EDITORIAL

Non-wood forest products mean different things to different people: products for subsistence to tide over distress periods; minor products for local use; valuable sources of medicines and food additives; genetic materials for human survival; a store of biochemical diversity; the base of sophisticated consumer products such as cosmetics, flavours and fragrances; and the core of sustainable forestry. In these perceptions there is an underlying attribute: these products are potentially useful.

The products result from a physical process carried out to transform inputs of goods and services into outputs of other goods and services. Market values of products are determined by the interaction of supply and demand. The less obvious but equally important non-market values are often not quantified (since they are enjoyed by society as a whole and not apportioned by individual use), even though theoretically they should appear in intersectoral transactions in national accounts.

A system of prices or attributable values will only be as good as the information on which it is based. For individual non-wood forest products the information needs to cover the nature and extent of the resources, the technology and costs involved in management and harvesting, the quality attributes of products and processing details, sustainable availability, and the uses and advantages in comparison with substitutes. Sustainable utilization of non-wood forest products as a group of goods and services can be promoted effectively only with adequate, specific and relevant information. The information available - indigenous, traditional or modern - is mostly scattered and adequate efforts have not been made to consolidate and validate it. Dissemination of information is also insufficient. This calls for enormous and cooperative efforts by all concerned.

As an initial step FAO proposes to prepare a compendium of information on goods and services (products) and on information sources, both national and international. We would greatly appreciate it if readers could provide us with any information they have. This, in due course, will be processed, with an acknowledgement to the contributor, and will be distributed to all those interested in the subject.

NON-WOOD NEWS

NON-WOOD NEWS - FOPW
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E-mail: [email protected]
www.fao.org/forestry/nwfp/nonwood.htm
FAO home page: www.fao.org

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Non-wood forest products (NWFP) are goods of biological origin other than wood, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests. Non-timber forest products (NTFP), another term frequently used to cover this vast array of animal and plant products, also includes small wood and fuelwood. However, these two terms are used synonymously throughout this bulletin. Other terms, such as “minor”, “secondary” or “speciality” forest products, are sometimes used to keep original names and/or titles.