Aphandra natalia(Arecaceae) – a little known source of piassaba fibers from the western Amazon

Authors

  • Mette Kronborg Department of Biology, University of Aarhus, building 1540, Ny Munkegade, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark.
  • César A. Grández Facultad de Ciencias Biológias, Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana, Iquitos, Peru.
  • Evandro Ferreira Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia-INPA, Núcleo de Pesquisas do Acre, BR 364, km 4, Parque Zoobotânico da Universidade Federal do Acre, CEP 69.915-900, Rio Branco, Brazil.
  • Henrik Balslev Department of Biology, University of Aarhus, building 1540, Ny Munkegade, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15381/rpb.v15i3.3341

Keywords:

agroforestry, conservation, ecological sustainability, extractivism, value chain.

Abstract

Aphandra natalia(Balslev & Henderson) Barfod is a multipurpose palm that is exploited both commercially and for subsistence purposes. Its fibers are important in Peruvian and Ecuadorean broom industries and support many people economically. In Brazil, it is found in the western part of Acre, where it is the main source for a local broom market. Data from fieldwork in Peru (2007) suggests that the variation in gross profit per kilogram of fiber is considerable among the different segments in the broom industry. Harvesters and distributors earn negligible amounts of money whereas manufacturers reap of the major part of the earnings. Fiber extraction appears to be sustainable in Ecuador and in some parts of Peru, whereas in other parts of Peru unsustainable harvest occurs, involving felling of entire palm trees for the harvest of fibers. The same destructive extraction method is used in Brazil, where the palm is becoming rare in its natural distribution area.

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Published

11/28/2008

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 3 (2008)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2008 Mette Kronborg, César A. Grández, Evandro Ferreira, Henrik Balslev

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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b. Authors retain their right to share, copy, distribute, perform and publicly communicate their article (eg, to place their article in an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in the Revista Peruana de Biologia.

c. Authors retain theirs right to make a subsequent publication of their work, to use the article or any part thereof (eg a compilation of his papers, lecture notes, thesis, or a book), always indicating its initial publication in the Revista Peruana de Biologia (the originator of the work, journal, volume, number and date).

How to Cite

Kronborg, Mette, César A. Grández, Evandro Ferreira, and Henrik Balslev. 2008. “Aphandra natalia(Arecaceae) – a Little Known Source of Piassaba Fibers from the Western Amazon”. Revista Peruana De Biología 15 (3): 103-13. https://doi.org/10.15381/rpb.v15i3.3341.