{"id":7869,"date":"2021-10-19T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etifor.com\/en\/?p=7869"},"modified":"2022-12-20T18:12:50","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T17:12:50","slug":"non-wood-forest-products-green-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etifor.com\/en\/publications\/non-wood-forest-products-green-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Non-wood forest products for people, nature and the green economy<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In many regions of the world<\/strong>, non-wood forest products (NWFP)<\/strong> \u2014 such as cork, resins, gums, wild mushrooms, aromatic and medicinal plants, and wild nuts and berries \u2013 contribute to well-being in many different ways<\/strong>. They complement family income, especially in lowincome households, they contribute to food security and nutrition, and they are an important source of medicinal remedies. They are also part of cultural heritage and spiritual life. Being sourced from natural areas, forested landscapes and managed forests, their production and collection is intimately related with land management and biodiversity conservation. Unfortunately<\/strong>, for most NWFP, information on their collection, production, trade and use, remains scarce and fragmented<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In Europe, the available information hints at an, as yet, unrealised potential for a rich array of NWFP. The market value<\/strong> of amateur non-wood forest products collection has been estimated at \u20ac23 billion per year<\/strong>, most of it for self-consumption. This is in the same order of magnitude as the total value of marketed roundwood. Only a fraction of this is marketed through formal and informal channels<\/strong>, yet it may provide over 10% of the total income to 4.5 million households1 . NWFP sustain industrial value chains in cork, green chemistry, gastronomy, and pharmaceuticals, and multiply their economic impact as drivers of tourism. Just as importantly, they are intimately related with leisure, and people\u2019s relationship to nature. The multi-faceted importance of\u00a0 non-wood forest productspoints towards their much greater future potential, especially when a more sustainable, fair, and nature-based development path gains political momentum, social support and market drive. Paradoxically, NWFP are generally perceived to have low economic value, overlooked in sectoral policies and even relegated to a secondary \u2014 non-wood \u2014 role in forest regulation and management practices across the continent.<\/p>\n

This white paper,\u00a0<\/strong> funded through the INCREDIBLE project<\/a> and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
\nNations (FAO), stresses the urgent need for action and identifies promising policy options proposed to be considered based on the specific regional, national or subnational circumstances<\/strong> to:<\/p>\n