Balance the culture of wildcrafting with the demands of sustainable forest management. This comprehensive book documents the current use, research, and policy concerns relating to harvesting non-timber forest products (NTFPs). It provides a state-of-the-art review of historical and contemporary wildcrafting, ongoing research on economically useful forest products, and sociopolitical and environmental considerations for NTFP management. The implications of harvesting NTFPs are usually considered in the context of the Third World, but this unique book offers an analysis of current conditions in North America and integrates the historical, social, ecological, and policy aspects of NTFP use. It addresses the issues that arise when the primeval practice of gathering wild plants, fungi, leaves, and bark occurs in a post-industrial world. Non-Timber Forest Products: Medicinal Herbs, Fungi, Edible Fruits and Nuts, and Others.

This book provides a comprehensive, global synthesis of current knowledge on the potential and challenges associated with the multiple roles, use, management and marketing of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). There has been considerable research and policy effort surrounding NTFPs over the last two and half decades. The book explores the evolution of sentiments regarding the potential of NTFPs in promoting options for sustainable multi-purpose forest management, income generation and poverty alleviation. Based on a critical analysis of the debates and discourses it employs a systematic approach to present a balanced and realistic perspective on the benefits and challenges associated with NTFP use and management within local livelihoods and landscapes, supported with case examples from both the southern and northern hemispheres. This book covers the social, economic and ecological dimensions of NTFPs and closes with an examination of future prospects and research directions.

This book provides the first in-depth investigation of how non-timber forest products are an integral part of local, national, and global bioeconomies. While the plants and fungi that produce non-timber forest products are essential to the sustainability of forest ecosystems, peoples' food and livelihood security and sovereignty, and thus the bioeconomy, are often absent from bioeconomic strategies. Presenting a selection of empirical cases from around the world that engage with the bioeconomy and non-timber forest products, this volume reveals how essential these products are to creating a greener and more sustainable future, how to to better integrate them into efforts to transition to and expand the bioeconomy, and how such efforts can be supported and developed. Chapters analyse how and to what degree non-timber forest products promote sustainable resource use, generate employment, and contribute to food and livelihood security and poverty alleviation. The volume develops approaches and identifies interventions and policies to support the integration of non-timber forest products into bioeconomy strategies, including in national reporting schemes to provide recommendations for future research and practical implementation. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of forest and natural resource management, bioeconomics, circular economy and ecological economics more widely. It will also be of interest to professionals working in sustainable development and the forestry sector.

A focus on forest management standards. NTFPs within the forest management certification framework: chalenges and recommendations. Accessibility and applicability of NTFP certification. A Country case study: NTFP certification in Brazil. Opportunities and challenges of NTFP certification. Social opportunities and challenges. Market and economic opportunities and challenges. Legal and institutional opportunities and challenges. Broader applications for standards and certification. Collaboration and Harmonization: the way forward?.

This book highlights the importance of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) and their crucial role in sustaining the livelihood of rural and indigenous communities in Asia. The authors depict how the preservation of forests and the associated major non-wood resources may provide an important avenue to reduce poverty. The local practices and knowledge on harvesting NWFPs are often rooted in tradition, and vary from one region to the other. This made it difficult to develop and establish research focus on a greater scale in the past. Readers of this volume will gain an often-missed, broader perspective from these new studies. The authors put a special emphasis on the nexus between conservation and livelihood from an Asian point of view. This addresses a knowledge gap in the current literature and offers important clues on conducting similar research around the world. The volume provides a useful reference guide for the relevant researchers, practitioners and policy makers.

There is growing knowledge about and appreciation of the importance of Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) to rural livelihoods in developing countries, and to a lesser extent, developed countries. However, there is also an assumption on the part of policy-makers that any harvesting of wild animal or plant products from the forests and other natural and modified ecosystems must be detrimental to the long-term viability of target populations and species. This book challenges this idea and shows that while examples of such negative impacts certainly exist, there are also many examples of sustainable harvesting systems for NTFPs. The chapters review and present coherent and scientifically sound information and case studies on the ecologically sustainable use of NTFPs. They also outline a general interdisciplinary approach for assessing the sustainability of NTFP harvesting systems at different scales. A wide range of case studies is included from Africa, Asia and South America, using plant and animal products for food, crafts, textiles, medicines and cosmetics.