Who is in our audience? We will ensure that the Handbook reaches the network of non-governmental organizations, community promoters, protected area managers, project coordinators a  nd other field-oriented people that we have developed during the course of the People and Plants Initiative. Getting the Handbook into the hands of policy-makers is another goal. We ask our readers the favor of passing this and future issues along to any colleagues who would like to join our network and have access to the Handbook.    
     
  For our first issue, we present a general introduction to sources of information - international programs, professional societies, networks, resource centers, journals and newsletters - which may not be known to everyone who receives the Handbook. In future issues, we will address specific subjects such as joint forest management, community education, ethics, research methodology, extractivism and agroforestry systems.    

  Each issue will begin with an editorial - a concise overview of the subject, including a discussion of its relevance to resource management, conservation and development. Turn the page, and you will find letters to the editor and a table of contents, followed by short descriptions of organizations, networks, publications and other sources of information and inspiration. Wherever possible, we add a little flavor to the Handbook by including excerpts, facts and graphics from suitable sources. In giving the addresses of key contact persons for each item, we hope to promote personal communication between people who are on similar paths of discovery and experimentation. All issues carry a viewpoints and issues section that presents important lessons to be drawn from the subject at hand. Suggestions for further reading and communication are found in the multimedia center, which highlights books, publishing houses, Internet Web sites and other media tips. The plants scattered in photographs, textures and backgrounds throughout each issue are described in the ethnobotanical portraits section, which also contains short notes on projects and profiles of colleagues. On the last page you will find acknowledgements and information on future issues of the Handbook. Each issue will be accompanied by a one page supplement that contains a cumulative index, list of acronyms and register of the contributors who are identified by their initials in the Handbook.    

  Whereas more and more  publications are being brought to you in living color and unique formats, we are bucking the trend by printing in black and white, and using standard-sized paper. This allows us to produce the Handbook economically, and you to reproduce it by photocopying. We hope to show that seeing  the world in shades of gray can be just as accurate and beautiful as all the colors of the rainbow.    

  Although the voices of both American and British speakers of English (and many other nationalities) are heard on the pages of the Handbook, we have opted for American English spellings and usage. But you will note that we have left British spellings in titles and excerpts, just as we found them.    

  We welcome your input on the design, content and scope of the People and Plants Handbook. We cannot include all relevant information in each issue, but we would like to request that you keep us informed of new developments and organizations that we may have missed. And speaking of keeping in touch, our addresses, fax, telephones and e-mail are listed on the facing page. We look forward to hearing from you.    

- Gary J. Martin, Handbook editor 

 Back    

 Leaves of paper: Letters to the Editor

The People and Plants Handbook is like a baton in a relay race. It is to be passed from one person to another, ensuring that we share our knowledge and contacts with others. Although we try to provide a range of information in short articles and notes in the main body of the Handbook, we cannot hope to mention all the organizations, services and data sources related to our interests. Our choice of what to include is biased inevitably by our existing knowledge and networks. The letters to the editor section provides a space for our colleagues to talk about their own work and viewpoints, attracting correspondents of like mind and expanding the breadth of information that we present.