Skip to main content

Non-timber Forest Products: Concept and Definitions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Tropical Forestry ((TROPICAL,volume 7))

Abstract

Since the potential value and role of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) was first mooted in the 1980s, there has been a tremendous escalation in research, practice, and policy interest across numerous disciplines including conservation, livelihood studies, economics, forestry, and anthropology. Inevitably this has resulted in altered and evolving definitions of what is, or is not, an NFTP. This chapter discusses the various attributes of an NTFP and proposes a working definition that could be applicable across disciplines. The final section of the chapter provides a brief overview of the contributions to this book.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aguilar-Støen M, Moe SR, Camargo-Ricalde SL (2009) Home gardens sustain crop diversity and improve farm resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico. Hum Ecol 37:55–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anthwal A, Gupta N, Sharma A, Anthwal S, Kim K-H (2010) Conserving biodiversity through traditional beliefs in sacred groves in Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. Resour Conserv Recycl 54:962–971

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belcher BM (2003) Comment: what isn’t an NTFP? Int Forest Rev 5:161–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budiadi KY, Ishii HT, Sabarnurdin MS, Suryanto P (2005) Productivity of kayu putih (Melaleuca leucadendron LINN) tree plantation managed in non-timber forest production systems in Java, Indonesia. Agrofor Syst 64:143–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell MO (2005) Sacred groves for forest conservation in Ghana’s coastal savannas: assessing ecological and social dimensions. Singap J Trop Geogr 26:151–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavendish W (2000) Empirical regularities in the poverty-environment relationship of rural households: evidence from Zimbabwe. World Dev 28:1979–2003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clason AJ, Lindgren PMF, Sullivan TP (2008) Comparison of potential non-timber forest products in intensively managed young stands and mature/old-growth forests in south-central British Columbia. For Ecol Manage 256:1897–1909

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cocks ML, Wiersum KF (2003) The significance of plant diversity to rural households in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. For Trees Liveli 13:39–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Crook C, Clapp RA (1998) Is market-orientated forest conservation a contradiction in terms? Environ Conserv 25:131–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dafni A (2006) On the typology and the worship status of sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2:26 [online: http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/2/1/26]

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Beer JH, McDermott M (1989) The economic value of non-timber forest products in South East Asia. The Netherlands Committee for IUCN, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • De Beer JH, McDermott M (1996) The economic value of non-timber forest products in Southeast Asia. Netherlands Committee for IUCN, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • De Neergaard A, Saarnak C, Hill T, Khanyile M, Martinez Berzosa A, Birch-Thomsen T (2005) Australian wattle species in the Drakensberg region of South Africa: an invasive alien or a natural resource? Agric Syst 85:216–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (1999) Towards a harmonised definition for non-wood forest products. Unasylva 50(198):63–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Geesing D, Al-Khawlani M, Abba ML (2004) Management of introduced Prosopis species: can economic exploitation control an invasive species? Unasylva 55:36–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonźalez-Amaro RM, Martinez-Bernal A, Basurto-Peña F, Vibrans H (2009) Crop and non-crop productivity in a traditional maize agroecosystem of the highland of Mexico. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 5: online [DOI: 10.1186/1746-4269-5-35]

    Google Scholar 

  • Gram S (2001) Economic valuation of special forest products: an assessment of methodological shortcomings. Ecol Econ 36:109–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • High C, Shackleton CM (2000) The comparative value of wild and domestic plants in home gardens of a South African rural village. Agrofor Syst 48:141–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasolo WK, Temu AB (2008) Tree species selection for buffer zone agroforestry: the case of Budongo Forest in Uganda. Int Forest Rev 10:52–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan ML, Khumbongmayum AD, Tripathi RS (2008) The sacred groves and their significance in conserving biodiversity: an overview. Int J Ecol Environ Sci 34:277–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilchling P, Hansmann R, Seeland K (2009) Demand for non-timber forest products: surveys of urban consumers and sellers in Switzerland. For Policy Econ 11:294–300

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrary JK, Walsh B, Hammett AL (2005) Species, sources, seasonality and sustainability of fuelwood commercialisation in Masaya, Nicaragua. For Ecol Manage 205:299–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann RP, Hirsch E (2000) Commercialisation of non-timber forest products: review and analysis of research. CIFOR, Bogor. 176 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Page NV, Quereshi Q, Rawat GS, Kushalappa CG (2009) Plant diversity of sacred forest fragments of Western Ghats: a comparative study of four life forms. Plant Ecol 206:237–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pant P (2007) Bamboo for life …… for people and red panda. A Study on utilitarian value and management of bamboo and its relation with red panda conservation in Maimjhuwa VDC, Ilam, Nepal. MSc Thesis, Wageningen University and Research Center, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry L, Barlow J, Peres CA (2009) Allocation of hunting effort by Amazonian smallholders: implications for conserving wildlife in mixed-use landscapes. Biol Conserv 142:1777–1786

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phuthego TC, Chanda R (2004) Traditional ecological knowledge and community-based natural resource management: lessons from a Botswana wildlife management area. Appl Geogr 24:57–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plotkin MJ, Famolare L (1992) Sustainable harvest and marketing of rain forest products. Island, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Porembski S, Biedinger N (2001) Epiphytic ferns for sale: influence of commercial plant collection on the frequency of Platycerium stemaria (Polypodiaceae) in coconut plantations on the southeastern Ivory Coast. Plant Biol 3:72–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putz FE, Redford KH (2010) The importance of defining ‘forest’: tropical forest degradation, deforestation, long-term phase shifts, and further transitions. Biotropica 42:10–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajchal R (2008) Analytical review of the definitions of non-timber forest product. In: Hussain A (ed) Managing non-timber forest products: global perspectives. ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad, pp 3–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahoo UK (2009) Traditional home gardens and livelihood security in North-East India. J Food Agric Environ 7:665–670

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrekenberg K (1999) Products of a managed landscape: non-timber forest products in the parklands of Bassila region, Benin. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 8:279–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton CM (2001) Re-examining local and market orientated use of wild species for the conservation of biodiversity. Environ Conserv 28:70–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton CM (2009) Will the real custodian of natural resource management please stand up? S Afr J Sci 105:91–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton CM, McGarry D, Fourie S, Gambiza J, Shackleton SE, Fabricius C (2007) Assessing the effects of invasive alien species on rural livelihoods: case examples and a framework from South Africa. Hum Ecol 35:113–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton SE, Shackleton CM, Cunningham AB, Lombard C, Sullivan CA, Netshiluvhi TR (2002) Knowledge on Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra with emphasis on its importance as a non-timber forest product in South and southern Africa: a summary. Part 1: taxonomy, ecology and role in rural livelihoods. S Afr For J 194:27–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Sitaramam V, Jog SR, Tetaki P (2009) Ecology of Ficus religiosa accounts for its association with religion. Curr Sci 97:637–640

    Google Scholar 

  • Sithole B (2004) Sacred groves on dambos in Zimbabwe: are these private resources for rural elites? For Trees Liveli 14:121–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoian D (2005) Making the best of two worlds: rural and peri-urban livelihood options sustained by non timber forest products from the Bolivian Amazon. World Dev 33:1473–1490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Struhsaker TT (1987) Forestry issues and conservation in Uganda. Biol Conserv 39:95–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas MG, Schumann DR (1994) Income opportunities in special forest products: self-help suggestions for rural entrepreneurs. DIANE, USA Dept of Agriculture, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Ticktin T, Nantel P (2004) Dynamics of harvested populations of the tropical understory herb Aechmea magdalenae in old-growth versus secondary forests. Biol Conserv 120:461–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viisteensaari J, Johansson S, Kaarakka V, Luukkanen O (2000) Is the alien tree species Maesopsis eminii Engl. (Rhamnaceae) a threat to tropical forest conservation in the East Usambaras, Tanzania? Environ Conserv 27:76–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiersum KF (1997) Indigenous exploitation and management of tropical forest resources: an evolutionary continuum in forest-people interactions. Agric Ecosyst Environ 63:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlie Shackleton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Shackleton, C., Delang, C.O., Shackleton, S., Shanley, P. (2011). Non-timber Forest Products: Concept and Definitions. In: Shackleton, S., Shackleton, C., Shanley, P. (eds) Non-Timber Forest Products in the Global Context. Tropical Forestry, vol 7. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17983-9_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics