Non-wood forest products in Europe – A quantitative overview

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Issue date
2020-04-24Author
Lovrić, Marko
Da Re, Riccardo
Vidale, Enrico
Prokofieva, Irina
Wong, Jennifer
Pettenella, Davide
Verkerk, Pieter Johannes
Mavsar, Robert
Suggested citation
Lovrić, Marko;
Da Re, Riccardo;
Vidale, Enrico;
Prokofieva, Irina;
Wong, Jennifer;
Pettenella, Davide;
...
Mavsar, Robert.
(2020)
.
Non-wood forest products in Europe – A quantitative overview.
Forest Policy and Economics, 2020, vol. 116, p. 102175.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102175.
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Mushrooms, berries and other Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) are an important part of forest recreation, rural income and of cultural heritage. Due to poor data on their collection and use, they are often ignored in forest policy and management decisions, which could impair those livelihoods that depend on NWFPs as an income source. We conducted a survey involving 17,346 respondents from 28 European countries to estimate which and how much of these products are collected. Our results show that 26% of European households collect NWFPs and that collection rates and quantities increase from Western to Eastern Europe. Previous studies focused mainly on marketed NWFPs, but our findings suggest that marketed NWFPs represent only a small share and that 86% of the collected weight is self-consumed. The total value of NWFPs collected each year amounts to 71% of the value of annual roundwood production, much more than previously estimated. Our results point to the need to consider co-production of wood and NWFPs, especially in Central Europe where their value per hectare is the highest.