the animals of the rainforest are left without, which is why they migrate elsewhere. The biological diversity of plants also often decreases in the açaí forests when the production is maximised. However, the palm trees are effectively competing against other land uses, such as cattle breeding, which alter the environment even more violently, says Salo.

The most important example cases of the research come from the Amazon, which has been a research subject at the University of Turku for a long time, but, according to Salo, the factors that are related to the assessment of the use of wild animals, plants and environments are not country or continent specific. The same criteria can be used to assess trawling at an ocean just as well as picking berries or hunting in Finland.

The same subject can be approached from an ecological perspective in how much harvest can the wild species sustain and what are the other impacts of the harvest on nature; from a social perspective in what are the effects of legislation, information production and communication as well as landownership; or from the economic perspective, for example, in how an increase in production cost affects the capitalisation on a certain product. However, these are just individual examples – the message from the Turku researchers is slightly different.

– Or goal is that all the different perspectives become self-evident parts of the whole picture, when the use of renewable natural resources is discussed as a phenomenon. We believe that the seven different perspectives we have presented cover the phenomenon comprehensively, says Salo.
 
Text and photo: Erja Hyytiäinen
Translation: Mari Ratia 
Created 29.01.2014 | Updated 29.01.2014