ABSTRACT
In many parts of South Africa a diversity of forest and woodland species has long provided the raw material for the production of wooden household items and artefacts of cultural, religious and ceremonial significance (sticks, drums, headrests). During more recent years, particularly in areas of high tourism potential, this traditional practice has expanded into an important incomegenerating activity (Newton, 1998; Steenkamp 1999a, 1999b). The low-lying areas of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces bordering the Kruger National Park, the focus area for this case study (see Figure 7.1), form one of the largest growth areas in the country for woodcraft production. While the trade brings welcome economic opportunity to otherwise remote rural areas, it also results in greatly increased exploitation of the resource. This frequently leads to severe wood scarcity and, occasionally, to the local extinction of valued carving species, ultimately threatening both the resource and the livelihoods of the craftspeople (Arnold and Ruiz Perez, 1998; CIFOR, 2002). The impacts are especially profound where slow-growing hardwoods such as Pterocarpus angolensis (kiaat) and Dalbergia melanoxylon (African blackwood) are favoured.
