Hidden harvest or hidden revenue-A local resource use in a remote region of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

In the 5-7 million years we spent as hunter-gatherers, our knowledge base evolved with the ecosystems within which it existed and has further developed as a result of historical continuity of local resource dependence. Knowing which wild animals and plants are palatable and have nutritious content has long been a survival strategy for the rural poor, indigenous peoples and tribal communities, particularly those living in harsh environmental conditions. This information is essential to supplementing diets when harvests fail due to insect blights, disease or adverse weather conditions, hence wild nutritional resources are often termed the hidden harvest. Earlier ethnobotanical and ethnozoological surveys were studied to assess the relationship between wealth and use of local resources in a remote region of Indonesia. Poorer households were found to use local resources to generate income than wealthier households, who are more likely to use local species for consumption and rely on other sources of income. It also found that individuals or communities with higher income levels are less likely to support traditional ecosystem practices. The shift in resource collection incentives (from subsistence to income) as a result is likely to threaten ecosystems, management practices and the human populations that will have to rely on them in the future. Therefore, it may be essential to externally-manage systems of resource management in the future as economic development encroaches on traditional communities. These findings also have implications for the future of less wealthy communities in resource-rich regions. Both wild and human populations inhabiting an ecosystem come under threat when economic development and market pressures force the local view of natural resources to shift from one of hidden harvest opportunities to hidden revenue.