Definitions

A variety of terms have been used to describe the multitude of non-timber plant products that come from forests. Secondary, minor, special or specialty, nonwood, and nontraditional are words commonly used to describe the products. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization describes them as "nonwood forest products." The USDA Forest Service, in the recently released national strategy, uses the term "special forest products." Recently, the U.S. Congress, in legislation that supports improved management for these products, introduced the term "forest botanicals."

Many of these terms do not accurately or adequately describe these products. Often, the products are neither minor nor secondary, but are major components of the economies of rural households. Frequently, these products are commodities, marketed in large volumes at low prices, as opposed to specialty products which are typically sold in small quantities at premium prices. The collection and use of some products have a longer tradition in human society than the cutting of timber. For example, hunters and gatherers collected berries and other edible products from the forests long before they had the technology to cut timber. In some cases they are produced from wood collected from the forest.

Nonwood Forest Products--According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, "nonwood forest products" (NWFPs) are products of biological origin other than wood derived from forests, wooded lands, and trees outside forests. NWFPs may be gathered from the wild, or produced in forest plantations, agroforestry schemes, and trees outside forests. Examples of NWFPs include products used as food and food additives (edible nuts, mushrooms, fruits, herbs, spices and condiments, aromatic plants, game), fibers (used in construction, furniture, clothing or utensiles), resins, gums, and plant and animal products used for medicinal, cosmetic or cultural purposes (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Forest Products Division 2002).

Special Forest Products--In its national strategy, the USDA Forest Service defines "special forest products" as products derived from biological resources collected in forests, grasslands, and prairies for personal, educational, commercial, and scientific uses. Special forest products exclude sawtimber, pulpwood, cull logs, small roundwood, house logs, utility poles, minerals, animal parts, rocks, water, and soil (USDA Forest Service 2001).

Forest Botanicals--For the purpose of Section 339 of H.R. 2466, "forest botanical products" are defined as naturally occurring mushrooms, fungi, flowers, seeds, roots, barks, leaves, and other vegetation (or portion thereof) that grow on National Forest System lands. The term does not include trees, except as provided in regulations issued under this section by the Secretary of Agriculture (H.R. 2466. 1999).

Nontimber Forest Products--We have adopted the common and widespread term "nontimber forest products (NTFP)." This term relates to plants, parts of plants, fungi, and other biological material that are harvested from within and on the edges of natural, manipulated or disturbed forests. NTFPs may come from natural forests, as well as from plantations. They include fungi, moss, lichen, herbs, vines, shrubs, or trees. Many plant parts are harvested, including the roots, tubers, leaves, bark, twigs and branches, the fruit, sap and resin, as well as the wood. They may be processed into finished products, such as carvings, walking sticks, jams, jellies, tinctures, or teas.