Development of non-wood forest product (NWFP) sector in Nepal is the topic of much discussion and limited action for decades.Nepal incorporated the topic into the national forestry agenda at the same time when it emerged as the key agenda in the international forestry. Master Plan for Forestry Sector (1989-2010) comprised 'Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) and other minor forest product' as the priority forestry programme. Despite adopting it as the priority programme, centuries long experience in local consumption and trade, and huge potentialities to reduce the rural poverty and contribute in nation's development; the sector could not flourish as it should be.Non-wood forest product (NWFP) is a comparatively recent terminology that is being increasingly used in recent forestry documents and research articles. There have been various terminologies and thus confusions about the proper understanding of the fundamental essence of the topic, used by various organizations including government, private sector and research institutions.
Number of terminologies such as 'minor forest products', 'secondary forest products', 'wild products', 'non-timber forest products', 'by-products of the forests' have been in use creating the ambiguity among various scholars, implementers, research organizations, decision makers and users.FAO organized an international expert consultation in 1995 to harmonize the definitions of NWFPs. Based on a recommendation from this consultation, FAO in 1999 adoped the working definition of NWFPs as "Non-wood forest products consist of goods of biological origin other than wood, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests." Medicinal and aromatic plants, bamboo and rattan, nuts, fruits, wild vegetables, spices, plant-derived pesticides, tannin, dyes, gums, resins and incense are included in the category of NWFPs in Nepal. However, the term NTFPs is most frequently used in the official documents/publications in the country.Nepal is well known in the world for its extraordinarily rich biodiversity including high value NWFPs. The country retains about 7000 flowering plant species (2.6% of the world) despite small area coverage which accounts less than 0.1% of the global land area (NBS, 2002; DPR 2007). A total of 701 species of medicinal plants have been reported from Nepal (DPR, 2007). However, these include a few exotic species (such as Palmarosa) and cultivated species/agricultural crops (such as carrot, chili, Prominent Non-Wood Forest Products of Terai and Siwalik Regions in Nepal water melon, millet, banana, etc).
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Publisher:
FAO, GoN
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(2014
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Type / Script:
Publication
in English
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Keywords:
FORESTS, FORESTRY, FOREST PRODUCTS, FOREST RESOURCES, NON-WOOD FOREST RESOURCES, CROP ERADICATION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY, FOREST RESOURCES, DEFORESTATION, CULTIVATION SYSTEMS, QUARANTINE, FOREST DEGRADATION, SOIL CONSERVATION, TRADITIONAL MEDICINE, HERBS
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Thematic Group:
FAO
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Food and Agriculture Organization
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Thesaurus:
04.05.00
- Forestry
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Reference Link:
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