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DEVELOPING NONTIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS IN CANADAINTRODUCTION With a current yearly output of $241 million, nontimber forest products contribute significantly to the welfare of rural and First Nations communities in Canada. Because of increased access to international markets by entrepreneurs along with a growing international demand for NTFP, it may be possible to double or triple Canadas harvest of NTFP. Maple sap products, wild mushrooms and wild fruits are the most important NTFP for consumption in Canada and abroad. In North America, NTFP encompass a wide variety of products, including conifer boughs, wild rice, wild blueberries, and medicinal herbs. In British Columbia, 200 types of NTFP are recognized; in Ontario, 50 types are commercially used. It is possible that there may be as many as 500 in Canada.
NTFP DEVELOPMENT Two general types of knowledge are available regarding NTFP. First, historic or traditional knowledge that has been gleaned and field tested by countless generations of First Nations people, Canadians of various ethnic origins, and consumers of NTFP. Often, this information far exceeds the scientific knowledge available for a particular product. First Nations people have a great deal of experience in the management of berries, roots, and other materials essential to their lives. These management experiences include the use of fire, harvesting techniques, planting, and various levels of cultivation. The second type of knowledge necessary to the NTFP industry, scientific knowledge, is gained through the study of the natural history of plants and hypothesis testing using experimental techniques. Both knowledge types are important in the sustainable production of NTFP. It is difficult to determine the actual potential of NTFP outputs in Canada. We have estimated the potential NTFP harvest at $1 billion per year based on two premises: 1) the current yield of NTFP is limited to less than $1.00 per ha of productive forest land (approx. 233 million ha in Canada) and so, we estimate that this figure could be increased four- to five-fold through exploiting new markets and products; and 2) there is a high demand for various types of NTFP by international markets while local pilot studies suggest that NTFP harvesting may not meet those demands.
CONCLUSIONS MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
SOURCES OF RELEVANT INFORMATION Davidson-Hunt, I.; Duchesne, L.C.; Zasada, J., eds. 2001. Forest Communities
in the Third Millenium: First international conference on non-timber forest
products in cold temperature and boreal forests. Kenora, Ont. Oct. 1-4,
1999. USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station, General Technical
Report NC-217. http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/
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