21 September 2011, 3.52pm AEST Goats in trees threaten Moroccan forests

Jeff Darby · 23rd September 2011, 09:49 PM

Catch 22, Grow trees that produce seed that oil is produced from, then buy more goats that eat the leaves off the trees which inturn threaten the future of the industry ?

Quote:

The booming demand for Morocco’s argan oil, now the most expensive edible oil in the world, is providing economic and social benefits for rural communities but appears to be threatening the health and future of the native argan forests in southwestern Morocco, reports a team of researchers led by a University of California, Davis, economist.

The researchers reported their findings online this week in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Our research indicates that while the argan oil boom seems to have benefited locals and improved educational opportunities, especially for girls, it has not improved the forests and may actually have led to their degradation,” said Travis Lybbert, an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Argan oil, derived from the seeds of the deciduous argan tree fruit, has been an important resource for Morocco’s Berber people for centuries. The oil came to the attention of the outside world in the 1990s and is now highly sought for culinary, cosmetic and medicinal purposes, pushing the price today to roughly $300 per liter. (One liter equals slightly more than one-fourth gallon.)

As demand for argan oil has grown since the beginning of the boom around 1999, many people have looked to the argan oil market as a “win-win” way to reduce rural poverty and lessen the environmental threat to the argan forests.

Lybbert and his colleagues have been investigating those claims during the past decade, concluding in part that among the households in the argan-growing region, those with access to argan fruit benefited economically and were more likely to send their girls to secondary school. The researchers saw similar benefits of the argan trade across villages and communes or collections of villages.

However, the researchers also found evidence of negative effects. For example, as households benefited economically, they often purchased more goats – the primary threat at this time to the argan forests, because the goats climb the trees to graze their leaves. Households also appear to be resorting to more aggressive fruit harvesting techniques, which can damage branches and dislodge buds for the next year’s production.

To complement this household-level analysis, the researchers used satellite imagery from 1981 to 2009 to see the impact of the argan oil boom, finding evidence that rapid appreciation of argan oil prices had not helped the argan forests and may even have sped their degradation.

The researchers argue that policies and programs that aim for “win-win” benefits to both local households and local biodiversity must be based on empirical evidence and informed by the complex interactions between people and nature, which are often shaped by social norms, institutions and markets.

The study was funded by the University of California.

In addition to Lybbert, the research team included Abdellah Aboudrare, a researcher at the École Nationale d’Agriculture in Morocco; researcher Deborah Chaloud and statistician Maliha Nash, both with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Las Vegas; and Nicholas Magnan, a postdoctoral fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C.

Media contact(s):

Travis Lybbert, Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 554-1393, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu
Pat Bailey, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu

The Conversation

Eric Frei · 24th September 2011, 08:31 AM

I seriously find it hard to digest that those goats can do that.

They'll have to fence the trees or something, clever balancing act for them goats.

Apocalypsse · 24th September 2011, 02:34 PM

The trees aren't that big but the goats are getting right to the tips of the canopy. I'm still just thinking "Wtf am I watching?!"

16 Goats In A Tree - YouTube

Eric Frei · 24th September 2011, 03:31 PM

LOL, even the lil kids were up there!

24th September 2011, 08:31 AM	#2
Eric Frei Admin - Owner Palm & Tree Services in Brisbane Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,994	Re: 21 September 2011, 3.52pm AEST Goats in trees threaten Moroccan forests I seriously find it hard to digest that those goats can do that. They'll have to fence the trees or something, clever balancing act for them goats. __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Palm and Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

24th September 2011, 03:31 PM	#4
Eric Frei Admin - Owner Palm & Tree Services in Brisbane Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,994	Re: 21 September 2011, 3.52pm AEST Goats in trees threaten Moroccan forests LOL, even the lil kids were up there! __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Palm and Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Lerp psyllids and bell miner associated dieback of eucalypt forests NSW	Eric Frei	Tree Information and Facts	1	21st January 2011 05:41 PM
Victorian Forests Allows Spiking Prunes\| Seed collectors spike trees	Eric Frei	ANNOUNCEMENTS	25	24th August 2009 08:28 AM
Australian Forests Best in World Carbon Sink	Eric Frei	Tree Information and Facts	1	20th June 2009 02:15 AM
Queensland Arbor Camp 26th - 28th September 2008	letigre	ANNOUNCEMENTS	52	17th October 2008 07:03 PM
Trees / Australian Forests	mdvaden	General Tree Chat	10	26th January 2008 12:03 PM