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Non-timber (or: wood) forest products (NTFP's or NWFP's)
are products of biological origin other than wood derived
from forests or wooded land. Many other names circulate for
NTFP: "byproducts of forests", "minor forest
products", "non-wood goods and benefits", "non-wood
goods and services", "other forest products",
"secondary forest products", "special forest
products". Examples of NTFP include products used as
food and food additives (edible nuts, mushrooms, fruits, herbs,
spices and condiments, aromatic plants, game), fibres (used
in construction, furniture, clothing or utensiles), resins,
gums, and plant and animal products used for medicinal, cosmetic
or cultural purposes.
Non-timber forest products have long been an important component
of the livelihood strategies of forest-dwelling people. For
a large number of people, NTFP's are more important forest
resources than timber. Several million households world-wide
depend heavily on NTFP for subsistence and/or income. FAO
estimates that some 80 percent of the population of the developing
world use NTFP for health and nutritional needs and singles
out women from poor households as being particularly reliant
on NTFP for household use and income.
In addition to use for subsistence, NTFPs are traded. Until
World War II, NTFPs were more important than timber as internationally
traded commodities, for example rubber, annatto and certain
oils and resins. Today, over 150 NTFPs are significant as
commodity in international trade. The total value of world
trade in NTFP is estimated in the order of US$ 11 billion,
although statistics are notoriously unreliable for these types
of products. India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Brazil
are major tropical suppliers to world markets. Important products
traded from the tropics include rattan, brazil nuts, gum arabic,
bamboo and spices. It is even more difficult to quantify national
trade, which may be very substantial. A good overview of NTFP
trade is in FAO's
forest resource assessment and in a dedicated
document. An important nationally traded NTFP that has
attracted much recent attention because of its severe conservation
implications is bush meat (www.bushmeat.org;
ODI-FPEG).
A very important internationally traded NTFP rarely appears
in statistics, but its production has serious local and national
development consequences - coca leaves and its derivative,
cocaine.
NTFP have attracted considerable global interest in recent
years due to their ability to support and improve rural livelihoods
while contributing to environmental objectives, including
the conservation of biological diversity. Efforts to promote
more environmentally benign use of forests has led to increased
interest in NTFP collection and marketing as an instrument
for sustainable development. Despite this emphasis, however,
there is no guarantee of a positive outcome. NTFP have not
yet been able to deliver on the promise of early proponents.
High per hectare values of forest fruits and other products
that were demonstrated for, e.g., Peruvian forests have not
yet translated in the development of adequate markets that
capture that value. Also, exploitation of NTFP requires the
same measure of restraint and planning that is required for
timber in order to be sustainable. It has become clear that
commercialisation of NTFPs does not consistently contribute
to poverty alleviation, but that it could be part of a broader
development package. Factors determining outcomes of NTFP
development are mentioned to include the nature of government
involvement, distribution of property rights, the ability
of local people to claim and enforce such rights, market transparency,
and pressure on the resource.
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TBI sources
 Tropenbos
(1999). Seminar Proceedings: NTFP Research in the Tropenbos
Programme: Results and Perspectives Wageningen, 28 January
1999
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Andel,
T.R. van
Dijk,
J.W.F.
Caspary,
H.-U., Koné, I., Proouot, C. and Pauw, M. de 
Valkenburg,
J.L.C.H. van
Rodríguez,
C.A