[MPWG] Establishing International Guidelines for the Sustainable Harvest of Forest Moss

[Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov]

Just published in:  Evansia 25(2): 65-71

Establishing International Guidelines for the Sustainable Harvest of 
Forest
Moss

JERILYNN E. PECK
School of Forest Resources, The Pennsylvania State University, University 
Park, PA 16082; email:
peckj at psu.edu

SUSAN MOYLE STUDLAR
Biology Department, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-6057; 
email: sstudlar at wvu.edu

Abstract. The commercial harvest of forest mosses and liverworts is an 
international, multimillion dollar
industry with a potential ecological impact extending beyond the 
degradation of the slow-growing moss
communities themselves. It is therefore important to develop guidelines 
for sustainable harvest, which
may be preferable to complete prohibition. We present here guidelines 
(originally developed for the International
Association of Bryologists) for policy makers, land managers, and 
harvesters based on moss harvest
studies and input from bryologists, ecologists, nontimber forest product 
specialists, land managers,
and commercial moss harvesters and buyers. Policy guidelines include 
standardizing reporting requirements,
requiring the tumbling of moss before export, and creating incentives for 
buyer and harvester participation.
Management guidelines include promoting salvage harvest, conducting 
inventories, and developing
harvest guidelines in cooperation with local harvesters. Harvest 
guidelines, which must be region specific,
should cover the where, what, and how of sustainable harvest.

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