| NonWoodIN
covers information/technologies available on the production,
harvesting and management, marketing/trading, policy concerns
on non wood forest products (NWFPs). The NWFPs include goods/products
that are principal sources of food, fiber, medicine, valuable
materials for the manufacture of furniture and handicrafts,
pulp and paper, paint and varnish, soap and shampoo. These are
also valuable sources of essential oils, dyestuffs, tannins,
low cost housing materials and animal-based products such as
honey, beeswax and edible bird's nest. These NWFPs maybe gathered
either from the wild or produced in forest plantations, agroforestry
schemes and from trees outside the forested areas. Most,
if not all, NWFPs are sources of livelihood for the upland
dwellers. The development of the industry based on these raw
materials could address poverty stricken communities in the
uplands and consequently lead to achieving the millennium
development goal of reducing poverty by 2010 as set by the
United Nations.
Added
to the economic value of NWFP is the preservation of socio-cultural
norms of a number of ethnic groups whose lifestyles are anchored
on NWFPs. The direct dependence of tribal groups/ indigenous
peoples and their sustainable practices has prolonged the
existence of valuable plants in either the protected areas
and ancestral domain. |
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