Integrating Non-Timber Forest Products into Forest Planning and Practices in British Columbia

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are an important forest resource in British Columbia, with the potential to make a significant economic contribution to small, resource-based communities. Non-timber forest products, also known as non-wood forest products and botanical forest products, include all the human-exploited uses of plant and fungal species of the forest, other than timber, pulpwood, shakes or other wood products. Rough estimates from 1997 placed the value of this resource at $680 million in provincial revenues and the sector has likely grown since then.

The harvest of NTFPs is currently unregulated in BC and this creates a whole range of issues, from lack of government revenue, to potential over-harvesting of the resource, to infringement of aboriginal rights and First Nations’ traditional use of NTFPs.