Forest products, livelihoods and conservation: case studies of non-timber forest product systems. volume 1 - Asia

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) provide important sources of subsistence, income and employment everywhere there are forests (and sometimes even where there are none). With new emphasis on poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement in national and international development agendas, this group of products seems to offer means to increasing welfare in an environmentally sound way. And yet, despite more than a decade of research and targeted development projects, systematic understanding of the economic behaviour of NTFPs, and other role and potential in conservation and development, remains weak. To help fill this gap, a large group of researchers combined efforts to compare and contrast individual cases of commercial NTFP production, processing and trade from Asia. The cases represent a range of product kinds, biophysical, social, and economic conditions. As part of the research process they are described in narrative reports. This book presents 21 cases from Asia. This report is organized to present a standard set of information to support comparative analysis, but the authors also included rich details, idiosyncrasies and analyses of issues and opportunities in their own cases