Dry Forest Wood and Fiber Provision for Traditional Crafts and Its Potential Impact on Woody Cactus (Leptocereus paniculatus) Populations in the Dominican Republic

Cagüey (Leptocereus paniculatus) is a tree-form cactus endemic to Hispaniola and one of the main species historically used for furniture and handicraft production in the southwestern Dominican Republic. Due to its restricted distribution, slow growth, and long history of harvesting, concerns have emerged about the sustainability of its use and the conservation status of its remaining populations. This study characterized the ecosystem service of wood and fiber provision associated with traditional handicraft production in La Lista by identifying provisioning areas, target species, beneficiaries, and potential drivers of change through interviews with local artisans, and by assessing the status of L. paniculatus populations under harvesting pressure. Semi-structured interviews with 26 local artisans (16 men working with wood and 10 women engaged in fiber weaving) documented that provisioning areas include dry forest both inside and outside the Wildlife Refuge, as well as semi-deciduous forest. A total of 20 species are used for wood, while Sabal domingensis is the only fiber source. This provisioning service provides income for 180 people. Interviews revealed declining availability of harvestable individuals, expansion of extraction areas, diversification of plant resources, and reduced profitability. Field surveys in six localities assessed potential harvesting impacts by measuring 133 adult individuals and harvested stumps, while UAV-derived orthomosaics and a GeoAI (version 0.43.0) workflow based on Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Mask R-CNN) were used to analyze population distribution.