This study is one in a series of activities undertaken by CIFOR to reach a better understanding of the impact of commercialisation on forest resources and what factors influence the market demand for forest products. For example, two international workshops were organized by CIFOR in 1995 and another the following year to analyse key research issues in the field of NTFP development. These workshops recognised that the process of NTFP commercialisation interacts with people’s welfare, forest management, tenure and control of resources, and forest structure and function (through ecological processes). Earlier review and analysis had generated a number of hypotheses, theories and conclusions related to the effects of commercialisation. Forest and resource tenure are likely to both affect the way a resource is managed and utilised, and be affected by changes in value due to commercialisation. Many authors have suggested that NTFP harvesting will be less damaging to biodiversity and other environmental values than management for timber. Others suggest that market pressures are likely to lead to the decline and eventual disappearance of valuable products and to severe impacts on the ecosystem. While there is a growing understanding (and acceptance) of the economic importance of forest products, especially for the poor, the potential impact of NTFP commercialisation needs to be better understood. A recommendation from the workshops was to undertake a thorough overview of the available literature to synthesise the key lessons about these areas of interaction. Such a review would critically examine the available information and analyses and identify key research areas needing further attention.

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.

V. 1: Asia. Editors: Koen Kusters and Brian Belcher; V. 2: Africa. Editors: Terry Sunderland and Ousseynou Ndoye.

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.