In this brief, NAFRI focus attention on Styrax tonkinensis, the Benzoin tree (or locally, yarn), a species highly-adapted to long-fallow rotational systems that has enabled local communities to extend and benefit from increased fallow-lengths and enhance overall system viability. NAFRI assess the current status of Styrax, its relation to some common alternatives, and the ways in which Styrax production relates to national development goals. We also examine the ways in which community-led land use planning—exemplified in the participatory Forest and Agricultural Land Use Planning and Management (pFALUPAM) approach—have enabled benzoin producers to demonstrate customary resource claims and negotiate a politically-acceptable space for long-fallowing.
