About Non-Timber Forest Products

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are any product or service other than timber that is produced in forests. They include fruits and nuts, vegetables, fish and game, medicinal plants, resins, essences and a range of barks and fibers such as bamboo, rattans, and a host of other palms and grasses. Over the past two decades, governments, conservation and development agencies and non-government organizations have encouraged the marketing and sale of NTFPs as a way of boosting income for poor people in the tropics and encouraging forest conservation. But different users define NTFPs differently, depending on their interests and objectives. At CIFOR, the emphasis is on understanding how people use forest resources, and on helping to improve the contribution these resources make to the livelihoods of the world’s rural poor. Accordingly, CIFOR uses an inclusive definition of NTFPs — one that even encompasses wood products, such as those used for woodcarving or fuel.