Subsistence vs. Logging: How Is the Presence of One Ecosystem Service Favored over the Other in a Landscape?

Plant species associated with provisioning ecosystem services of most tropical regions have been shaped by many indigenous peoples’ subsistence livelihood practices. In recent times, the recognition of the commercial value of plant species found within indigenous peoples’ landscapes for commercial logging and the consequent harvesting of such plants means that the subsistence ecosystem services indigenous peoples value and derive from their forests may face increasing competition. Currently, there is a lack of mechanisms and tools that may allow for the plant uses of indigenous peoples and the economic value of plants from a commercial logging perspective to be compared within the same spatial realm. In response to this need, we embarked on the development of potential spatial plant-use allocation scenarios by assessing how certain landscape conditions, shaped by traditional and timber harvesting activities, may influence the presence and spatial distribution of indigenous peoples’ subsistence association of plants and commercial logging ecosystem services relative to one another. Data on the two types of ecosystem services and landscape conditions in the form of physical environment variables were obtained for twelve indigenous village study areas in the Rupununi, Southern Guyana. For each area, the relative log risk ratios of subsistence values to logging values were computed and regressed against six physical environment variables—village presence, distance to village, distance to road, distance to water, elevation, and slope—to examine if and how landscape conditions may favor the presence of one ecosystem service over the other. The estimates were then used to map the relative differences in the spatial distributions of subsistence and commercial logging services in each area. We found, given the history of indigenous peoples’ presence in the area, that mean relative log risk ratios for the village areas were generally positive, indicating an inclination towards the presence of subsistence services. However, the maps revealed that while some areas within a given village were indeed more favorable for the presence of subsistence ecosystem services, other areas within the same village were inclined towards the presence of logging ecosystem services, raising the potential for conflict between subsistence and logging utility within these villages. Similar spatial analyses can be explored to guide policymakers in developing land-use strategies that allocate forest lands between competing users by identifying areas with resources that are best suited for indigenous peoples’ subsistence needs and for commercial harvesting operations, especially so indigenous peoples themselves explore logging as a means of diversifying their livelihood options.