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Although the development and use of nontimber forest products from tropical regions hold tremendous potential as an economically viable alternative to deforestation, many questions remain. What species offer the greatest promise? What levels of harvest are sustainable? How can native peoples best be compensated for their knowledge and their efforts? In June 1991, Conservation International and the Asociacion Nacional para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza held a conference to address these and other questions. Attended by experts from around the world, including indigenous peoples, conservationists, academic researchers, and business leaders, the conference brought together individuals from all sides of the issue to share experiences and ideas. In this book Mark Plotkin and Lisa Famolare bring together these leading thinkers, who are working at the cutting edge of conservation and development. Topics covered include the use and conservation of ethnobotanical information, the potential uses of nontimber forest products from various regions of the Neotropics, the development and use of plants as medicines, and the international marketplace for nontimber forest products and how it can best be created and reached. Because of their special significance, a separate section is devoted to uses and potential uses of palm products. Among the contributors are: Al Gentry, Missouri Botanical Garden; Steven R. King, Shaman Pharmaceuticals; Gary Paul Nabhan, Native Seed/SEARCH; Richard Evans Schultes, Botanical Museum of Harvard University; and others from around the globe. Mark Plotkin is vice president for the program in plant conservation, and Lisa Famolare is a program associate at Conservation International, an organization dedicated to the conservation of ecosystems and biological diversity worldwide. This book will be of considerable importance to conservationists, public policy specialists concerned with development in the Southern Hemisphere, ethnobotanists, and those interested in the commercialization of rain forest products.