Values of Forest Products in the Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR), Philippines

Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR) is an important forest reserve and contains valuable and diverse products, which are of economic importance. Theses non-timer forest products(NTFP) include fuelwood, food and fruits, seeds, fodder, rattan, bamboo, vines, ornamental plants, medicinal plants, and wildlife. Since some of these products are not being sold in the market but are locally consumed by gatherers, there are no available market prices. In cases where market prices of a particular NTFP were not available, shadow prices were used. Forest products benefits for MFR are estimated to be P386 per hectare per year, with wildlife products making up the highest proportion (31 percent), followed by fodder (27 percent), then ornamental plants (17 percent) and seeds and planting materials (14 percent). Other products that have low percentage values of the total NTFP are bamboo (4 percent), fuelwood (3 percent), vines (2 percent), and rattan (0.4 percent). The income derived by a household from NTFP in MFR is about P 1,490 per year, representing only about three percent of the total annual household income of MFR farmers. Although the contribution of NTFP to the value of MFR is modest, these products are economically important to the local community