Crafts and conservation: the ecological footprint of International markets on an African resource.

Abstract

The concept of "ecological footprints" was developed by Rees (1992) to illustrate the large ecosystem area on which urban centers depend. The same concept can be applied at a national scale. The Netherlands, for example, requires 15 times its landmass to maintain the population it supports (Moffatt 1996). Despite its limitations (Moffatt 2000), the ecological footprint concept provides a useful way of illustrating the geographical scale and impacts. of trade in plant products in response to international demand. Remote as many craft-production areas are, international market forces extend into them. The farreaching effects of this trade are an important issue of which~ unfortunately, many importers, retailers, and tourists from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan are completely unaware. . In this chapter we make three main points in examining the scale and complexity of a little-considered aspect of the ecological footprint of urban North America, Western Europe, and Japan on Africa. First, international trade in African crafts made by weavers and wood-carvers occurs on a geographical scale that is larger than most people realize and is growing year by year. Second, the ecological footprint resulting from international trade in African basketry and carving is having a serious impact on some species and habitats of local and, in some cases, global significance. As a result, there is a need in several African countries to shift from wild sourcing to on-farm cultivation or, in the case of dyes for Botswana baskets, to synthetic dyes of the same color as traditional dyes. Third, we discuss the opportunity that people in Western Europe and North America have, through selective buying and responsible sourcing, to play an important role in ensuring the sustain ability of the crafts trade, rather than remaining contributors to rural resource depletion.