IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i11p3989-d179612.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is the Commercialization of Wild Plants by Organic Producers in Austria Neglected or Irrelevant?

Author

Listed:
  • Christoph Schunko

    (Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180 Wien, Austria)

  • Christian R. Vogl

    (Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180 Wien, Austria)

Abstract

European countries are split over the appreciation of wild berries, fruits, mushrooms, and herbs. While some countries provide public statistics on wild plants, others seem to neglect wild plant gathering and commercialization. In this study, we aimed to understand if wild plant commercialization is neglected or irrelevant in Austria, a country that does not provide statistics. We focus on organic producers, because organic certification of wild plant gathering might have potential for countering frequent concerns about commercial gathering, including destructive gathering and overharvesting. Using a mixed-methods approach with a concurrent triangulation design, databases of six organic certification bodies were analysed concurrently with semi-structured expert interviews of their representatives. We found that organic certification for gathering was issued to 1.5% of organic producers in the year 2016 in Austria and is relevant for three distinct gatherer types: regular, diversified, and single-plant gatherers. Organic gathering is most frequently part of agricultural or horticultural farms and rarely an isolated commercial activity. It is related to mixed farming, deepening on-farm diversification, and contributes to maintaining traditions, as well as the local socio-ecological memory of wild plant products. Organic wild plants are directly marketed to consumers as traditional and innovative products, but also supplied to mass markets. We conclude that from a socio-cultural perspective and a focus on regional economies, organic gathering is neglected in Austria, whereas from an income perspective, wild plant gathering seems to be indeed relevant for few organic producers, although exhibiting potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Christoph Schunko & Christian R. Vogl, 2018. "Is the Commercialization of Wild Plants by Organic Producers in Austria Neglected or Irrelevant?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3989-:d:179612
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3989/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3989/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cai, Mattia & Pettenella, Davide & Vidale, Enrico, 2011. "Income generation from wild mushrooms in marginal rural areas," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 221-226, March.
    2. Kilchling, Petra & Hansmann, Ralf & Seeland, Klaus, 2009. "Demand for non-timber forest products: Surveys of urban consumers and sellers in Switzerland," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 294-300, July.
    3. Voces, Roberto & Diaz-Balteiro, Luis & Alfranca, Óscar, 2012. "Demand for wild edible mushrooms. The case of Lactarius deliciosus in Barcelona (Spain)," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 47-60.
    4. Ursula Peintner & Stefanie Schwarz & Armin Mešić & Pierre-Arthur Moreau & Gabriel Moreno & Philippe Saviuc, 2013. "Mycophilic or Mycophobic? Legislation and Guidelines on Wild Mushroom Commerce Reveal Different Consumption Behaviour in European Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(5), pages 1-10, May.
    5. Reyes-García, Victoria & Menendez-Baceta, Gorka & Aceituno-Mata, Laura & Acosta-Naranjo, Rufino & Calvet-Mir, Laura & Domínguez, Pablo & Garnatje, Teresa & Gómez-Baggethun, Erik & Molina-Bustamante, M, 2015. "From famine foods to delicatessen: Interpreting trends in the use of wild edible plants through cultural ecosystem services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 303-311.
    6. Ludvig, Alice & Tahvanainen, Veera & Dickson, Antonia & Evard, Camille & Kurttila, Mikko & Cosovic, Marija & Chapman, Emma & Wilding, Maria & Weiss, Gerhard, 2016. "The practice of entrepreneurship in the non-wood forest products sector: Support for innovation on private forest land," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 31-37.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Christoph Schunko & Sarah Lechthaler & Christian R. Vogl, 2019. "Conceptualising the Factors that Influence the Commercialisation of Non-Timber Forest Products: The Case of Wild Plant Gathering by Organic Herb Farmers in South Tyrol (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Shackleton, Charlie M. & de Vos, Alta, 2022. "How many people globally actually use non-timber forest products?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. Giorgio Mina & Valentina Scariot & Giovanni Peira & Giampiero Lombardi, 2023. "Foraging Practices and Sustainable Management of Wild Food Resources in Europe: A Systematic Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-22, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christoph Schunko & Sarah Lechthaler & Christian R. Vogl, 2019. "Conceptualising the Factors that Influence the Commercialisation of Non-Timber Forest Products: The Case of Wild Plant Gathering by Organic Herb Farmers in South Tyrol (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Huber, P. & Hujala, T. & Kurttila, M. & Wolfslehner, B. & Vacik, H., 2019. "Application of multi criteria analysis methods for a participatory assessment of non-wood forest products in two European case studies," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 103-111.
    3. Živojinović, I. & Weiss, G. & Wilding, M. & Wong, J.L.G. & Ludvig, A., 2020. "Experiencing forest products – An innovation trend by rural entrepreneurs," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Schulp, C.J.E. & Thuiller, W. & Verburg, P.H., 2014. "Wild food in Europe: A synthesis of knowledge and data of terrestrial wild food as an ecosystem service," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 292-305.
    5. Takuya Takahashi & Takahiro Tsuge & Shingo Shibata, 2022. "Innovativeness of Japanese Forest Owners Regarding the Monetization of Forest Ecosystem Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-11, February.
    6. Diaz-Balteiro, L. & Alfranca, O. & Voces, R. & Soliño, M., 2023. "Using google search patterns to explain the demand for wild edible mushrooms," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    7. de Frutos, Pablo & Rodriguez-Prado, Beatriz & Latorre, Joaquín & Martinez-Peña, Fernando, 2019. "A Gravity Model to Explain Flows of Wild Edible Mushroom Picking. A Panel Data Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 164-173.
    8. Maier, Carolin & Hebermehl, Wiebke & Grossmann, Carol M. & Loft, Lasse & Mann, Carsten & Hernández-Morcillo, Mónica, 2021. "Innovations for securing forest ecosystem service provision in Europe – A systematic literature review," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    9. Secco, Laura & Pisani, Elena & Da Re, Riccardo & Rogelja, Todora & Burlando, Catie & Vicentini, Kamini & Pettenella, Davide & Masiero, Mauro & Miller, David & Nijnjk, Maria, 2019. "Towards a method of evaluating social innovation in forest-dependent rural communities: First suggestions from a science-stakeholder collaboration," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 9-22.
    10. Poduška, Zoran & Nedeljković, Jelena & Nonić, Dragan & Ratknić, Tatjana & Ratknić, Mihailo & Živojinović, Ivana, 2020. "Intrapreneurial climate as momentum for fostering employee innovativeness in public forest enterprises," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Li-Pei Peng & Wei-Ming Wang, 2020. "Hybrid Decision-Making Evaluation for Future Scenarios of Cultural Ecosystem Services," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-20, August.
    12. Aoudji, Augustin K.N. & Adégbidi, Anselme & Ganglo, Jean C. & Agbo, Valentin & Yêvidé, Armand S.I. & De Cannière, Charles & Lebailly, Philippe, 2011. "Satisfaction across urban consumers of smallholder-produced teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) poles in South Benin," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 642-651, October.
    13. Berglihn, Elisabeth Cornelia & Gómez-Baggethun, Erik, 2021. "Ecosystem services from urban forests: The case of Oslomarka, Norway," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    14. de Frutos, Pablo, 2020. "Changes in world patterns of wild edible mushrooms use measured through international trade flows," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    15. Bliss, Sam & Egler, Megan, 2020. "Ecological Economics Beyond Markets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    16. Hamunen, Katri & Kurttila, Mikko & Miina, Jari & Peltola, Rainer & Tikkanen, Jukka, 2019. "Sustainability of Nordic non-timber forest product-related businesses – A case study on bilberry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    17. Rufino Acosta-Naranjo & Ramón Rodríguez-Franco & Antonio Jesús Guzmán-Troncoso & Manuel Pardo-de-Santayana & Laura Aceituno-Mata & José Gómez-Melara & Pablo Domínguez & Isabel Díaz-Reviriego & Jessica, 2021. "Gender Differences in Knowledge, Use, and Collection of Wild Edible Plants in Three Spanish Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, March.
    18. Wilkes-Allemann, Jerylee & Ludvig, Alice & Hogl, Karl, 2020. "Innovation development in forest ecosystem services: A comparative mountain bike trail study from Austria and Switzerland," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    19. Shackleton, Charlie M. & de Vos, Alta, 2022. "How many people globally actually use non-timber forest products?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    20. Sam Bliss, 2019. "The Case for Studying Non-Market Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-30, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3989-:d:179612. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.