These actors are operating individually or in groups (agricultural development groups, GDA). Cone collectors and processors (extraction of seeds) live around the pine forest areas, which are mainly located in the north of the country. The pine stands of pine trees are state-owned plantations managed by the forest service from the production stage at the nursery to forestry operations, pruning and thinning. They are mainly informal workers given the lack of legal access to raw materials. Various actors are involved in the pine nuts value chain. In addition, local population tends to harvest pinecones too early to fund their children’s education, as harvesting and extracting pine nuts ensure a significant income support, which could reach 6000 Dinars per family per year. Foresters asserted that pinecones do not even touch the ground because they are harvested before reaching maturity. However, in Tunisia this season is held earlier than expected (start in August), causing huge losses for foresters, in terms of future production, and for the forest population, in terms of pine’s quality.Įarly harvest threatens local ecosystems that produce stone pine plantations as well as affects the potential effectiveness of the natural regeneration that becomes more and more impossible. Collecting cones during this period is very important to have the highest levels of quality and production yield. Indeed, the most suitable period to collect pinecones is during the autumn between October and November. They could be pickers from the same area or from other regions. The majority of people interviewed during the science to practice event recognize that it is not advisable to carry out premature harvests, but say that if they do not harvest the cones quickly, "Free riders" will do so before them. The Administration organized auctions to sell the right to exploit these cones, but for more than 10 years, there have been fewer and fewer buyers because of the illegal harvests.įorests are managed and administrated by the state forest agency, which are perceived as being accessible to all.
Over the last 15 years, a radical change in the practice of pinion pinecone harvesting has been observed.
The Stone Pine forests in Nefza delegation covers more than 5000 Hectares. The total area of stone pine in Tunisia covers around 20000 Hectares. The stone pine has been introduced in Tunisia a long time ago the first plantations were carried out in the region of Dar Chichou (Cap Bon) and Rimel (Bizerte) at the end of the 19th century to fix the coastal dunes. Last November 13th, more than 30 persons attended the Science to Practice event held in the north west of Tunisia (Nefza) to explore Pine nuts extraction practices and the economic importance of this product to local population livelihood.
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