Local people's use of non-timber forest products in the Gunung Halimun Salak National Park, West Java

We surveyed local people’s collection and use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as well as knowledge about the national park regulations and villagers’ perception about those regulations, in three villages in the West Java. Kutajaya villagers used five groups of NTFPs, firewood and fodder being most commonly collected and medicinal plants, food, and construction materials less frequently. In Hanjawar, seven groups of NTFPs were used: foliage other than food and household appliances in addition to the above. The most frequently used were fodder plants and firewood. In Majasari, eight groups of NTFPs were used, palm sugar in addition, which was the most frequently collected. Food and firewood were also important NTFPs exploited there. The typical personal characteristics of the interviewed NTFP users were low education level, agricultural employment (except in Kutajaya) and a low rate of agricultural land ownership. Perceptions about national park regulations were similar among the three villages. Their knowledge of the regulations was low, usually limited to such regulations as the prohibitions of cutting trees down, hunting wildlife, opening new land for cultivation, and collecting firewood and cattle feed. They were ready to accept the former three restrictions, but they tended to be against the prohibitions on firewood and cattle feed collection because there was no alternative place to collect such resources. As for the prohibition of tree cutting, the Hanjawar and Majasari villagers hoped that there would be exceptions to the regulations to meet their minimum needs for house construction. They argued that they could not afford to buying non-wood construction materials due to low income levels. In addition they considered that cutting one or two trees would not have significant negative impacts on forests as they each would be certainly replaced by new seedlings growing naturally or by seedlings they would be willing to plant