Making the Best of Two Worlds: Rural and Peri-Urban Livelihood Options Sustained by Nontimber Forest Products from the Bolivian Amazon

Strategies to foster development based on nontimber forest products (NTFPs) implicitly target rural producers. In the northern Bolivian Amazon, however, NTFP-based benefits also accrue to peri-urban populations. A household survey (n = 120) at the periphery of Riberalta, the region's economic center, reveals that peri-urban livelihoods depend significantly on both the extraction of Brazil nut and palm heart and their urban-based processing. Migrant and educational background are key determinants for the degree of dependence. Valuation of NTFP-based development contributions needs to allow for the rural-urban continuum underlying NTFP extraction and processing, and the role migration plays in related livelihood strategies.